Venezia by Tessa Kiros

Tessa Kiros' books are more than just cookbooks--you can read them and they tell a story. Unfortunately for me, the actual cookbook is important, but if those two features can be melded, then it is especially appealing. In this case, the look far outpaces the recipes. On the upside, the book is a work of art. The binding is top quality, and there are wonderful pictures, in equal parts photographs of Venice and those of the food itself. If the most important thing is to have a remembrance of a trip, this might be the perfect book to purchase.

The book did also make me sure that I want to go to Venice and try the food. In depth. In detail. But I did not feel like I needed to buy the cookbook before hand. There are quite a few seafood recipes that would be difficult if not impossible to replicate in Iowa. There are quite a few risotto recipes, which is something we are very good at making and changing the composition of--so not a good fit for me, but gorgeous none-the-less.