Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef Cookbook Review

A Review of Massimo Bottura First Cookbook

For this first week of February, we decide to bring another post of our series Restaurant Cookbook Reviews. Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef is a tribute to three-michelin star restaurant, Osteria Francescana and the twenty-five-year career of its chef, Massimo Bottura. For those who don’t know Massimo Bottura, this Italian chef is considered to be the most avant-garde Italian chef in the world. His restaurant, Osteria Francescana has three Michelin stars and as already be considered the best restaurant in the world in 2016.

Although this is an Italian cookbook, this is totally different from other Italian cookbooks. This is a work that you need to see for yourself to believe.

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Inside Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef

As we already said, this cookbook is a tribute to Bottura’s career and the evolution of Osteria Francescana. Divided into four chapters, each one dealing with a different period, the book features 50 recipes and accompanying texts explaining Bottura’s inspiration, ingredients, and techniques. Illustrated with incredible photographs, Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef is by far one of the most beautiful Italian cookbooks ever made.

Reading this book from start to finish is something exceptional! It is like listening to Massimo Bottura explain the creative process that happens in his mind. One thing you should have in mind is that Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef is not a typical cookbook. In fact, it’s a stretch to call it a cookbook at all! It’s more of a book about Bottura’s life and philosophy (mainly culinary) with the recipes starting only on page 276.

Similarly to most restaurant cookbooks, the recipes on this one are nearly impossible to replicate. Despite this fact, this book is still incredibly interesting because it reveals the story of each dish.

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A Brilliant Cookbook

What we like most about this book is how inspiring it is. Here, Massimo reveals generously how he goes about creating his amazing dishes. He will reveal all the thought process that goes into creating the dishes for his restaurant. In the first chapter, “Tradition in Evolution”, you can easily understand all the purpose of the book.

Finally to end this review we only can say that this book brilliantly portrays the mind of one of the world’s most brilliant chefs. And if you are looking for a truly inspiring cookbook you do not need to look any further.