Ever since working with Gennaro Contaldo at the Neal Street Restaurant and for Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers at the River Caf, 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 Jamies food and cooking. In Jamie's Italy, he 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 pizza to panzanella, Jamie's new book will transport you to Italy or at least bring Italy home to you.

Italy has inspired Jamie Oliver throughout his career. His ambition has always been to travel across the country on a quest to capture the very essence of Italian cooking and to produce the best and simplest Italian cookbook for everybody anywhere to enjoy.

Jamies Italy is a result of that journey and its a land of plenty. As well as more than 120 brand new recipes for everything from risotto to roasts and spaghetti to stews, structured like a traditional trattoria menu, Jamie takes you all over Italy to cook with and learn from the real masters of Italian cuisine: the locals. Far from the standard lemons and olives version of Italian cooking, Jamies Italy is a cookbook by the people for the people. From Sicily to Tuscany, its about the local fishermen, family bakers and of course, the Mamas, sharing their recipes and the tips that have gone into their cooking for generations. But its not only mouth-watering food that Jamie brings back home: its also the spirit that makes cooking and eating absolutely central to family life whichever part of Italy youre in.

Bursting with the warmth and hospitality of real family life, this is both a superbly accessible cookbook and a unique travelogue and diary, in which youll find the authentic flavour of Italy and the people who live there. If you love quality food prepared with genuine passion youll never want to leave Jamies Italy.

RRP: $59.95
ISBN: 9780718147709
Media: Hardback
Pages: 336