This cookbook covers the whole range of Italian bread and its diverse baking traditions. Extensive introductory material on history, culture, ingredients, equipment, and techniques is provided by the author who traveled across Italy for two years to compile the background for this cookbook. Pizze e focacce (pizza and focaccia) are covered in an individual chapter as the other types of Italian breads. Each recipe provides instructions for making doughs by hand, electric mixer, and food processor. (Format: 7 1/2"x9 1/2" hardcover)(ISBN 0061812668)

3/10/99 Update: Last night I attended a wonderful 3+ hour cooking class presented by the author at La Panier in Houston. She demonstrated Foccacia with Gongonzola, Focaccia from Genoa, Rosemary Bread, Italian Breadsticks, and Biga, and talked about her experiences in traveling and doing cooking research all over Italy. Her most recent cookbooks include Celebrating Italy about Italian village food festivals and In Nonna's Kitchen about Italy's vanishing grandmothers and their recipes.