''Il talismano della felicità'' (; ), written by magazine editor
Ada Boni
Ada Boni (; 1881 – May 1973) was an Italian chef, magazine editor, food writer and book author. Her most famous book, '' Il talismano della felicità'' (''The Talisman of Happiness'' in English), published in 1928, is considered one of the clas ...
, is a well-known Italian cookbook originally published in 1929.
The book is considered one of the defining recipe and cooking-advice collections in Italian cuisine, and quickly became a staple for generations of Italian women. The book has never been out of print in Italy, and sold more than a million copies. An American edition was published in 1950.
Background
Ada Boni was editor of a magazine ''Preziosa'', and began including her recipes there in 1915 before publishing her collected recipes. ''Il talismano della felicità'' is believed to be the first Italian cookbook specifically targeted towards
housewives
A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...
, and along with the work of
Pellegrino Artusi and Editoriale Domus' ''
Il cucchiaio d'argento
''Il cucchiaio d'argento'' (), or ''The Silver Spoon'' in English, is a major Italian cookbook and kitchen reference work originally published in 1950 by the design and architecture magazine ''Domus''. It contains about 2,000 recipes drawn from ...
'', it is considered one of the defining recipe and cooking-advice collections in Italian cuisine. It quickly became a staple for generations of Italian women.
The standard edition is 1,054 pages long and was last reissued in 1999. There is also an abridged version known as ''Il piccolo talismano della felicità'', published by the same editor. When it was first published in 1928, it contained approximately 882 recipes. Subsequent editions included over 2,000 recipes. It has been called the Italian ''
Joy of Cooking''.
It has never been out of print in Italy, and has sold more than million copies.
English edition
An abridged translation, by Matilde La Rosa, who added some "American-style" Italian recipes, with an introduction and glossary by Romance linguist
Mario Pei, was published in 1950 as ''The Talisman Italian Cookbook: Italy's Bestselling Cookbook Adapted for American Kitchens'' (Crown/Random House, 1950).
La Rosa and Pei decided to exclude recipes that were not of Italian origin for the American edition and also included a few
Italian-American recipes that were considered necessary at the time in an Italian cookbook.
See also
*
Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp. 101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Ancient Roman cuisine, Roman times, and later spread ...
*
List of Italian foods and drinks
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talismano Della Felicita
Italian cookbooks
1929 non-fiction books