When he was just ten, J. Matthew Gaglione prepared his first Sunday dinner for his Italian American family: pasta with homemade meatballs, steamed broccoli, and salad. And so began a culinary adventure that would last a lifetime and prompt forty-plus years of collecting over six thousand recipes and stories from a multitude of sources, styles, and cuisines.

In a unique collection, Gaglione presents recipes in the order they were gathered from magazines, newspapers, cookbooks, family, and friends along with a host of memorable culinary experiences that represent his lifelong epicurean...