by Susan Schwartz

Part of what makes Emmy award-winning television host and bestselling Italian cookbook author Lidia Bastianich so popular, even beloved, is that she genuinely wants to empower her viewers and readers to cook well in their own kitchens, to mentor them to "give them the confidence to run in the field of cookery, like I do," she said in an interview on the eve of the publication this week of her latest cookbook, Lidia's Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine (Appetite by Random House, $45).

And they feel the love. "She is down-to-earth and she cares about her followers ... and her recipes are clear and detailed," said Giovanni Occhiuto, owner of Berchicci Foods, a large Italian grocery store in St-Leonard which carries Bastianich's line of pastas and sauces. 

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Source: http://montrealgazette.com/