First of all, I have not read all of Jamie Oliver's cook books. I have read a few. This is by far his worst I would reckon if I was to hazard a guess. Brutal. The only areas of interest in this book are the fresh salads. I am not Italian, but I know I personally have better Italian recipes in my head than what I found in this book. To me, the whole book seemed like Jamie was camping in the hills of Italy, grabbing whatever was lying around and making feasts which were not even fit for a hobo. Too rustic and too much desperate foraging for me! Come on Jamie, you can do way better than this.

I've read many of Jamie O's books but somehow found this quite uninteresting and his recipes are not as strong or authentic as his mentor Gennaro. Nevertheless its a good read if you are a Jamie fan..

One of my go to cookbooks. So many good recipes in here.

I FINALLY got a library card ;-) and this was one of the first books I checked out as I am trying to trin myself that I don't need to own every cookbook out there. (Baby steps!) This book is full of delicious-sounding recipes and great photos as is typical of Jamie. I have only tried the Eggplant & Mint Bruschette so far but it was simple and tasted great. Here's the link to the recipe and photos: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...

I love cookbooks and read them like novels. I also love J. O.
Win win!

i love jamie oliver's books for the editorial that comes with them - somehow injects more personality into the dishes.

also, they're always dead easy to do. :)

Un viaggio nel cibo e nelle ricette tradizionali. Interessante e divertente. Ricco di spunti sicuramente piacevoli!

Just two stars because the recipes won't really be of use to me. BUT it's a gorgeous book and I LOVE that he narrates the entire cookbook. I would definitely pick up his other books. And would recommend this if you plan on doing any rustic Italian cooking.

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.

Jamie's Italy

Gorgeous and delicious!
Yummy pizza's and pasta's! Great cookbook for the Italian cuisine fan.

Has some great recipes.

I haven't made anything from this one yet, but it's very pretty - and in parts gruesome. Jamie Oliver believes that you should know where your food comes from, and makes no qualms about showing the animals that you're eating. Those parts can be difficult - but the cookbook is great.