The Classic Italian Cookbook

"That one I look at frequently. If I want to make something that’s Italian, Marcella Hazan’s Classic Italian Cookbook has everything in it. If I want to make osso bucco or just to check something I use this, and I also love the way that she writes. I guess the osso bucco, but the other thing that I love is her recipe for onion pasta. It’s just simply onions that you cook down very slowly for a very long time and she has a tomato sauce where you just put butter and a whole onion in the tomato sauce and cook it down until it’s very soft. I don’t know if all of the things are classic but they’re all wonderful. I’ve never made anything from her books that I haven’t loved. I have no idea because I’m not a fan of Italian desserts. Their taste for desserts is just not mine, except for tiramisu. That was their stellar moment. They even have a tiramisu drink in Japan. And in Florence in the old town there’s a torte irise, which is a white cake, ethereal and melting, and nobody could ever get the recipe, and in my next book I’m going to have a torta caprese from Capri, so I can’t say I never like them. It’s almonds and chocolate, light and moist and it took many attempts to get right. I guess it’s Italian American desserts that I don’t like. Like, in Indian restaurants I always have gulab jamon and rasmalai. I don’t mind very sweet things if they’re wonderful."