This cookbook is one of a kind:
* It has great looking pictures of great looking food - real food, that has not been styled with paint, hairspray, etc. If you cook a recipe you can be sure that it is really going to look like in the book.
* It has great recipes that make you stand up from your couch and go looking in your pantry. No, she doesn't have any "breakthrough" recipes, no inventions important for the mankind, but easy to follow recipes with ingredients you can easily find and results that will make everyone ask for more. A lot of inspirations, nice combinations and you can be sure to get what she promises to deliver. And you can be sure that she has cooked these recipes, all of them and more than once, she knows the nooks and the crannies and warns you of pitfalls and gives valuable tips.
* And it has great stories, the personal touch that most cookbooks miss. Some will remind you of your own experiences and some will make you curious about the subject. A friend of mine, who has been living in Italy for 10 years, said after reading Nicky's account of her childhood visits to Italy with the grandparents: "Yes, exactly, this is it, so is Italy, she understands the soul of it". And the neighborhood cafe she is talking about makes me want to take a trip to Munich, visit this woman and drink a Latte Macchiato with her.
* Some details: A light tendency to desserts and baked goods, the savory dishes with an emphasis on vegetables (but not totally vegetarian - look for the great duck recipe!), cuisines of many countries/regions that you can cook almost anywhere in the world.
What else can you want of a cookbook?