With comfort food on the mind and practical family recipes in demand, the hunt for vintage Italian cookbooks can be an intriguing way to make cooking more fun. New cookbooks stir our appetites, but older cookbooks on everyday Italian cooking offer a different kind of food for thought. 

So, what regional Italian recipes were trendy in the 1990s? What flour was recommended for baking taralli in Boston’s North End? What pantry items did Italian cooks swear by a few generations ago?