As the title suggests… the cookbook is about bread. It’s divided by continents, with a selection of bread recipes from the Americas, Europe, the Middle and Far East, Africa, Australia. The author also explains the different kinds of flours and yeasts, and how to make sourdough.

There’s just one thing she hasn’t paid enough attention to. The yeast used in the recipes is always fresh, and quantities vary according to the kind of bread and quantity of flour. There are also quantities for dry yeast, but if you look closer you’ll find that they’re always the same regardless of the recipe: 500g of flour? 1 sachet of dry yeast. 300g? 1 sachet. This isn’t very helpful for first-time bakers, who will use dry yeast most of the time beacause it’s easier to find. But at the end of the day it’s no big deal: if you use dry yeast with this cookbook stick to the instructions on the sachet.

More cookbooks reviews, and all the recipes from cookbooks, including this one

• it’s cookbook written by a non-Italian, which is a nice slap to all those Italians who don’t like when non-Italians teach them how to cook
• The recipes are straightforward and really work, you only need to follow them.
• There’s a good balance between classic (aubergine parmigiana, baked pasta, pizza…) and more sophisticated recipes.
• pictures are what they should be in a cookbook: taken on planet earth and not in food Heaven.
• It might be pure editorial strategy, but Jamie’s attitude towards Italy and Italian cuisine is of respect and genuine curiosity

I read some reviews saying that this cookbook only uses ingredients you find in delis, but it’s not true: pasta, ricotta, Parmesan, basil, tomatoes, they’re all at Lidl and Tesco.

Recipes from Jamie’s Italy: Hunter’s chicken, Pork chops with sage, Shortcrust pastry for the fruit tart