Award-winning chef and bestselling author Carol Field died of a stroke at her San Francisco home on Friday, less than three weeks after losing her husband of 56 years. She was 76.

Known for introducing regional Italian breads such as ciabatta and focaccia to a wider American audience, Field turned her passion for Italy into a wide-ranging celebration of its cuisine and culture. "Her books on Italian food are among the best cookbooks and the most insightful cultural treatises on the foods of Italy ever written," San Francisco Chronicle reporter Karole Saekel wrote in 1997.