Portrait of Pasta (Anna Del Conte)

London, Paddington Press Ltd, 1976. Paperback. 

Nigella Lawson described Anna Del Conte's Portrait of Pasta as 'The book that actually changed the way the English thought about Italian cooking… and the instrumental force in leading us from the land of spag bol, macaroni cheese and tinned ravioli'.

Published in 1976, Portrait of Pasta was Italian-British food writer Anna Del Conte's first book. Over the following decades Del Conte cemented her reputation as the grande dame of Italian cooking in the UK (or, as Nigella wrote in the same essay, "the Marcella Hazan of England"). She has written over 25 titles celebrating Italian cooking and is widely admired for her insistence on positioning Italy's cuisine it in its regional, social and historical context. Portrait of Pasta is a wonderful exploration of the origins of pasta and it's significance throughout history. It also includes historical recipes (see: "Short Macaroni with Prunes" pg. 134) and dishes that will be familiar to today's readers. A gem of a book (the cover art!) and a must-have for pasta lovers and students of Italian cuisine.