Essential Cooking – Stefano Cavallini

Stefano Cavallini, a renowned chef with a Michelin star to his name, trained in Italy under the great Gualtiero Marchesi (the only Italian chef to have been awarded three Michelin stars). Essential Cooking is a traditional Italian cookbook to a degree, particularly in the way the ingredients are used, although the French influence seeps through at certain intervals.

While this book is almost certainly aimed at the more experienced home cook, the first chapters demonstrate basic recipes used in most of the subsequent dishes. All recipes serve four, all eggs are size four, and so on, leaving a minimum margin for error when re-creating the dishes.

The book's chapters are set out as you would expect - starters, fish and shellfish, meat, poultry and game, and desserts - with superb photographs showing exactly how the dish should be presented.

Recipes are written in an informal style, which at times can be misleading, although the step-by-step illustrated masterclasses for pasta and puff pastry are very useful. A masterclass for the assembly of some of the more complex dishes would have been handy, too.

The glossary and culinary terms at the rear of the book are a good idea, although readers should be aware that some of the definitions and how to apply them are not strictly correct. That said, Stefano Cavallini is a great chef, and his book will result in many happy mealtimes.

Adam Culverwell, consultant chef

Essential Cooking - Stefano Cavallini. Pavilion Books, £25.
ISBN 1-86205-397-9