Best Italian cookbook for beginners / sorted by regions? Christmas gift help!!
In my in-laws' family gift exchange, we drew my sister-in-law and her husband. They are newlyweds with one on the way, quite busy with their careers, but might like to start learning a bit more in the kitchen (even though their tastes still lean highly traditional "American" fare). The highlight of their year was their two-week tour of Italy. I'd like to get them an Italian cookbook that is 1) good for beginners (easy-to-find ingredients; no complicated cooking processes), 2) visually pleasing (it is a gift after all), and 3) has some sort of nod to regions of Italy. The reason I'd like some mention of regions is because I have an idea to print pictures from their various stops, and tuck them into pages that correspond. So, it could be as simple as recipes mentioning their origin, or a book that truly is regionally divided. Any ideas?!
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*Marcella Hazan, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, 1992 (which builds on and some think replaces her first two books on the basics).
*The Silver Spoon New Edition, 2011. Latest English version of a 1950s cookbook that was a mainstay of Italian homes (like Joy of Cooking).
For the cooking and the regions, including more photos than the first two - Giovanni Bugialli has several. See what you like on regions of Italy, Sardinia and Sicily, Tuscany, etc.