# Who was Marcella Hazan, and which of her books should you start with? Canonical: https://zestasy.com/books/who-was-marcella-hazan/ Section: Books & ideas · Updated: 2026-10-13 · Publisher: Zestasy Marcella Hazan (1924-2013) was an Italian-born cookery teacher and writer, trained as a scientist, whose books taught English-speaking home cooks how Italian food is really cooked. Start with Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (1992), which combines and revises her first two books and contains her famous tomato sauce with butter and onion. Hazan was born on 15 April 1924 in Cesenatico, on the Adriatic coast of Emilia-Romagna, and died on 29 September 2013 in Longboat Key, Florida. In between, she became the person who explained Italian home cooking to the English-speaking world with a precision and firmness that cooks still quote at each other. ## A scientist in the kitchen She did not set out to cook for a living. Hazan earned degrees in natural sciences and biology from the universities of Ferrara and Padua and began her career as a science teacher. She married Victor Hazan in 1955; he was a wine writer and became the translator of her books, which she wrote in Italian. In 1969 she opened the School of Classic Italian Cooking, and teaching shaped everything she wrote afterwards. Her recipes explain not just what to do but why, and they are famously exacting about technique. If you like a cookbook that tells you firmly that you are doing it wrong, she is your woman. ## The books, in order - **The Classic Italian Cook Book (1973).** Her first book. A British edition adapted by Anna Del Conte won an André Simon Award in 1980. - **More Classic Italian Cooking (1978).** The sequel. - **Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (1992).** The two Classic books combined and revised into one volume. - **Marcella Cucina (1997).** Later recipes; it won a James Beard Foundation award. - **Amarcord: Marcella Remembers (2008).** A memoir of her life. ## Where to start **Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.** It is the one that gathers the core of her teaching in a single book, and it is the source of the recipe most people know her by: a tomato sauce made with tomatoes, butter, an onion and salt, simmered gently, with the onion removed at the end. It is beloved because it is so short and so good, and because it quietly overturns the assumption that Italian tomato sauce must begin with olive oil and garlic. It is a big book to own, more reference than bedtime reading. Use it the way you would use a trusted teacher: look up the dish you are about to cook, read the whole recipe, including the notes, and follow it closely the first time. If you want her voice more than her recipes, read **Amarcord** afterwards. A memoir is the best way to understand why she cared so fiercely about getting things right. ## How to cook from her Read each recipe all the way through, notes included, before you pick up a pan. Then pick one dish from each section you care about, a sauce, a soup, a vegetable side, and cook each a few times before moving on. Resist the urge to skim or to improve on her the first time; improvisation can come later. When a recipe tells you to wait, wait. It is the least glamorous and most useful advice in Italian cooking. ## Why she still matters Hazan belonged to a line of writers who treated Italian home cooking as something worth explaining carefully, not just romanticising. If you have read our page on Pellegrino Artusi at /books/who-was-pellegrino-artusi/, you will recognise the family resemblance: confident, specific, written for people cooking at home. ## FAQ ### Is Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking good for beginners? Yes, if you are patient. The recipes are detailed and the explanations are clear, but it is not a quick-dinner book. Pick a handful of recipes and repeat them until they are yours. ### Is the tomato sauce really that simple? In ingredients, yes. In practice it rewards good tomatoes and a gentle simmer. Our page on /food/tomato-sauce-tastes-flat/ explains how to adjust a sauce that tastes dull. ### Did she write in English? She wrote in Italian. Her husband Victor translated her books into English. ### What about Marcella Says? That 2004 book was written after she moved to Florida and includes new recipes. It is a good second or third Hazan, but start with Essentials. ## Sources - [Wikipedia: Marcella Hazan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcella_Hazan) - [PBS Food: Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter](https://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/marcella-hazans-tomato-sauce-with-onion-and-butter) ## Related - [Who was Pellegrino Artusi, and why does his cookbook still matter?](https://zestasy.com/books/who-was-pellegrino-artusi/) - [How do you make a tomato sauce taste less flat?](https://zestasy.com/food/tomato-sauce-tastes-flat/) - [Are tinned tomatoes as good as fresh?](https://zestasy.com/food/tinned-tomatoes-vs-fresh/) - [What is a soffritto, and why does it matter?](https://zestasy.com/food/what-is-a-soffritto/) - [What are the best books about the history of Italian food?](https://zestasy.com/books/books-about-italian-food-history/) - [All Books & ideas answers](https://zestasy.com/books/)