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1 == ened ricotta cheese custartbeshi course the splendid recipes developeu vy mucnact © cu and his Italian consultant Luigi Carnacina. These begin with crostata di ricotta, a sweet first confected by the ancient Romans, which displays an imperial talent for combining in one dish a variety of ingredients without losing the separate identity .of each. The mild, sweet- is enhanced by rich marsala, lemons, oranges, raisins, citron and nuts. The full range of Italian cooking provides a journey me — from the spicy olive oil, across space as well as tomato and anchovy dishes of Sicily and Sardinia to the whimsical pastas of the southern mainland {for ex- ample, amorini—fat little cupids, and stovaletsi — f Jittle boots). Rome offers such specialties as a classic lasagna and # mouth-watering gnocchi alla Romana — baked semolina dumplings with butter and cheese. In | ——F the burnished cities of the north, golden butter, tawny ; veal, pale Jemons and saffron-tinted rice recombine in I: endless variations. Try the superb osso bucco (braised veal knuckles) or the unexpected counterpoint of rice at ‘rarely boiled, they are braised, stuffed, baked or gently poached in combination with one another, with eggs, hb spices, cheese or the aromatic smoked meats of the ide. Finish your meal with the superb Italian F-inyention, gelati (ice cream), and have a sip of that civilized stomach settler, Fernet Branca, while waiting #,, eagerly for the forthcoming volumes on American, Rus- ee Gloria Levitas is an anthropologist whose avocation is cooking. BOOK WORLD Mey 12, 1968 ' magazine is very good indeed. ‘The recipes shuttle com- fortably between the irreverent enthusiasms of the Far ‘West and the classic grace and urbanity associated with Sacramento and San Francisco. This year the editors’ cullings are to be found in Cooking Bold and Fear- less (Lane Books, illustrated, 160 Pp., $3.95; paperback, $2.95). Primarily. for men, and emphasizing barbecue dishes, the book’s particular distinction is its successful blending of Oriental, Western and Latin styles — often in one dish. Corn roasted in a cocoon of bean sprouts and chicken flavoréd with soy sauce, cardamon and curacao are happy examples. Two superior dishes from a second Sunset publication, Soups and Stews (same publisher, authors, 96 pp. $1.95), are Brazilian feijoada and the Chinese Chrysanthemum Bowl. The feijoada is a robust potpourri of beans, tongue, hsm, sausage, bacon and chunks of orange. The Chrysanthe- mum Bow! is for omnivores: guests cook their own crisply sliced portions of meat and vegetables in a steaming broth, and afterward drink up the broth, en- by vors of the cooked foods and delicately scented with chrysanthemum blossoms added at the last minute. The Farm Journal's Cooking for Company, edited by Nell B. Nichols (Doubleday, illustrated, 431 pp., $6.95), is a cookbook whose hearty American dishes are designed to please country people. The book is notable for its quantity recipes and its “portables” — dishes de- signed to be carried along to community dinners, church suppers or large family outings. Most of the meat dishes are unsophisticated medleys, but the pastry JUN (NOOUIES), AE Mud [Yiiticus LE) wane Gee ou. In the absence of such essentials, she advises when sub- stitutions may be made and when to get out the ham- burgers and forget the whole thing. Vd like to thank Frieda Arkin — her The Cook's ‘on (Doubleday strated, 172 pp., $4.50) saved me several hours of comenmasen with my burnt pots, Her suggestions are equally useful in preventing kitchen disasters or for use after they have occurred: Did you know, for example, that spilled eggs can be picked up easily if covered with salt and allowed to set? Or that the proper way to ripen tomatoes is to put them in a dark place? Obviously Poppy Cannon’s New New Can-Opener Cookbook (Crowell, 314 pp., $4.95) has a built-in audience: all those who purchased and enjoyed her previous efforts to transform canned goods into eu nary delights. Frankly, I’m unimpressed by this latest venture. The section on soups is creditable, but I have serious reservations about any book that suggests the jon (Doubleday use of canned potatoes (pasty and bland) or macaroni (a mushy disaster). To end on a sweeter note, there’s William I. Kauf- man’s The Chocolate Cookbook (Doubleday, 168 pp., $4.50). Its author has happily resisted the tempta- tion to offer meat in chocolate sauce (the Mexican molé that sets my teeth on edge) and has confined him- self to a catholic selection of desserts. Like a scrump- tious skillet souffé made with coffee “and chocolate, they're all woefully, gloriously fattening — but then, isn’t everything? . al Page?