Food & Drink: Cookbook of the Week, Truly Italian

Truly Italian: quick & simple vegetarian cooking

by Ursula Ferrigno, Mitchell Beazley, pounds 20.00, 224pp

THE BRITISH have long had a taste for Italian food. The first surviving English cookbook from the late 14th century, Forme of Curry, includes a recipe for macrows (macaroni) strewn with butter and served with grated cheese. In recent years, this taste has developed into a passion, fuelled in part by the chic image of The River Cafe Cookbook. Presumably, the fact that much of Italian food is supposed to be good for you has added to our national enthusiasm. Certainly, it is an aspect that Ursula Ferrigno has capitalised on in her latest book, Truly Italian.

She has written it as an advocate of vegetarian cooking, giving detailed information on the health benefits of different foods and their inclusion in a vegetarian diet. How truly Italian vegetarian cooking is, is debatable, but there is no disputing that Ferrigno has written an appealing, practical cookbook.

Its silky pages are filled with evocative photographs of Italian markets and appetising plates of food. One look and you start to feel hungry. The recipes look easy to make, although occasionally you find yourself having to double check the method as her turn of phrase can be slightly confusing. Nor should you expect your food to always look like her photographs, it won't, as not all the meals pictured use exactly the same ingredients as their respective recipes. Don't be discouraged by my quibbles, this is a good book, perfect for enlivening daily cooking. Just looking at the pictures will make you want to cook supper.