South Philly Review

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“Food for me was a connecting link to my grandmother, to my childhood, to my past. And what I found out is that for everybody, food is a connector to their roots, to their past in different ways. It gives you security; it gives you a profile of who you are and where you come from.”

Lidia Matticchio Bastianich said these wise words on Public Television a number of years ago. She is a fine home cook, author of six cookbooks and has been cooking on Public Television for many years. Her newest book is “Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes,” which she wrote with her daughter Tanya Bastianich Manuali who received a Ph.D in Italian Renaissance art history from Oxford University.

Bastianich is the Marcella Hazan of the baby-boom generation. Ironically, both Italian-born cooks/authors were fortunate to have Judith Jones as their editor. Jones has been at Alfred A. Knopf for many years and was responsible for discovering Julia Child and publishing “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in 1961.

The recipes in the new book are accessible. There are no hard-to-find exotic ingredients. The full-color photographs taken by Christopher Hirsheimer made me run for my stockpot. The dust jacket photograph of Bastianich leaning over a colorful array of heirloom tomatoes will make you hungry.

Go to the bookstore now and purchase a copy for a fine Mother’s or Father’s Day gift.

I had difficulty selecting recipes because all of them tempted me. Bastianich points out that Italy, like France and America, is a country of regional cooking. Dishes from Trentino differ greatly from those served in Umbria.

■ Country Salad (Insalata Paesana from Trentino-Alto Adige) ■

Ingredients:
1 pound of cauliflower
3 to 4 red potatoes
1 large or 2 small crisp apples, peeled, cored and cut into quarter-inch dice
8 small radishes, trimmed and quartered
1 cup of red onion, in quarter-inch dice
8 ounces of imported Italian Asiago, cut in quarter-inch cubes
1/2 cup of toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Directions:

Bring three quarts of water to a boil.

Tear off any tough outer leaves of the cauliflower and cut out the core. Break into small florets. Drop them into the boiling water and cook until tender, for about five minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove cauliflower and drain well in a colander. Cool and place in a large bowl.

Return the water to a boil. Drop in the potatoes and cook at a gentle boil just until a knife blade pierces the center easily. Drain and briefly cool the potatoes. Peel them while still warm and cut into quarter-inch dice. Place in the bowl.

Add the apples to the bowl. Add the radishes, onions, cubes of Asiago and toasted walnuts.

Sprinkle with the salt and toss. Drizzle the oil over the salad and toss. Sprinkle on the parsley and toss again.

Serves six.

■ Baked Fish with Savory Bread Crumbs (Tinche al Forno) from Umbria ■

Ingredients:
2 pounds of whitefish fillets
3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 large lemon
1/2 cup of dry white wine
6 plump garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
1/2 cup of fine dry bread crumbs
Zest of 1 large lemon
1 tablespoon of fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon of red hot pepper flakes, chopped fine
Fresh lemon slices for serving