La Lama Mountain Ovens
Old Italian family recipes and archives, and a cook book in process.
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This page archives the Family Secrets series; and provides access to recipes, publications, books, and resource references on food, wine, baking, high altitude food preparation adjustments, first-generation Italian-American food, and related subjects.

Family Secrets Library:
Italian-American Family Recipes With A Personal Touch

Family Secrets are archived here in both download versions (click in DownLoad column) and browser-viewable versions (click in View column). Downloaded files will print in much better formatting and graphic resolution than the browser-viewable pages. Browsers don't know about printer page boundaries and are quite happy to split a picture across two pages. All files are Microsoft Word version 6.0 using Arial font, prepared on a PC (not on a Mac) running Windows 95. Download versions are not compressed, and run anywhere from 20kb to 400kb in size as they contain pictures. Your patience will be rewarded with an excellent printable version. We have also bundled all of the Secrets into a series of "pkzip" compressed files - but you will need to "unzip" these files before you can open them under MS Word.

For unzip decompression utility software PC users can download WinZip and Mac users can download Stuffit Delux. If you don't know what all this "zip" and "Word" talk is about you'll either have to ask someone more knowledgeable or settle for the poorly formatted browser-printable versions. If you don't have the standard Microsoft Arial fonts available to your version of Word, page boundaries may be different as your system will substitute another font, generally of slightly different size.

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Cozze en Bianco o Rosso (Mussels In White or Red Sauce) (139kb)

Recommended Books

Generally available from www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnobel.com

• Clayton, Bernard, Jr., The Breads of France, Bobbs-Merrill, 1978. A treasure trove of authentic recipes from France
• Field, Carol, The Italian Baker, Harper and Row, 1985. Traditional recipes of the Italian countryside with excellent directions.
• Galli, Franco, The IL Fornaio Bakery Book, Chronicle Books, 1993. A compilation of breads and cookies from the noted IL Fornaio restaurant and bakery chain of California, originally from Italy.
• Gisslen, Wayne, Professional Baking (Second Edition), John Wiley, 1993. For the serious baker with some experience.
• Niethammer, Carolyn J., The Tumbleweed Gourmet, The University of Arizona Press, 1987. Even though this book is subtitled "Cooking with Wild Southwestern Plants" there are many recipes, especially in the wild greens section that are suitable for a great part of the United States. Nicely presented with identifying sketches of plants for the novice forager.
• Wood, Ed, World Sourdoughs From Antiquity, Ten Speed Press, 1996. For the serious bread baker, a collection of fabulous sourdoughs.

Classics that may or may-not be out of print, but in the used-book stores.

• Boni, Ada, Italian Regional Cooking, translated from Italian, E.P.Dutton, 1969.
• Buonassisi, Vincenzo. Pasta, first published as Il Codice della Pasta, 1973, by Rizzoli Editore, Milan. US/Canadian edition 1976, Lyceum Books, Inc. A compendium of over 650 pasta recipes from ancient to modern, covering all regions of Italy. Recipes range from simple to esoteric.
• Root, Waverley, The Food of Italy, Atheneum, 1971.
• Viazzi, Alfredo, Alfredo Viazzi's Cucina e Nostalgia, Random House, 1983.

Other Interesting Books

• Junior League of Oakland, California Fresh, forward by M.F.K. Fisher, Junior League of Oakland-East Bay, Inc., 1985. To order: J.L.O.E.B., 1980 Mountain Blvd., Oakland, CA 94611. This is a sophisticated, well tested, beautifully illustrated series of recipes contributed by professional chefs as well as well as League members.

Recommended Periodicals

• Bon Appétit - Published once a month, this is an old favorite with a great diversity of articles and up to the minute trends and recipes. The recipes are usually not overly complicated and work well.
• Cook's Illustrated - Published six times per year, this is an in-depth magazine which presents thoroughly researched articles on all aspects of cooking. If you are interested in the science of cooking you will love this publication. Best of all, the recipes really work!
• Saveur - Published six times a year. An excellent source of international recipes and food knowledge, with mouth watering pictures from around the world.
• The Wine Advocate - Published six tiems per year. Intelligent, accurate, comprehensive, awesome wine reviews.

Other Web Sites

Check out our link page for related and useful web sites.