Le Ricette della Tradizione Friulana by Adriano Del Fabro is the second edition of Friuli in Cucina: La Cultura del Cibo, Le Ricette, published one year later as part of a series that includes Le Ricette Tradizionali di Trieste: i sapori della cultura mitteleuropea and Ricette Tradizionali dell’Istria e Quarnero. From a recipe standpoint, it is indistinguishable from its predecessor, so please refer to Friuli in Cucina for my review of that cookbook. There are some notable differences in the rest of the book, however, which I will focus on in this piece.
To start, Le Ricette della Tradizione Friulana is significantly shorter, essentially a pared down version with exactly half the page count. The most noticeable omissions are the numerous pages throughout the original book that are devoted to gastronomic proverbs and literary excerpts. The introduction remains much the same, with a couple of exceptions. First, the section on DOC wine zones leaves out Friuli Annia. In addition, the section titled “The magnificent 23,” which describes FVG’s 23 wine varietals, has been shortened to “The magnificent 21” (Pignolo and Tazzelenghe were excluded). Aside from the bibliography and index, the back matter, which originally included some historical menus and a list of food festivals and events, has been left out as well.
So ultimately, the main updates to the text of this second edition were for the purpose of shortening the book to fit the publisher’s style of its new series of cookbooks. The photos, however, have been entirely redone, and I must admit this is the first time I’m actually looking closely at the photography in either book. Because the scope of Friuli in Cucina covers more than just recipes, it contains a number of non-food photos, from landscapes to produce to live poultry. But if I were to judge the two books solely on their food photography, the original really does have an edge. All but one of the 11 photos in Le Ricette della Tradizione Friulana were shot from above, with a simple background of plaid or single-color fabric. (And not to nitpick here, but I did notice that the photos for the appetizer torta di erbe e formaggio and the dessert torta di pane were mistakenly switched.) In contrast, the 13 food photos in Friuli in Cucina were prepared and shot at Trattoria Alla Vedova in Udine. The styling here is much more evocative, with such props as copper pots, glasses of wine, cooking utensils, and various ingredients surrounding the dish, often with the fire from the restaurant’s fogolâr in the background.
