Ever since working at the River Cafe for Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray, Jamie Oliver has had a serious passion for Italian food. Now, ten years later, Italy and its wonderful flavours continue to have a major influence on his food and cooking. In Jamie's Italy, Jamie travels this famously gastronomic country paying homage to the classic dishes of each region and searching for new ideas to bring home. The result is a sensational collection of Italian recipes, old and new, that will ensure Italy's influence reaches us all. On the menu is an array of magical ingredients and Mediterranean flavours all combined in Jamie's inimitable way. From Parma ham to Parmesan, from pannetone to panzanella, Jamie's new book will transport you to Italy or at least bring Italy home to you.

2008-06-06 Give Jamie's Italian the boot

Loved the accompanying TV series but very disappointed with this book.

I'm not anti-Jamie by any stretch and still regularly borrow from earlier volumes but having had this book since it came out a couple of years ago I've not used a single recipe. If you live somewhere with a decent deli and can obtain the necessary ingredients then maybe this is for you but for someone like me, living in a chav town with nothing but large supermarkets, there's little on offer which could easily be replicated.

Yes, it's pleasant visually, but I buy recipe books in order to cook from them and in that respect this book was money wasted. At he's produced better since with the excellent Jamie At Home.