Cookbook review: The Sicily Cookbook
In the 20+ years since I completed my professional training as a baking and pastry chef, I’ve read countless recipes and cookbooks. I know that a successful cookbook is more than just a handful of recipes. So what makes a cookbook successful, practically speaking? Beyond the recipes actually working, a successful cookbook has a clearly defined identity, understands its audience, and includes recipes that make sense as a collection.
For all of you who dream of one day being a published cookbook author, or for those of you who just love cookbooks, read on! I’m pulling some of my favorite cookbooks off the shelf to show you these elements in action, and to break them down further so you can apply their lessons to your own cookbook writing process.
For the first cookbook in the series, I chose one that’s special to me on a personal level: The Sicily Cookbook.
The Sicily Cookbook: Authentic recipes from a Mediterranean island
by Cettina Vicenzino (Penguin Random House, 2020)
Embark on an enchanting culinary journey with Sicilian cook, writer, and photographer Cettina Vicenzino as she shares 70 authentic Sicilian recipes using spices, citrus fruits, cheeses, olives, tomatoes, aubergines, and seafood. Meet local chefs and food producers to discover the island’s unique culinary culture, and bring the flavours of Mediterranean sunshine to your table.
Beautiful Authenticity
As the title promises, Vicenzino’s beautiful cookbook is a masterclass in authenticity. It is a view of Sicily through its cuisine and the ingredients, material culture, and people who constitute its landscape. Vicenzino’s photographic skills are essential to this book’s success: but only does Vicenzino include a beautiful photograph for each of the 70 recipes, it's the photographs of Sicilian people, landscapes, produce, and architecture that complete this compelling portrait of Sicily. Thanks to these photographs and stories, the cookbook has dual value: both as a guide to recreating the cuisine of the Mediterranean’s largest island, and as something beautiful to look at. Vicenzino’s cookbook could easily be purchased as a coffee table book by anyone who wishes to evoke its particular ambiance.
Optimized Headnotes
Headnotes are the block of text at the top of a recipe, below the title. Typically no more than a few sentences, the clever cookbook author uses headnotes as an opportunity to introduce the dish and to connect with the reader.
Unsurprisingly, Vicenzino’s headnotes are used with precision: rather than just fill space on the page, the headnotes in The Sicily Cookbook are relevant and provide deeper understanding for each specific dish
Skilled & Adventurous Audience
As a cookbook author, it’s important to consider the skill level of your audience when deciding what ingredients to use, the precision of measurements, and the level of detail in the recipe’s method.
The premise of The Sicily Cookbook—authenticity—demands the use of local Sicilian ingredients for the recipes. Vicenzino makes no apologies and does not attempt to dilute her native cuisine by offering alternative ingredients and substitutions. The audience for The Sicily Cookbook is not deterred by this, and so we can infer that they are skilled and confident in the kitchen, and that they have some experience with Mediterranean flavors. The audience is also likely to live in a place where it is easier to find regional ingredients (such as a large city), or they are savvy enough to know how to find them online.
The more skilled, experienced, and adventurous your audience is, the less likely they are to be bothered by difficult-to-source ingredients. If you think your audience would balk at the effort and knowledge required to find a difficult ingredient, use a substitute or offer an alternative.
We can learn more about the audience for The Sicilian Cookbook through its recipes’ measurements and processes. Though most measurements are given in both metric and imperial (which opens the cookbook to a global audience), many are less specific: a “handful” of parsley, a “pinch” of orange zest. My mother remembers her Sicilian grandmother providing similar instructions; this less-precise approach is iconic of a food culture that has evolved organically, through experimentation and experience, and in this context, it builds the sense of trust in The Sicilian Cookbook’s authenticity.
For the average home cook, however, this lack of precision can be frustrating, and increases the potential for the recipes to fail. When crafting the measurements for a recipe, it’s very important to consider the skill level of your audience.
Similarly, there are some processes in The Sicily Cookbook that aren’t explained. For example, the recipe for ricotta dumplings states that the ricotta should be “well drained” but doesn’t elaborate further. Yet again, we see that The Sicily Cookbook is intended for cooks who have some experience with Mediterranean flavors, or who are unafraid to try something new—and, preferably, to try it again and again until they get it just right.
Cettina Vincenzino’s The Sicily Cookbook is an excellent example of a cookbook with an identity. Vencenzino has given her audience exactly what they crave: Sicily in a book—and on a plate. I highly recommend this beautiful cookbook for its authentic, delicious recipes and transporting photographs.
Are you an aspiring cookbook author, ready to share your recipes? Contact me to learn how I can support you in crafting an authentic, compelling, and successful cookbook—so you can share your story with the world!
