Disecting Countries - A New Cooking Fad?

"Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy, A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes" by Lidia Bastianich and her daughter Tanya Manuali Alfred Knopf 411 pages $35

Alert Readers will remember that I recently reviewed a book called "Made in Spain" which covered recipes indigent to certain areas of the country. Less than a week later, here comes Lidia touring us through Italy? Coincidence? Happenstance? I think not...

It is a huge book, full of color illustrations. The daughter has a PhD in Renaissance Italy and she covers the locations.

FROM UMBRIA - HONEY-ORANGE CRUMB COOKIES
4 medium oranges, washed and dried - you're going to make orange peel
2 cups honey
1 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs
2 cups finely-toasted walnuts
Vegetable oil for rolling the cookies

Chop the orange peels to make up 1 cup of chopped peel.
Put the honey in a saucepan, stir in the orange peel and bring it to a simmer. Stop when the peels are slightly translucent.

Stir in the bread crumbs and one cup of walnuts and simmer again. The mixture should form a dough after about 6 minutes of stirring.

Oil a non-porous flat surface, lay out the dough and smooth it into an oblong about 1/2 in. thick.
Roll the dough into small balls, roll the balls in the rest of the chopped walnut, put on a parchment-lined baking sheet and let them cool. No baking required!

FROM ABRUZZO - MEATLESS PECORINO MEATBALLS
8 large eggs
3 cups fine dry bread crumbs
3 cups grated Pecorino
2 T kosher salt (omit)
4 T finely-chopped basil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 cup vegetable oil

Beat the eggs well, add in all the other ingredients. Make balls and brown them in vegetable oil. Serve as is or put them in hot marinara sauce (where they will get sodden.)