A review by kristennd
Jamie's Italy by Jamie Oliver

3.0

The usefulness of this book depends in large part on how many Italian cookbooks you already own. I previewed this via the library and fortunately so, because I already have most of these recipes, or close enough. But if this will be your first, second, or third Italian book, it could still be quite worthwhile and the instructions are straightforward with plenty of photos. It does seem to be about 50% Sicilian, which isn't what everyone expects from an Italian cookbook. A recipe for fresh tuna meatballs in tomato sauce inspired me to check this book out, but the dish is also on his website. The other new ideas were roasted squash with cinnamon and chile and a sort of spumoni rice pudding. A $35 cover price requires a little more, however. Some of the photos will be offputting to some. He shows recently-butchered animals, and not just fish. They also used unripe tomatoes in several shots (the recipes did call for ripe), which aren't at all appetizing.