Bocca Cookbook

Jacob Kenedy, the chef at the hit Soho trattoria, Bocca di Lupo had one aim: to bring regional Italian cooking to London. With the recent publication of the book, Bocca, the promise is that we too could taste authentic Italy at home. We have quite a few Italian cookbooks in our kitchen but none has ever quite delivered that taste of the oh-so simple looking delicious plate of Tuscan pasta. So we approached this book with caution. But oh joy, it really does work. Whether it is linguine with clams, Venetian tagliatelle with ragù or hearty risotto, our dishes really do seem to have a more authentic flavour. Some of the recipes seem a little ambitious (we don’t think we are quite up to baroque Venetian desserts) but maybe what makes the book work is that Kenedy is only part Italian – he studied natural sciences at St John’s College, Cambridge whilst working every holiday in the kitchen at Moro with Sam and Sam Clark. For the book, he spent a year travelling around Italy amassing recipes and the result is something everybody can appreciate and more importantly, recreate at home.