A Taste of Venice: At Table with Brunetti

Loved the authentic Venetian recipes. Finally a book of local recipes written in English. I am a frequent traveler to Venice and these recipes are spot on.

This is a must have for anyone who loves Italian food and/or visiting Venice. The recipes are Venetian and absolutely wonderful! We had 2 of them already and found the recipes easy-to-follow, with excerpts from many of Donna Leon's Brunetti series and delightful illustrations through-out. Recipes are well written and quite simple, using every day ingredients (and if not available, easy to substitute something).Arrived very fast and good selection of prices from new to gently used.

I wanted this book for a long time and to get it at this price was a surprise and get delivery from GB in less then a week amazed me. Flawless new condition.

A superb blend of the flavors of Venice, the beauty of this remarkable city and the colorful characters who influence the author's life long relationship with culinary experiences. A wonderful read and more.

Exactly what I wanted, reminds me of the great food I had in Venice, reminiscing with Guido and Paola Brunetti, and now I can eat some of the appetising meals Paola made.

Donna Leon’s Brunetti books are fabulous when it comes to food descriptions. If you’re anything like me, and have started to crave some good Italian food while reading them, this is an enjoyable read. It was written by Donna Leon’s best friend and talented cook, Roberta (Biba) Pianaro.The other day I decided that I will no longer review a cookbook without trying out at least one recipe. I can’t believe that I didn’t make this rule for myself earlier ! What was I thinking? I mean honestly, I don’t think that it’s right to review a cookbook without trying out at least one recipe! Well, I made an entire meal from the recipes here the other night and everyone was happy. We had Chickpea Balls for the appetizer. Our main course was Lamp Chops with Tomatoes and Basmati Rice. For dessert, we had Oven-Baked Apples with Confectioner’s Custard and Cream. They were delicious. Now, as far as cookbooks go, this book is okay, just not the best. The layout is not as organized as I like cookbooks to be. Also, there are a few recipes that contain ingredients which aren’t available where I live, and may be unavailable to others also. Mind you, this is not only a cookbook. There are excerpts from the Brunetti books, as well as essays with insights into Venetian life.Some of my favorite quotes:"Italian life is filled with food: people talk about it constantly, spend a great deal of time shopping for it and preparing it, and devote a joyous amount of time to eating it. One has but to pay close attention to them when they talk about food, or when they cook and eat, to begin to understand how fundamental it is to the living of a happy life and how vital it is to Italian culture."“One of the first things that was said to me when I came to Italy forty years ago, speaking not a word of the language, was ‘Mangia, mangia, ti fa bene.’ Eat, eat, it’s good for you.”

A recent reader of author Donna Leon and he Commisario Brunetti books, I, too, became interested in the "made from scratch" home made meals prepared by his wife Paola, their family favourites.These depictions make the stories "grounded", and bring a lightheartedness to Brunetti's daily grind of his work.Donna Leon brings reality to time and place, in her fictional stories.

I hadn't realized that there are two versions of recipes inspired by Donna Leon's Brunetti detective series: this one is text only and  Brunetti's Cookbook  with illustrations. I have the former. I bought it as a fan of Donna Leon's books set in Venice as one of the things I really enjoy about them is the mouth-watering descriptions of the dishes that Paula Brunetti sets before her family. The recipes in the book are cross referred to passages in the novels. I wouldn't recommend this book as a stand alone recipe book but more as an adjunct to the novels for those of us who are fans of the series. There are actually some nice recipes if you don't have a dedicated Italian recipe book such as  The Classic Italian CookbookBrunetti's CookbookThe Classic Italian Cookbook

Great way to publish a cook book, with excerpts from the actual Donna Leon Brunetti pubications alongside the mouth watering recipies. Our household will have a Leon/Brunetti/Venice summer foodwise, along with the obligatory glass of wine.

Really lovely book that brings the Brunetti series alive. It has really nice, simple recipes and it's a nice touch to have the correlating extract from the book to go with the food. I also like the little chapters in-between that explain about certain recipes, ingredients and characters. I recommend it to anyone who loved the series.

Bought for friend who loves cooking and the Donna Leon Brunetti books. As this is a paperback, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the quality is excellent. The cover has a gloss finish and the pages are printed on what appears to be a matt art paper, with a lovely smooth feel.The recipes look easy to follow and there are cute little illustrations in colour. Really pleased with this.