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Rao's is an old, 10-table restaurant in an old, New York-Italian neighborhood in which old Italians still may or may not live (this was never made quite clear in Nicholas Pileggi's complete-history-of-Italian-immigrants-in-America introduction to the cookbook), but you can't go there to eat. Not unless you know someone who has a lock on one of the tables. These are shared occupancy tables, condominium tables. Every night (Monday through Friday) is already spoken for--has been spoken for, in fact, for quite some time. Mixed in with the names of the obvious rich and famous and powerful who get to eat at Rao's (and who have enthusiastic things to say about Rao's throughout the cookbook) are names of the not-so-obvious to anyone who hails from outside the Italian neighborhood that spawned them. Rao's sounds like a dream of what New York once may have been like--joints on every corner full of character and soul--or what everyone would like to think New York may have been like. It sounds a little like a Disneyland nostalgia experience that just about everyone will never have.
So bless Frank Pellegrino for putting Rao's kitchen between the covers of this book. If you want the excitement and charm and comfort food of Rao's, you can now cook it yourself and pretend that's Dick Schaap sitting over there, and Rob Reiner coming though the door with Woody Allen, Brenda Vaccaro, and John-John. Plan on eating lots of tomato sauce, for Rao's springs from the same roots that gave America Italian red sauce restaurants of the checkered tablecloth and Chianti bottle candle holder stripe. Rao's does it far, far better, and with soul. The late Vincent Pellegrino, who made Rao's what it seemingly continues to be, was particularly fond of grilled meats, and those sections of the book are exemplary: simple, straightforward, to the point. Even the tripe sounds like it might be worth trying.
If you want to cook Italian and not sweat the regional details, this book is the one to pull off the shelf. --Schuyler Ingle
From Library Journal
Rao's is a New York City institution, a tiny, family-owned Italian restaurant in East Harlem that has attracted national attention and a celebrity clientele. But most of its ten tables (they added two tables to the original eight after the restaurant had been in business for 99 years) are reserved, in perpetuity, for regulars, many of whom have been eating there once a week for decades-so a jar of Rao's Homemade Tomato Sauce is the closest most people will ever come to the restaurant's fare. But here are the simple, classic recipes that 80-year-old "Auntie" Annie and the other cooks make every weekday: Seafood Salad, Baked Clams Oreganate, Pappardelle with Hot Sausage Sauce. Scattered throughout are quotes from devoted fansAsome famous, some "from the neighborhood"Aand lots of photographs. For area libraries and other larger collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I HATE restaurant cookbooks,
By A Customer
This review is from: Rao's Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking (Hardcover)
I must have 40 cookbooks, and I hardly ever use the ones written by even the best restaurant chefs. They usually demand too many wierd unavailable ingredients, take too much time, are too fussy about details, and often don't work particularly well. That's just my personal pet peeve. THIS cookbook is the exception to that rule. The recipes are a beautiful example of what makes italian cooking great, a few very nice ingredients, put together simply, in a delicious and creative way. This is classic family-style italian, done in an irresistibly delicious way. The recipes generally use a few basic ingredients, and are both easy to execute and well laid-out. Nearly everything I've cooked from the book has been at least very good, and some things have been outstanding. Usually, I'm pretty impressed if more than half the recipes are any good. I cook from this book on WEEKDAYS, for heaven's sake. This is easily in my top 3. Favorites include lemon chicken (yum)!, chicken cacciatore, veal marsala, meatballs, marinara sauce. As a final added attraction, there are anecdotes throughout the book, by folks from customers including Dick Schaap and Billy Crystal, among many others. This is a cookbook that's even fun to read!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rao's Cookbook - Over 100 Years of italian Home Cooking,
By Ms Hospital Administrator (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rao's Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking (Hardcover)
This is an amazing book and I suggest to everyone to try Rao's Marinara Sauce recipe. I learned how to make sauce from a local Italian restaurant but after reading Rao's recipe for sauce, my sauce went from a 9.5 to a 15!! Rao's gives great tips such as the "type" of tomato to use. I can't get enough of this book...Julie
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must for Every Kitchen,
By Jules "Jules" (Heartland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rao's Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking (Hardcover)
When building your library of essentials, count this cookbook as one of the corner pieces of the puzzle. The simplicity of the recipes and the list of ingredients will tantalize your tastebuds along with the beautiful photographs. You'll also be sharing the classic marinara recipe with everyone who says, "I've GOT to have the recipe for this sauce!" You won't believe the flavor of this sauce and you'll make tons of it! It freezes well, too. I've had the book for over two years now and no recipe in it has been a disappointment.
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