The food of Italy is certainly among the most visually striking in the world, and its appeal is most direct when seen against its own background and landscape. Dishes seem to reflect the sea and sky, the countryside and cityscape, the whole Italian way of looking at things. This is an elusive magic and something I have long wished to capture in a book.
Bringing this dream to life has been a rewarding collaborative effort. For months, photographer John Dominis and I, along with a crew of dedicated assistants, traveled through the different regions of Italy, not only tasting and photographing the food, but breathing in the special atmosphere of this rich and varied peninsula.
In the course of our travels, we had many warm and amusing experiences as we struggled to overcome Italian restrictions against setting up equipment for taking photographs in public places. Yet, in each case, we managed to triumph over bureaucratic rules because of the friendliness and interest of local officials. But while officials could intercede and make locations and architectural treasures available to us, they could offer little help when it came to persuading the local people to break with tradition. Once, while we were attempting to photograph a young woman in the very traditional South, a high window shutter opened as if on cue, and the woman's mother and fiance waved "no" in unison. There was nothing to be done. We had considerably more luck photographing the little mugellesi hens near Florence.
Foods of Italy emphasizes those traditional dishes that embody the feeling and aesthetics of the regions of Italy through which we traveled. And these dishes are all shown in their own ambiance. In selecting these recipes, and in presenting the finished dishes where they originated, I have tried to capture a balance between the natural and the sophisticated, a balance Italians have struggled to preserve over the centuries.
Such a book cannot help but have a personal feeling. As I traveled through Italy in the course of working on this project, I was flooded with memories of growing up in Italy, specifically in Tuscany. I was struck by how much of the Italian tradition food preparations, dining habits has disappeared; this realization has reinforced my determination to fix some of the color, charm, and beauty of Italy's cuisine on the printed page.
After researching the dishes-often in very old cookbooks-I tested and retested them in their original locale with the guardians of each local tradition. I then tested the recipes in New York and made any necessary substitutions so that each dish could be reproduced as authentically as possible outside of Italy. I have prefaced each recipe with a brief note about the history or folklore of the dish, appropriate accompaniments, and classic presentation.
I hope that this book will inspire you to recreate authentic Italian dishes, and even more, that it will encourage you to taste these dishes in their own Italian settings.

Giuliano Bugialli, 1984