In Italian Food, Elizabeth David was the first to help us understand the real country cooking of Italy.

Italian Food was an inspiration to British cooks when it was first published in 1954 - and it remains so to this day. Embracing the variety, richness and vibrancy of Italian cooking, with particularly reference to regional variation, Elizabeth David provides a magnificent and inspiring collection of favourite dishes as well as those more rarely
encountered.

With straightforward recipes for meals such as Piedmontese cheese fondue, fettuccine with fresh tomato sauce and chicken breasts with ham and cheese, Elizabeth David brings us the authentic taste of Italian food.

'Elizabeth David's clear and unpretentious directions for the enjoyment of good food have never been surpassed' Daily Mail

'Not only did she transform the way we cooked but she is a delight to read' Express on Sunday

'Britain's most inspirational food writer' Independent

'When you read Elizabeth David, you get perfect pitch. There is an understanding and evocation of flavours, colours, scents and places that lights up the page' Guardian

'Not only did she transform the way we cooked but she is a delight to read' Express on Sunday

Why aren’t the recipes for this book available on ckbk?

We are building our collection of cookbooks all the time. This book is on our wish list, but it is not yet available on ckbk.

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Recommended by

Annabel Langbein

Author and celebrity cook

I have a copy of the very first 1954 edition, gifted from a distant cousin, and two more modern copies. This was the first book that provided an inkling of the range of regional Italian home cooking and the often-complex food traditions from region to region, and the book I used as my guide when I stepped into my first professional cooking job, at the age of 19 as the “chef” for a little neighbourhood restaurant in Gisborne on New Zealand's East Cape.

Sarah Beattie

Food writer

A classic, a book I return to often. I have a beautiful hardback edition, updated by David in 1987 with fabulous historical illustrations. It doesn't worry me that there are no pictures of the dishes and that the recipes are sometimes, if not incomplete, well, maybe under-explained for the novice cook. It feels like you're trusted to understand. Its compass is remarkable.

Cheryl Cohen

Farmer's market organizer

I still have my grandmother's copy of Italian Food. I used to copy out recipes and read chapters that made me want to travel to Italy, to cook and eat the food. At a time when ice cream meant a block of supermarket vanilla or Neapolitan, reading how to make apricot ice and coffee granita was a dream.

Italian Food

Recommended by

Annabel Langbein

Sarah Beattie

Cheryl Cohen

Rachel Roddy

Rachel McCormack

Letitia Clark

Valeria Necchio

Fiona Burrell

Shaun Hill

Ruth Rogers

Elly Curshen

Tom Conran

Chris Stueart

Sue Carter

Ed Mottershaw

David Dale

Giulia Scarpaleggia

Dino Joannides

CJ Jackson

Paulette Licitra

Stephanie Alexander

Bob Hart

Franco Taruschio

Carol Field

Tristram Stuart

Theo Randall

Kevin Gould

Nick Lander

Sri Owen

Felicity Souter

Tim Hunt