I am so excited to be able to announce my latest cookbook. The Godfather – The Corleone Family Cookbook, filled with recipes inspired by the Godfather movie trilogy. Published by Insight Editions in the U.S., it’s out this month! Here’s a little glimpse:
Isn’t it great? I had so much fun writing this book. As a Godfather die hard fan myself, I loved every minute of matching authentic Italian recipes to go with scenes from the movies. Here’s the publisher spiel:
The Godfather trilogy is widely recognized as one of the greatest movie series of all time. Now, you’ll finally be able to make your very own authentic Italian meals with recipes inspired by the Corleone family, including delicious pastas, sauces, meatballs, breads, and desserts. Immerse yourself in the classic story of the Italian immigrant family determined to keep their long-held traditions intact in the new world. Featuring 75 recipes complete with gorgeous photography for infamous dishes such as “the best in the city” veal Marsala, Clemenza’s Sunday sauce, and of course, “Leave the gun” cannoli.
Celebrating the strong themes of loyalty, family, and tradition, The Godfather: The Corleone Family Cookbook sheds new light on the legendary trilogy. Including images and quotes from the films, this cookbook is an absolute must-have for all fans of The Godfather – especially those with a taste for the finer foods in life.
I started writing this book early last year. Cookbooks take a long time to come together and this was no exception. Being such an iconic movie series, I spent a lot of time watching the movies over and over again to ensure I included every recipe needed to capture the theme. I wanted the food to convey that sense of authenticity that is so evident in the movies. These movies aren’t as much about a bunch of mobsters as they are a story of a close knit family who just happen to be involved in the mafia. Food is an integral part of how the family comes together. That’s why there are so many scenes of the family at the table, eating bowls of pasta, chicken cacciatore, bread, antipasto, and plenty of wine. The family table is a sacred place, as Sonny himself says in Godfather 1: “We don’t discuss business at the table.”
Being a southern Italian myself, I had a good idea of the dishes I wanted to include in the book. It was important to me it was not a gimmick. No horse’s heads or anything like that. I wanted this to resonate with the Godfather fans, but I also wanted it to be a legitimate cookbook that anyone could cook from and make absolutely delicious meals any Italian would be proud of. This is a book that delivers on its promise. Now that’s an offer you can’t refuse!
Clemenza’s Sunday Sauce
The book is not only full of great recipes that have been tested again and again (and in some cases over years as they hail from my own family’s recipes), but also stunning photography. My photographer, Stacey Tyzzer, is incredibly patient with me and shares my passion in taking as long as it needs (rather than stick to a tight timeframe) to get each shot just right. She practically lived at my house for a good portion of a month as we shot this book. It was a pretty crazy time, with dishes everywhere, a mountain of food, working like crazy trying to get the shots done before we lost the natural light, me wanting to re-cook and redo constantly to ensure everything was perfect… as the day wore on we began talking in thick Italian accents and quoting phrases from the movies to keep ourselves sane (even though it felt we were going insane). Thankfully there was always wine we had used for props left at the end of the day to sit down and unwind before all the clean up needed to be done for the next day (and here I can say thanks to my Mum who cleaned so many dishes so I could keep working.. legend!).
Here’s a few images from the book to whet your appetite:
Osso Buco
Sicilian Style Pizza
Clams Linguine
Leave the Gun – Take the Cannoli
Spaghetti Puttanesca
Mussels Marinara
Sausages and Peppers
Zeppole
Yep, wholesome family style food that is simple to make (I promise) and absolutely delicious!
All the food in this book was made in my home kitchen, using all the pots, pans, plates, spoons etc that I use every day. I prefer to shoot a book this way rather than use a commercial kitchen because the recipes reflect home cooking, how I cook them in my normal oven, with the limited bench space every home kitchen has and somehow the recipes become more authentic. Once the book is printed and becomes a reality, it is very special for me to flick through the pages and see my familiar pieces star on the pages. The orange Bessemer pot my mother-in-law gave to me years ago, the pot my grandmother made her pasta sauce in that has now been handed down to me, the oven trays that seem to have been in my kitchen forever, even the linen that was hand embroidered by my mother. The first thing I did when I received my copy was to sit down and look at it with my son, pointing at the images and exclaiming “look there’s my pot” and then pointing at the same pot in my kitchen… then “look, there’s my oven tray”.. to which he looked at me like I was a complete nutter and said: “Mum, it’s all your stuff.. I get it!” OK, maybe he doesn’t ‘get it’ like I do. These personal touches mean the world to me. I’m sure you have similar pieces in your kitchen too.
I’m incredibly proud of this book, not only because I love sharing the recipes, but I feel honoured to have been linked with such an iconic phenomenon. Thanks to Insight Editions for entrusting me with such a special project.
If you’d like to purchase a copy of the book, currently available as pre-order, visit your local bookstore and ask them to order it in for you. Otherwise there are plenty of online bookstores you can preorder from: Amazon, Amazon Australia , Amazon UK, BookTopia, Dymocks, Barnes & Noble, Bookdepository, Angus & Robertson, Wordery, just to name a few.
I hope you enjoy the book and it inspires you to cook up many meals for you and your family.
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