Italian Cook Book

Pellegrino Artusi's Italian Cook Book is a collection of Italian recipes first published in 1891. This version was edited and translated by New York-based academic Olga Ragusa in 1945. It contains nearly 400 recipes that highlight the art of traditional Italian cooking at a time when French cuisine had long dominated the kitchens and plates of gourmands. Pellegrino Artusi (1820-1911) was an unlikely person to revitalize Italian cuisine, being neither a professional chef nor a formal culinary scholar. Artusi was born in Forlimpopoli to a wealthy merchant father, and he successfully took over the family's business as a young man. His life-and that of his family-was violently disrupted in 1851, when the criminal Stefano Pelloni arrived in town. He and his gang disrupted a play and held all the wealthy families hostage in the theater while they robbed and sacked the town. One of Artusi's sisters was assaulted during the raid and the ensuing shock placed her in an asylum. (Pelloni was