The Il Fornaio Baking Book: Sweet and Savory Recipes from the Italian Kitchen - Softcover

Italian-born chef Franco Galli celebrates Italy's traditions as well as its innovations with this cookbook filled with recipes from the kitchens of the award-winning, California-based Il Fornaio. From traditional and specialty breads, focaccia, pizza, and other savory dishes, to a temptingly sweet selection of biscotti, cakes, and tarts; over seventy authentic recipes demonstrate the wonderful diversity and creativity of Italian bakers. Featured are Galli's carefully developed and easy-to-follow recipes for such Il Fornaio favorites as round, dark loaves of pagnotta; slender, crisp breadsticks; rosemary-flecked panmarino; almond-studded cantucci de Prato; fresh fruit crostata topped with a smooth, rich crema pasticceria; and chocolatey torta d'Alassio. Many of the recipes contain the authors heartwarming family memories, fascinating bits of lore, or age-old baking techniques, weaving them together in an entertaining, instructional narrative. Also included are introductory chapters on the history and art of Italian baking and on selecting the best ingredients and equipment. Beautifully designed and generously illustrated with warm hand-tone photographs, The Il Fornaio Baking Book provides a cooking experience that is deliciously Italian - contemporary, yet resolutely traditional, charming, and contagious in its enthusiasm for baking.

A native of the small town of Carpenedolo in northern Italy, Franco Galli went to work as a baker's apprentice at the age of ten. Despite his youth, he quickly developed a serious interest in and passion for the cuisine of his country. He later attended the prestigious Italian National Hotel School in Grado and went on to manage a family restaurant near Lago ki Garda. Galli came to the United States in 1979, where he developed menus for several well-known California restaurants before joining San Francisco-based Il Fornaio America in 1987.