Ada Boni
{{Short description|Italian chef, magazine editor, food writer and author}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Ada Boni
|image = Ada Boni (sq cropped).jpg
|birthname = Ada Giaquinto
|birth_date = {{birth date|1881|10|11|df=yes}}
|death_place = Rome, Italy
|death_date = {{death date and age|1973|5|2|1881|10|11|df=yes}}
|occupation = Professional chef; cookbook author and magazine editor
|nationality = Italian
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}Ada Boni ({{née|Giaquinto}}; 1881 – May 1973) was an Italian chef, magazine editor, food writer and book author. Her most famous book, Il talismano della felicità (The Talisman of Happiness in English), published in 1928, is considered one of the classic Italian cookbooks{{cite book|author=Andrews, Colman|title=Country Cooking of Italy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCHQreJdci0C&pg=PT291|date=9 November 2011|publisher=Chronicle Books|isbn=978-0-8118-6671-2|page=291}}{{cite book|author=Hosking, Richard|title=Authenticity in the Kitchen: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HflTVd898PAC&pg=PT212|year=2006|publisher=Oxford Symposium|isbn=978-1-903018-47-7|pages=212–213}} and is still very popular.{{cite news|last=Daley|first=Bill|title=Culinary Giant: Ada Boni - Wrote the must-have cookbook for generations of Italian women|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/05/15/culinary-giant-ada-boni/|access-date=15 March 2014|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=15 May 2013}} She also wrote the notable book, La cucina romana (Roman Cuisine in English), with the stated aim of saving traditional cuisine that was being lost.
Life
Ada Boni was born as Ada Giaquinto in 1881 in Rome. She was either the granddaughter or the niece{{Cite web |title=Il messaggero della cucina {{!}} Storia e Memoria di Bologna |url=https://www.storiaememoriadibologna.it/archivio/organizzazioni/il-messaggero-della-cucina |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.storiaememoriadibologna.it}} of Adolfo Giaquinto (1846–1937). Adolfo was a famous chef in Italy, and founded a fortnightly gastronomical periodical called Il Messaggero della Cucina. Boni co-founded with her husband Enrico the women's magazine Preziosa, and was then its editor. From 1915 started to publish her own recipes in its pages. A collection of her recipes was published by Preziosa in 1925, and in 1929 another larger collection was published.
In 1928 Boni published Il talismano della felicità (The Talisman of Happiness in English), which was an encyclopaedic collection of more than 850 recipes from across Italy. The book has been called the Italian Joy of Cooking, and became a popular present for newly-wed couples. It contained helpful advice to cooks as well as recipes, and was presented in a user-friendly way.{{Cite web |last=Pirro |first=Deirdre |date=2024-06-29 |title=Ada Boni |url=https://www.theflorentine.net/2024/06/29/ada-boni-cookbook-author/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Florentine |language=en-US}} In 1950 the book was published in New York in English as The Talisman Italian Cookbook: Italy's Bestselling Cookbook Adapted for American Kitchens, with alterations to suit American tastes.
Boni also wrote the notable book, La cucina romana (Roman Cuisine in English), with the stated aim of saving traditional cuisine that was being lost.{{Cite web |date=2020-04-07 |title=Scheda - Museo Della Cucina |url=https://www.museodellacucina.com/scheda/?2nlm114 |access-date=2025-04-23 |language=it-IT}}
Boni also ran a cooking school in Rome, and had a radio show. She died at home in Rome in May 1973 of pneumonia, aged 92.
Bibliography
- Boni, Ada (1929). Il talismano della felicità. I Ed.
- Boni, Ada (1930). La cucina romana. Rome: Edizioni di Preziosa.
- Boni, Ada Elogio della cucina italiana (Praise of Italian Cuisine), translated into English and Spanish
- Boni, Ada (1949). Prime esperienze di una piccola cuoca (Early Experiences of a Small Cook)
- Boni, Ada (1969). Cucina regionale italiana. New York: Bonanza Books. Published as Italian Regional Cooking in English in 1979
- Riolo, Claudio (2004). "Ada Boni" in Le Italiane. vol. II.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boni, Ada}}
Category:Italian magazine editors
Category:Italian cookbook writers
Category:Italian women food writers
Category:Italian women magazine editors