Biscotti is a newly released cookbook written by Mona Talbott, executive chef of AAR’s Rome Sustainable Food Project and pastry cook, Mirella Misenti. The book celebrates fifty of the favorite American and Italian cookie recipes served at the Academy’s communal table and bar. Published by the Little Bookroom, Biscotti is the first in a series of cookbooks that focuses on a single food genre and includes favorite dishes served to AAR Fellows, their families, staff and welcome guests. The book is yet another example of the kind of collaboration fostered by the Academy; Russell Maret (2010 Fellow) designed the book’s titling typefaces during his fellowship year and photographs by Annie Schlechter (2010 Fellow Traveler) and Matthew Monteith (2009 Fellow), provide a glimpse of life at the Academy.
In keeping with the eco-gastronomic, authentic cuisine served at the Academy, all the biscotti ingredients—hazelnut, chocolate, lemon, pistachio, eggs, fruits, honey, jam, olive oil, butter, flour and sugar—come either from local sources or are made on the premises by Mona and her staff. To download one of the most popular recipes, Brutti ma Buoni, click here.
Famed restauranteur and food activist Alice Waters, who envisioned the Rome Sustainable Food Project four years ago, wrote this in the book’s forward:
These recipes are a perfect expression of the values of conviviality and purity embodied by the Rome Sustainable Food Project. Each of these cookies brings with it a taste of time and place—the ingredients are seasonal, organic and local – and no cookie is so big or so sweet that eating one will interrupt conversation at the end of a meal. In this way, the cookies are a delicious and beautiful expression of the American Academy’s intention of inspiring discourse between scholars of many disciplines.
To see Biscotti in more detail, read excerpts, and view interior pages, visit the publisher’s website.
All profits from the sale of the book go to support the American Academy in Rome and the Rome Sustainable Food Project. Purchase Biscotti here.
Notes from the Publisher
The recipes in Biscotti are divided into five categories—Milk and Wine; Nuts; Honey, Citrus, and Spice; Meringue; and Chocolate. Some are dry and not too sweet—traditional Italian biscotti that are eaten for breakfast with caffè latte or dipped into a glass of vino dolce—others recall medieval and Renaissance kitchens and the influence of the spice trade. Whether including chocolate, lemon, or pistachio, or simply butter, flour, and sugar, each memorable cookie is infused with the history and conviviality of la cucina romana, Chez Panisse, American childhoods, and international friendships.
Narrated with carefully explained techniques and methods, the recipes have been scaled down for the home kitchen, but may be scaled back up for large-batch cooking in an institutional setting.