Food book: How To Eataly - a Guide to Buying, Cooking, and Eating Italian Food

As with many great cuisines, Italian food is ingredients-driven. Of course, that's not to discount the importance of technique - quality ingredients can be ruined in the hands of a bad cook, but even the best chef can't turn bad produce into a great dish.

I've only been to the New York Eataly - it's fantastic; the branches in Italy must be amazing. Think of City'super or Great, only 100 times better, and devoted to Italian food.

It has wine and staple ingredients, as well as the implements needed to cook them, Italian cookbooks and a cooking school. If you're not in the mood to cook, you can buy the take-away food or eat at the store.

How to Eataly has an introduction by Oscar Farinetti, who established the chain in Turin, and text and recipes by mother and son New York-based restaurateurs Lidia and Joe Bastianich, as well as celebrity chef Mario Batali (business partner of Joe Bastianich, who, in addition to many restaurants in the United States, has Lupa, on Queen's Road Central), and Eataly partners, brothers Adam and Alex Saper.

Farinetti writes, "At Eataly, we want to challenge you to look at your food (and drink) in a different way, but we don't want to make it seem like dreary homework. We love high-quality food and drink, and we're endlessly fascinated by the stories of the people who produce it and the places where it is made and grown. Food brings people together, and eating is the one thing that unites us all …

"We're passionate about food, but equally passionate about enjoying it and deriving happiness from it. We hope you'll feel the same, and that you'll return to this book again and again to learn, to practice, and to feed not just your stomach, but your mind and your heart."