In 1993, Marc Vetri boarded a plane with a note of introduction in one
pocket and a few hundred dollars in the other. He landed in Bergamo, in
northern Italy, where he spent the next eighteen months immersed in the
soulful cooking and great-hearted hospitality of some of the region's
top chefs and restaurateurs. Four years later he was ready to open his
restaurant, Vetri, in Philadelphia, where he continued to develop his
style of authentic yet innovative Italian cuisine, gaining acclaim as
one of the finest Italian chefs in the country.
Il Viaggio di Vetri, Marc's long-awaited debut cookbook, celebrates
the core of great Italian cooking: a superb meal shared with family and
friends. Chapters cover a full range of cold and hot appetizers; pastas
and risottos; fish and shellfish; meat; poultry, game, and organ meats;
vegetable side dishes; and desserts, giving the home cook more than 120
skillfully presented dishes to choose among, including:
Foie Gras Pastrami with Pear Mostarda and Brioche
Squid and Artichoke Galette
Chestnut Fettuccine with Wild Boar Ragu
Olive-Crusted Wild Bass with Confit of Leeks
Pork Rib and Cabbage Stew
Rustic Rabbit with Sage and Pancetta
Fennel and Apricot Salad
Mascarpone Custard with Puff Pastry and Figs
Accompanying wine notes by sommelier Jeff Benjamin deliver lively
lessons on both the classic and lesser known wines of Italy. Throughout,
Marc Vetri shares tales of his cooking apprenticeship in Italy and, with
generosity and passion, shows how to bring the lessons he learned there
into the home kitchen.
