Uneasy people with nascent, health-related resolutions dreading warmed-over, calorie controlled frozen dinners should know that the Mediterranean diet, with its super-fresh foods filled with advantageous fats, is a healthy, appetizing alternative. Here to help is the four-piece Italian Pantry Collection published in North America by The Wine Appreciation Guild and scheduled for release in February. All four books, Olive Oil, Pasta, Cheese and Prosciutto, are filled with vibrant, full-color photographs and are written by native food writers and cooking instructors. Each distinct food is coupled with a recipe, a map pointing out its production zone, nutritional information, its constituents, uses, variations and flavor. The authors also tell the life-story, part history part lore, of Italy's four most famous foodstuffs.

Gabriella Ganugi identifies 30 of the better-known and widely available types as well as many obscure ones. The author launches into her book with an overview of how cheese, in all its different forms, is made. In a section on wine and cheese she gives a simple, snafu-proof model for finding the perfect match. The rest of the book is given to specific cheeses, from Asiago to Toma, with their season, aging span, fat content, taste and forms (table, grating, etc.).