Rao's Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking Reviews

• Great Italian at home

  
  By AQIQK6LYYMYS9 on 1999-12-01
  I picked this book up over a year ago now, and from the veal saltimbocca to the stuffed veal chop to the lemon chicken to the Sunday gravy, absolutely wonderful. Then I moved to the shrimp scampi and the accolades just go on. Wonderfully annotated with quotations of those who have been fortunate enough to get a reservation, and historical notes about the restaurant and the family. If you want to put real Italian food on the table that will impress yourself first, and wow your guests, this is a great place to start. And the good news is San Marzano tomatoes are now readily available in supermarkets. These tomatoes are recommended throughout the book, and once I found them, they are really the bright star in canned Italian tomatoes. The writing is clear, the suggestions on point, and the finished product fit for your best tablecloth.
  
  

• This book is a winner

  
  By on 2000-01-11
  This is a terrific book that makes a wonderful Italian cook out of anyone -- even an Irish girl from Virginia! I have plenty of great Italian cookbooks, from Marcella Hazan to Mario Batali, but this one really takes the cake for traditional Southern Italian food. Every recipe I've tried has been fabulous. In particular, the meatballs in marinara sauce are out of this world. You won't believe how good they are. Buy the book and make the dish!
  
  

• Simple ingredients do wonders

  
  By on 1999-05-10
  Coming from an Italian family, I was a little reluctent to try other family recipes. Well the ones I have made so far were absolutely fabulous! From the meatballs and gravy to the chicken scarpiello. Please don't forget the pork chops with sweet and hot peppers. I have to tried to eat at Rao's, but unfortunately it is who you know. Soon enough I might have a way in there. But the book will do just fine for now! The stories in the book are so great. As my mother would say "food is the glue that keeps the family together." Oh, and olive oil and garlic is the essence of life.
  
  

• This is THE Italian cookbook to own!

  
  By on 1999-03-28
  If you're an Italian-American, (or want to cook like one), this is a must have book. It will evoke memories of the wonderful times, sights and aromas of family dining in your neighborhood Italian restaurant. The Italain comfort food recipes, entwined with stories of the Pellegrino family, make this a great read. I know because I own a collection of about 30+ Italian cookbooks.
  
  

• Italian-American Home Cooking. Great Sentiment. Pricy

  
  By A20IIR0422G3A5 on 2004-12-18
  `Rao's Cookbook' by restaurateur / chef / actor Frank Pellegrino is the restaurant cookbook of what may be considered Manhattan's premier corner bar. The story is that the restaurant is only open five days a week, has but eight tables and each and every one of them is booked solid, like corporate boxes at the Astrodome. So, virtually the only way to get a sitting at Rao's is to be invited by a person with a permanent table reservation, or have such a benefactor lend you their reservation or, for a single evening, have the table revert to the discretion of Rao's matre'd.
  
  The attraction of Rao's is not the same as that for Mario Batali's `Babbo' down in the village. Rao has no celebrity chef and its cuisine is simple Italian-American fare. There are no pilgrimages to the Union Square market for superfresh artisinal provisions. All their goods are bought at local shops in what is left of `Little Italy North' on the corner of Pleasant Avenue and 113th street in East Harlem.
  
  This book is much more a celebration of place and of a very simple cuisine than it is any attempt at haute cuisine. At less than 180 pages of text, with lots of those pages taken up by Rao family snapshots, the book lists for a hefty $40, possibly to support the stipend to Dick Schapp and Nicholas Pileggi, who contributed a Preface and an Introduction respectively.
  
  As chance would have it, I reviewed author Pellegrino's newer book before opening this volume, and I discover that there is a lot of overlap in the titles of recipes between the two books. That may not be an entirely bad thing for owning the two volumes, as the earlier one presents restaurant recipes while the later book presents personal `Italian-American' cuisine. This means that the earlier book's recipes may be more elaborate, but in general they are not. There are some few differences in the way a lot of the recipes are written, but few of these differences are likely to make a big difference in taste. Both books share the same attention to simplicity and the same pantry. Both books, for example, consistently use canned San Marsano tomatoes in all recipes. The restaurant book does make a point of manually removing any hard flesh in the tomato while mashing up its pulp. There are also instructions with several recipes on how to prep a dish so that it is ready to be served after just a last minute saute.
  
  The recipe chapter's names are virtually identical to the newer `Neighborhood' book. In general, the newer book is much more consistent in its presentation of an English dish title with an Italian subtitle. The `Neighborhood' book is also much better in consistently providing captions for all photographs, contemporary or historical. I would also rate the recipes in this book a bit better than Rocco DiSprito's latest effort, and equal to recipes in John Mariani's excellent book on Italian-American cuisine and recipes. Neither book's recipes are quite as good as Lydia Bastianich's much longer book on Italian-American cuisine.
  
  The numerous quotes sprinkled throughout the book range from cute to interesting, and contribute nothing to the culinary value of the book. The selection of desserts is nothing special. The ultimate reason for buying this book may be to taste the dishes you simply cannot get from Rao, because it is impossible to get a table there.
  
  I am happy to have read this book and I will refer to it and its partner, the `Neighborhood' book when I am looking for good, simple, pasta or chicken recipes, but I will continue to rely on Hazan, Bastianich, and other professional writers for my staple source of Italian recipes.
  
  This is a good book of recipes, albeit a bit overpriced. If you need to choose, I recommend the newer book, as it has more recipes and less fluff for the same price. If the discount is deeper on this earlier book, get it instead.
  
  Recommended source for good Italian-American recipes and southern Italian sentiments.
  
  
  
• someone didn't want to tell the family secrets
  By on 1999-01-19
  We looked foward to cooking from this book. However, we've been very disappointed...something is missing...mainly ingredients...otherwise this is the blandest food ever. tried sunday gravy... 3 cans of tomatoes and 2 cans of water with 3tablespoons of tomato paste...no spices...just roasting meats...tasted like tomato soup!
  
  
• A Must for Every Kitchen
  By A3RS0HEWBVI29P on 2004-01-17
  When building your library of essentials, count this cookbook as one of the corner pieces of the puzzle. The simplicity of the recipes and the list of ingredients will tantalize your tastebuds along with the beautiful photographs. You'll also be sharing the classic marinara recipe with everyone who says, "I've GOT to have the recipe for this sauce!" You won't believe the flavor of this sauce and you'll make tons of it! It freezes well, too. I've had the book for over two years now and no recipe in it has been a disappointment.
  
  
• But is it authentic?
  By on 1999-04-17
  I've heard that Rao's Restaurant is as close to "authentic" as you can get. Never having dined at the tiny restaurant I easily dismissed such claims. Nothing could top the favorite dishes of my family. When I opened the Rao's Cookbook I felt as though I opened up the oven to my past. The mere sight of ingredients, not to mention the smells, were very familiar. After having sampled many of the recipes (most several times) I could find no fault, only praise. It was as if every grandparent, aunt and uncle were busy preparing their finest dishes for me to enyoy. But better yet I finally have all their recipes, down to the subtle ingredients they conveniently leave out. Thank you Rao's, it is "authentic."
  
  
• Mama Mia! If you love Italian food, this book is for you!
  By A2MSYUSD5D4VGL on 1998-06-29
  What a wonderful cookbook! The recipes are easy to follow and don't require exoctic ingredients you'll never use again. My Italian grandmother and mother cooked in this same manner since I was a small child. If I didn't know better I would think it was their receipes in someone else's cookbook! Buy this book, you will not be disappointed.
  
  
• I use it over and over again.....
  By on 2001-02-14
  As an avid cookbook collector and reader with over 700 cookbooks to date, this is the one book I use the most. My favorites, which I've made over and over again, are the Manicotti, Shrimp Parmagiana, and Rao's Lemon Chicken. The marinara sauce is excellent, although I prefer mine made with wine. The Stuffed Artichoke recipe seemed like it would work, but it didn't. However, I don't expect to find perfection with every recipe from any book. For the Manicotti recipe, I leave out the eggs from the cheese mixture - just personal preference. I recently made 2 trays of it for a friends party, and it went over in a big way. The recipes are not complicated, and you don't have to be a real experienced cook to use this book. I can't recommend it highly enough.
  
  
• AS WEIRD AS THE RESTAURANT ITSELF !
  By on 2000-07-23
  This is only half cookbook. The rest serves to perpetuate the myth of the famous but inaccessable Rao's Restaurant, at a relative cost as high as the astronomical price of a simple plate of pasta with tomato sauce there. It could equally have been entitled "Eating Habits of the Rich and Famous" with more biographies than recipes.
  
  
• "Bellisimo..........."
  By on 1999-08-06
  One of the best, if not the best, Italian cookbooks in my kitchen, and I have close to 75 of them. The tripe recipe is outstanding! I was interested in the comment from one reader who complained about the macaroni gravy (we call "sauce" gravy in Rhode Island) being like tomato soup. When I read the recipe, I also had reservations. I would suggest that instead of adding two cans of water, add two small cans of tomato sauce (Hunt's, believe it or not, is good) and season with salt and pepper to taste. Also, when adding the paste, add it no more than one-half hour before you are going to take the pot off the stove, and add no more than two tablespoons of the paste. If you add more and cook it longer, it will just turn to sugar. Other than this recipe for gravy, I found the book full of authentic recipes.
  
  
• big disappointment
  By A3MU9GS40SP3QS on 2005-07-17
  I was so impressed by the rave reviews that I couldn't wait to buy this book. It was one of my biggest disappointments! The "recipe" for broiled veal chops is salt and pepper the veal and broil it. Likewise, the recipes for broiled pork chops and broiled steak are salt and pepper and broil. That's a recipe? The book is very heavy on veal and uses can after can of San Marzano Italian plum tomatoes which might be readily available in big cities but not in my world. Frankly - there was nothing here that seemed unusual or special. Save your money to actually fly to NYC to visit the restaurant. Aapparently being "exclusive" makes up for simplisitic non-recipe recipes.
  
  
• Someone left some ingredients out!!!!
  By on 1999-08-10
  Borrowed the book and made some of the recipes...(meatballs, marinara sauce, lemon chicken) I couldn't understand why such a famous restaurant would release their secret recipes to the public....(hint:they didn't)
  
  
• Terrific neighborhood Italian cooking
  By on 1998-11-05
  Every household has a favorite cooking style, a combination of taste, memories, and the necessities of place, time, and diet. In our house, that position has sometimes been held by French food and occasionally Asian, but the all-time and ultimate winner is Italian.

  Italian food, with its emphasis on the freshest and best seasonal ingredients - and the least fuss in cooking them - is very appealing. Real Italian cooking, as it is cooked and eaten in Italy, focuses on vegetables and grains, with meats used as seasoning, garnish, and treat, so it's also very healthy.

  American-Italian cooking - the kind you remember from the old-style neighborhood Italian restaurant of your childhood memories - is based on that, but is much richer, with meat taking the center place.

  Rao's Cookbook is a perfect melding of the two, offering both classic Italian dishes and classic Italian-American ones.

  In fact, on page 65, I discovered Sunday Gravy, Rao's version of The Big Spaghetti Dinner, a favorite buffet dinner of ours for many years. I noted with culinary interest and delight that Rao's use the thinner tomato gravy I remember from my visits to Philadelphia's authentic South Philly Italian restaurants instead of the thick tomato sauce (derived, I'd guess, from some tenth generation bastardization of Ragu Bolognese) that we suggest.

  No one can reasonably expect to get into tiny Rao's (it has 8 tables and one seating) except via celebrity or inheritance. The seats are "owned" by the original diners and Rao's has withstood any enticements to expand. These recipes are the next best thing. If you like to cook Italian style, they may be better! We've tried many of the recipes and enjoyed every one.
  
  

• I HATE restaurant cookbooks
  By on 2004-01-21
  I must have 40 cookbooks, and I hardly ever use the ones written by even the best restaurant chefs. They usually demand too many wierd unavailable ingredients, take too much time, are too fussy about details, and often don't work particularly well. That's just my personal pet peeve. THIS cookbook is the exception to that rule. The recipes are a beautiful example of what makes italian cooking great, a few very nice ingredients, put together simply, in a delicious and creative way. This is classic family-style italian, done in an irresistibly delicious way. The recipes generally use a few basic ingredients, and are both easy to execute and well laid-out. Nearly everything I've cooked from the book has been at least very good, and some things have been outstanding. Usually, I'm pretty impressed if more than half the recipes are any good. I cook from this book on WEEKDAYS, for heaven's sake. This is easily in my top 3. Favorites include lemon chicken (yum)!, chicken cacciatore, veal marsala, meatballs, marinara sauce. As a final added attraction, there are anecdotes throughout the book, by folks from customers including Dick Schaap and Billy Crystal, among many others. This is a cookbook that's even fun to read!
  
  
• Authentic recipes for people who know real Italian cooking
  By A1K9IW99EFBZ52 on 2006-04-15
  This book covers appetizers, soups & salads, pasta, risotto, chicken, meats, seafood, vegetables and sweets in an old-world, family style way. If you've ever had real Italian food, cooked by real Italians, you'll know within a few minutes of browsing this book that it's one of the best. From the marinara sauce to a mouth-watering Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta & Beans), from the Shrimp Scampi to the Steak Pizzaiola, this collection of recipes (and the excellent quality of printing) more than justifies the somewhat frightening cover price. Once you prepare and taste just a few of these recipes you'll find out that the jar sauce and green cardboard container of grated cheese in your cupboard have only one place where they belong: the trash can. Many thanks to the Rao family for passing these treasures on to us.
  
  
• Too much olive oil!
  By on 1999-02-07
  The recipes are OK, but in my opinion, 1 cup of olive oil per recipe is too much, even if you are using the best of oils, in which case it seems to me you would use less, not more oil. I have tried several recipes and found that most of them would have been better had I cut back on all of that oil -- everything tasted like it was swimming in grease. If that's real home Italian cooking, then they must like it greasy. This book was kind of a disappointment after all the hype. Also, these are not dishes you are going to make after working all day. These require planning, preparation, distinct ingredients, like special tomators, and time to put it all together.
  
  
• Soul Food -- Stellar Recipes to Share with and Amaze Friends
  By A243G28IKWN7HQ on 2001-07-08
  You will probably want to plan on having company when you start trying out these recipes, because you will want all the world to know what a great cook you are.

  This cookbook has made me look good so many times, I can't imagine living without it. Bless the inspired friend who gave it to me! The ingredients for the minestrone look simple enough, but the combination is rich and satisfying. Linguini with white or pink clam sauce comes out delectably (even cutting back some on the oil). Biscotti and cannolis (complete with shells) were a smash -- dishes I was fearful of attempting before, by the way. It's a cookbook I've come to trust implicitly. I can approach dishes I've never made with confidence that they will turn out successfully. In my experience few other cookbooks (maybe the first Moosewood volume) are so consistent.

  Maybe the best testimony would be to say that the recipes have roundly impressed even my Italian partner and his family. Buon appetito!
  
  

• The fundamentals of real Italian cooking with flair
  By A1PECXUOOUUS05 on 2001-08-03
  If you're looking to learn the basics of exquisite, yet simple Italian cooking, this is a great cookbook. The recipes are fantastic, and are very easy to prepare. Although I found the "celebrity" comments about Rao's quite annoying, you'll memorize most of the recipes fairly quickly and won't have to keep seeing ridiculously trite comments from wannabe socialites and celebrity remora. I realize the book is also a commemoration of the magic of Rao's, but you'll find Rao's is much more magical in your own dining room.
  
  
• The BEST IN ITALIAN cooking!!!
  By on 2002-05-21
  I just got through making the lasagne in this book, and it is the best, most authentic recipe I have ever seen in a cookbook. My family was in awe that I, a Swedish girl, came up with this truly original and authentic recipe for one of Italy's most famous taste sensations. Rao's really lets you in on their inner most secrets of fine tradition and homestyle, old country cooking. I can't wait to try the rest of the book!!!
  
  
• Delicious beyond words!!
  By on 2002-12-27
  I first heard about this book while watching Sarah Moulton on the Food Channel. She had Frank Pellegrino and his son as guests, and they were impressive to watch. The simplicity of the recipes appealed to me, so I ordered the book from Amazon.com. What a treat!! So far,I have made the meatballs, the braciole and the Sunday Gravy, as well as the shrimp scampi. Every dish was superb. I followed the authors' advice and ordered a case of San Marzano tomatoes from The Salumeria in Boston, MA, and was very pleased with those as well. Finally, I am able to cook Italian dishes that taste truly Italian, every bit as flavorful and satisfying as the food I have eaten in Boston's North End. This is a definite winner--I can't praise it highly enough.
  
  
• If I could only have one cookbook this would be it!
  By AQY3L7UOWLWTI on 1999-08-08
  This cookbook is a must for anyone who loves great Italian food,and the colorful history of Rao's restaurant.I only wish I could get a chance to eat there! As they say if you don't know Frank forgetaboutit!Dr Bill Passet
  
  
• The Best Cook Book Ever
  By A2C2PVW9Z4UKGD on 2004-11-23
  This is, by far, the best Italian cook book available. Of course, no one can make sauce (we never called it gravy) like my mother; I can't even duplicate it. Suprisingly, Rao's recipe comes very close to my mothers.
  
  There are two recipes that I especially enjoy very much. And, I have prepared them more than a dozen times each: Rao's Famous Lemon Chicken and Osso Buco. Once in a while I substitute chicken thighs for the veal shanks. The Lemon Chicken is like nothing I've ever had before and the Osso Buco on a bed of risotto is to die for.
  
  I'd give anything to dine at Rao's just once!
  
  
• Restaurant Quality Food at Home
  By A38GNUT5VCCTXF on 2005-05-25
  I received this book as a gift and use it constantly. The recipes are very simple and require few ingredients. My homestead is from New York and since we live in Colorado, I make food from the cookbook whenever he's homesick. Our staples are the marinara sauce, saltimbuca, chicken parm, stuffed shells and manicotti. Everything has turned out great.
  
  
• Rao's Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking
  By A13M5NUUDP0RLO on 2005-08-27
  This was given to me as a gift by my co-workers about 6 years ago. I had made many of the recipies and although some were complicated, the end result was well worth the effort.
  
  Having recently moved to Florida from NY, and now having a gourmet kitchen, my husband and I take great joy in cooking together. Since we can no longer experience some of the best Italian restaurants in the country, we have to make our own Italian specialties. We have used the book so often that the spine has broken and all the pages are loose, but we will not part with it. If I cannot preserve the old book, I will certainly buy a new one!
  
  If you want to experience some of the best Italian cooking without actually going to Rao's, try this book.
  
  
• one of the best italian cookbooks i've ever seen!
  By on 1999-01-22
  what more can i say than this is the closest to mom's cooking i've ever seen.
  
  
• extrordinary
  By AX7D1NFJQ3OJW on 2001-06-18
  Want to cook like an Italian American in an uncomplicated fashion. This is your guide. You're not Italian at all, well you can learn to cook that way easily with this well-written book. These are the recipes that my mom cooked for me when I was growing up. I never did get to have her record them, so this book is a great substition. They are not fancy. Just plain good Italian-American fare. You just want to sit around the table, eat, drink and have a wonderful time. Frank Pellegrino is a tribute to all Italian Americans, keeping our heritage alive and bring back some of the old neighborhood memories. Bet many of you never even heard of East Harlem or Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Buy it, give it to everyone you know, it is a terrific gift.
  
  
• The Italian Cookbook Must for Every Household
  By on 1999-01-27
  This cookbook is one of the best Italian Cookbooks in my collection. The recipe's are authentic Italian, easy to prepare and delicious. The Rao Cookbook is the perfect gift for a young newleywed couple since it has basically every Italian Recipe one would one to make.
  
  
• Finally! Practical & Delicious Italian Cuisine
  By on 1998-12-14
  About time...

  All too often the recipes from the cookbooks of great restaurants are convoluted and, quite simply, wrong. These recipes are simple, straight forward and delicious.

  The only thing missing are more pictures of the dishes. With that, it's a five-star.
  
  

• Rao's Recipes from the Neighborhood: Frank Pelligrino Cooks Italian with Family and Friends
• Patsy's Cookbook: Classic Italian Recipes from a New York City Landmark Restaurant
• An Evening at Rao's: Songs from an Italian Restaurant
• The Arthur Avenue Cookbook: Recipes and Memories from the Real Little Italy
• Christmas at Rao's: A Celebration of Family, Friends & Holiday Spirit