Mimi Thorisson is a cook. She and her family lived in Paris and then the French countryside in order to learn the food and the culture, to experience it deliberately, to suck the marrow from life, if you don’t mind my throwing a little Thoreau into a cookbook review. Then they moved to Italy and started all over again. So while they left most of their worldly possessions back in France, they brought with them to Italy that determination to learn about the cuisine from the natives, from those who grew up and learned to cook in Italy, from the generations before them.

Old World Italian is a beautiful cookbook. I could talk about the delicious recipes that come from all the different regions of the country. I could talk about the breath-taking photos that her husband takes—the shots of the food that make you want to lick the page, the loving pictures of his wife and their family (their kids are adorable, with that hint of maturity you see in kids raised in Europe), the atmospheric photos that bring the small family restaurants and shops to life with their poignant and complex simplicity.

This cookbook certainly has all that. Recipes for a simple Tomato Jam you can serve on ricotta (or a dozen other places), a Basic Egg Pasta you can use in Tortellini in Brodo, or you can use a dried pasta with the Ragu Genovese (not really from Genova) or the Ragu Bolognese (not really from Bologna) or the Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca. You can make the Bone Marrow Risotto (she calls it the “rock ‘n’ roll” of risottos) or the Polpette Di Sophia Loren (Meatballs in Cream Sauce, based on a recipe from Sophia Loren’s cookbook that Thorisson found while she was spending time in Iceland).

You can make the Branzino Al Sale, Roast Pork with Balsamic Vinegar and Red Wine, or Brasato Al Barolo. And the desserts! Vanilla Chestnut Cream Madeleines, Torte Tenerina (Traditional Chocolate Cake, Zabaione, Panna Cotta, Torte Di Ricotta (Ricotta Cheesecake), Pizzelle, or Lemon Meringue Cake, just to name a few.

Old World Italian has essays on the best Italian coffee and what makes a family restaurant so special and comforting (you know, the ones who know you as soon as you come in, and who will save you a slice of your favorite dessert if they notice that it’s going fast). It has brief introductions to the different areas of Italy, to the woman who teaches children how to make pasta (and worked with Thorisson as her pasta coach), to the chefs and the winemakers and the restauranteurs who make their time in Italy so magical.

And that’s what I love most about this cookbook. Sure, it has recipes. Sure, it has beautiful photography. But mostly, it has a deep and abiding love for Italy and her surprises. Old World Italian is a love letter to those who share their Italian hospitality with others. It is a trip through the back streets of the cities and the open fields in the countryside, from the markets filled with fresh produce to the cafes, from the tables filled with food to the hearts and souls of the Italian citizens. Mimi Thorisson has opened it all to us through these pages, and it’s a trip worth making over and over.

The one thing I kept coming back to in this book is that I wish it had been arranged by region. She talks often about the different regions of the country and what makes each unique. I would have loved to see the recipes divided that way instead of being grouped into courses, or even just to see a typical meal for each region. But I can tell by reading this that Thorisson put a lot of thought into the recipes she included and how she moves us through the book—and through the country—so it’s hard to be very upset about this.

Overall, Old World Italian is a beautiful journey through the foods, the culture, and the regions of Italy. You can use it as a cookbook, as a tour guide, as an introduction to the country, as a gorgeous gift book, or as an inexpensive way to feel like you just took a trip to Italy without having to leave home.

I received a free copy of Old World Italian from Clarkson Potter, with many thanks, for a free and unbiased review.