In fact, Italian cooking is so popular that readers want more than just recipes—they want to know about regional cuisines and historical influences on Italian food. American cooks are much more savvy about Italian food in general than ever before and are curious about the origins of food as well as general information about ingredients such as olive oil and cheeses.

Betty Crocker's Italian Cooking has been completely revised and updated, with recipes by Italian native Antonio Cecconi, who provides 200 tantalizing and authentic Italian recipes to delight the palate. These are recipes that people love to eat, from the sophistication of risotto, to the heart-warming favorite, chicken parmigiana. But there's more to this book than recipes alone—an introductory portion focuses on the regional cuisines of Italy, describing the history of the areas, explaining the influences on the food there, plus complete glossaries of Italian Cheeses, pastas, vinegars, herbs and olives and olive oils, with beautiful full-color photographs that whet the appetite as much as they engage the imagination.