Bookshelf

Chris Cosentino Unveils His First Cookbook, and It’s Not Offal!

Cosentino
Cosentino Photo: Michael Harlan Turkell

Incanto chef Chris Cosentino, who’s been no stranger to food television and the festival circuit over the last year and who recently expanded his meat-and-offal-centric empire to L.A., unveils his first cookbook this week. The book, with a forward by Traci Des Jardins and photographs by Michael Harlan Turkell, is just on sale, and it’s titled Beginnings: My Way to Start a Meal. The recipes focus on the kind of Italian first courses Cosentino has become most known for, including an extensive guide to artisanal salumis both cooked and cured, as well as sausages and hams. But there’s a heavy focus on vegetable-based antipastis too, like simple salads of artichoke, mint and lemon; or strawberries, pecorino, and fresh fava beans.

As Cosentino writes in the introduction, “I think the best kinds of cookbooks are the old-fashioned ones I’ve been collecting forever, such as the Boston Cooking-School Cookbook by Fanny Farmer. These old books are so good because they just tell you what to do and let you take it from there.”

Also, the pictures are super pretty.

Pick up a copy at your look book dealer (like Omnivore Books in S.F.), or online, if you must.

Chris Cosentino Unveils His First Cookbook, and It’s Not Offal!