POLPO: A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts)

This great bok is beautifully constructed, it feels great to hold, has an amazing spine that opens and stays open, has recipes that are fresh, usuable, inspiring and tasty. I first came across this cookbook at a dinner party where the hostess was cooking a pizza that had just rosemary and thinly sliced new potatoes on it. I was msesmerised and it was delicious. I kept the name of the book in the back of my mind and a year later I bought it for myself, I am now just mad for it. We had the book with us on a holiday, each day, we all chose something to make and each evening we were delighted with our choices. Highly recommend the meatballs with what seems like a preposterous amount of fennel seeds. Just magic.

Excellent book good recipes and history.

Lovely book with interesting recipes . Easy to follow and ingredients easy to get

Having visited Polpo the restaurant, and loving the food, I was delighted there was a book available so I could make the dishes at home. Inspired by what I ate, I invited one of my Italian friends over and we tried making a few dishes. The tomato sauce could not be easier, a lot of tomatoes, both canned and fresh, some oil, garlic and oregano boiled down. To go along with it, we made the lamb and pistachio meatballs, as they were a little unusual and putting them in the oven took out the messy job of frying them off in a pan. They are moreish bite-sized of yummyness. Definitely worth making. We also made pizzetta and made a version of the blanca, with asparagus and courgettes. Make sure that you roll it out very thinly as if it's too thick, it won't cook in the middle, though that didn't put my friend off! Also on the menu were the prawns - we could only obtain frozen raw prawns with no shells on, which just didn't work, as there was too much water content that oozed out. It tasted nothing like the ones I tried in the restaurant, so it's worth shopping around for fresh raw prawns. The mozzarella bocconcini - mozzarella dipped in breadcrumbed and deep fried were interesting. The mozzarella just melted out and I had to cut the ball in half as it was quite chewy. All in, the dishes were tasty and it saved me a lot of money from returning to the restaurant. The photos are beautiful food porn and really makes you want to make the items. It's bounded in such a way that you don't have to press the book down and ruin the spine, which is exposed to show the workmanship. The instructions are easy to follow, so if you're a completely new starter to cooking, it's straight forward. My Italian friend said some of the dishes weren't really Italian but i'm not complaining and it does say "of sorts".

I love this book - the way it looks and feels, its informative and interesting; not to mention the delicious recipes! I've made several of the cicheti dishes so far and found them very easy to follow. I will be visiting Venice for the third time in as many years at the end of the summer and will definitely be visiting some of the places mentioned in this wonderful book. Buy it even if you don't cook - you won't be disappointed.

I bought this book because a friend had it...and we sampled some recipes!. Its a great recipe book and in my mind will be a good 'go to' for when friends come round to eat. It is a lovely book to look at, clear layout and good photos . The reading at the beginning captures the inspiration of the book very nicely....the recipes all seem achievable without too much preparation. It hasn't made the book shelf yet....it's a good coffee table book too!

I bought the book to give to friends who we were joining in Venice to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. So, having now visited the city I realise how much it genuinely represents certain aspects of Venetian cookery, especially Ciccetti, the snack food available everywhere in the city. I also have my own copy and have used the recipes which work and are easy to follow. And what's more, I've eaten in the restaurant in Soho several times: I unashamedly confess to being a Polpo fan...!

I've had this cookbook for a couple of years now, and it's one that I never get bored of. The recipes are simple, sometimes labour intensive, but always give you amazing flavour in the end results. It's a proper fancy cook book too, one that you can read from time to time to just salivate over the pictures of food. If you love the Polpo restaurants, and love authentic northern Italian food then you'll love this cookbook. Be warned - there aren't many pizza or pasta recipes here! But there are some awesome fish and rabbit ones to try for those who are more adventurous.

Super beautiful book and easy to follow recipes.

Loved it. Simple, tasty & easy to follow. ☀️

I love the way this book is made. I love the paper. I love the binding. And the content, the recipes, are wonderful. The recipes really do look like something that could be made at home.

La migliore via per conoscere la cucina di Venezia illustrata da fotografie fantastiche e ricette descritte nei particolari. Provatele! Sono fantastiche.

I lost my hardcover edition of this book and I just bought the kindle version because I missed it so much. The subtitle of this book is "A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts)" is perfect because the book contains many recipes that lovers of Italian foods from other regions of Italy will recognize and love, but the many photos of Venice, along with the "Gazetteer" and list of cafes and restaurants at the book's end, will have every lover of that city pining away for it. A visit to Venice notwithstanding, this cookbook is the next best thing. The unfussy, generally easy, and wonderfully delicious recipes evoke not only the flavors of Venice, but capture the languorous atmosphere of the city as well. One thing to note, however, is that the measurements in the book are metric. In the non-digital version, it was easy to make hand-written notes next to the amounts but that is neither as easy nor as practical to do in the digital version. At least not as far as I have discovered. Many of the recipes look deceptive because they seem way too easy. That, in many ways, is the genius of this book. It is the combination of flavors and often the method of preparation instead of the number of ingredients that make these recipes shine. Among my favorites: The Cicheti will up your appetizer game like crazy. - Bacalà Mantecato - I love salt cod and this preparation of it is one that I have thrown all others over for. It's better than any brandade de morue recipe I've made (no potatoes) and it is delicious. - Tuna & Leek Crostini - Guests went crazy over this. It's not beautiful but doesn't matter once you taste it. Using good tuna in olive oil is a must. - Smoked Salmon, Horseradish and Dill Crostini - another total guest pleaser. - Anchovy & Chickpea Crostini - very good and make-ahead. The rest: - Duck, Black Olive & Tomato Ragù - my husband loves duck, so I thought I'd give this a try. Oh, oh, oh. Worth the extra steps. A company-worthy dish if ever there was one. - The Gnocchi - I can't believe I made gnocchi that was so easy and so light on the first try. Why would I ever buy it again? - Basic Tomato Sauce - this is a delicious one. Make a lot to keep on hand for itself and for other recipes. - Walnut Pesto - Oh, my, is this good. If you like bitter flavors, this is your new pesto. - Roast Potatoes & Rosemary - a little bit of additional work is required but it makes for a creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside result. So good. - Cauliflower & Fontina Gratin - A flavor combo made in heaven Pick any of the Pizzetta. They are all good and very easy to make. I'd get the book just for these. Desserts - The Blood Orange & Campari Cake made with Greek yogurt and almonds. Need I say more? Drinks - The Negronis, a spritz, a Bellini and the Elderflower Lemonade fully cover my desires in this department. I consider a good cookbook to be one that I get at least three recipes that I want to repeat over and over. This book goes far beyond that. With few exceptions, I eventually want to cook my way through every recipe, and I honestly can't say that about too many cookbooks.