Tasting Italy: A Culinary Journey (★★★★☆)

You can tell right away that ATK partnered with National Geographic for this cookbook. The photos are the stars of the show. The book reminds me of Lonely Planet’s themed guide books–the ones you buy more to look at or put on your coffee table than for practical travel advice.

The recipes in this cookbook are grouped by region. They are more complicated than some of the (many) other recipes I’ve seen from ATK, and that’s because a lot of them involve homemade pasta and slightly more exotic, region-specific ingredients.

But the book is beautiful and packed with interesting info on each region of Italy. I love reading about the food history and traditions of each place. Honestly, I’ve cooked only one of the more simple recipes in here so far (it was delicious), but I have learned so much about Italy and really enjoyed just relaxing and soaking up the stories.

Bottom line, this cookbook is for cooks looking for more advanced and authentic Italian recipes or for people who would like to read more about Italy’s culinary history and see some truly gorgeous pictures.

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Thank you to America’s Test Kitchen, National Geographic, and Amazon Vine for the ARC!