This is a fine book to go with a fine series!!! Everyone of the cooks in this book are the finest around. And I have prepared about 75% of the recipes found in this book and I gotta tell you, I didn't know I could cook so good!!Vincent Schiavelli really surprised me with this series and he really brought the top Chefs in Italian Cooking and gave you an idea of what REAL Italian food is all about. I can only hope for another book and series.

Fans of the PBS series will adore this book because it brings the show to life right in your own kitchen. People who've never heard of the show will love the book because it's one of the best Italian cookbooks you'll ever find.

Four highly skilled and well-trained chefs lead us through a variety of fabulous foolproof dishes, and they do not lead us astray.

Each recipe is accompanied by a beautiful full page color photograph, as well as a helpful and interesting anecdotal notation about the main ingredients in the recipe. The recipe itself is clear, methodical, and leaves no room for error. I've tried at least two dishes from each chef and have never been disappointed.

Oddly enough, I caught only one episode of the PBS series but I was so impressed, I had to get the book immediately! I am a serious cookbook collector and have been disappointed many times. The Chefs of Cucina Amore is a definite winner. It's a delight to look at and is consistently rewarding to cook from. I highly recommend this book to anyone who truly savors exceptional Italian cooking.

There are a couple of genre whose excesses are apparent. One is cookbooks, the other is books about Tuscany. Indeed the very word Tuscany seems to have inspired dishware, linens; the list goes on. Given this plethora, it is a genuine delight to read this (or any) book by Nancy Harmon Jenkins. She not only serves up the greatest recipes, which is expected of any cookbook worth its salt, but her writing is charming and most intelligent. This is one book which not only gives the Flavors of Tuscany, but its people, its customs...its reality! Ms. Jenkins surpasses the usual and customary in food writing, she is a social historian who uses food to instill a genuine reality. Great food, even a better read!

I have always felt that the word "diet" hurts the appeal of this book. It is not a "go on this and lose weight" diet, but rather "the way the Mediterrean peoples of the world eat" diet. Most healthcare professionals feel that the Mediterrean diet is the healthiest diet there is; however, this book is on a list of my top five cookbooks in a collection of approximately 500 based on how delicious the food is! Try the Greek Salad and the Salad Nicoise, two dishes that are horribly served in diners all over the Northeast, to see how they really should taste. The food is truly wonderful AND healthy. The recipes are clearly written and easy to prepare. I give this book as a present all the time to both my health-conscious friends and my cooking friends. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to cook, to anyone who loves to eat, and to anyone who wants to clean up his nutritional act in 1997. I give my thanks to Nancy Harmon Jenkins for a monumental work and wish everyone who tries it good eating and good luck.

I discovered this book in searching for things that could help me do a better job of managing my own recently diagnosed hypertension. It is recommended in Dr. Thomas Pickering's book, "Good News about Hight Blook Pressure." Pickering is no "alternative" health faddist. He is a real doctor who bases his recommendations on the best scientific medical research he has at his disposal. He recommends the Mediterranean diet (over no less than that of the American Heart Association) and this book by Nancy Harmon Jenkins as one which can introduce you to the cultural experience of Mediterranean eating at an aesthetic level. This book has given our family an extraordinary series of great dining experiences. There is nothing dull about the recipes in this book. And the author has traveled and researched the subject so well that many of the recipes begin with a discussion of the person from whom the recipe is taken. The Moroccan Harira is an exceptional bean soup with just a little lean beef in it to add some interest bites along with the chick peas and lentils. It is the ginger, the cinnamon and the saffron, though, that make this soup a standing ovation dish. And this just an humble bean soup. Throughout, the spices are exotic and the uses of vegetables that most Americans long ago relegated to the category of culinary boredom are creative and delicious. Get a copy of this beautifully presented book, buy a drum of olive oil and get ready for healthy dining. Oh, and a little red wine is O.K., too. The Mediterranean diet is an absolute delight for its followers. As soon as I post this review, I am ordering two more copies as Christmas gifts for people on my list who love to cook and who like to venture beyond their secure bounds of their own culture. Neither of them has any problem with hypertension as far as I know. And, with this book on their kitchen reading shelf, perhaps they never will.

I've been hearing that the Mediterranean Diet is the most recommended by Doctors for a healthy lifestyle. So, I borrowed this book from the local library to see what was involved and to make sure that I could prepare the dishes. These mouth watering recipes are so delicious and good for you too and best of all, they are within my limited cooking ability!. I'm ordering the book today!