Romance And Recipes Combined In Cookbook

What’s love got to do with it?

Everything, according to Leo Buscaglia, author of love and loving, who has written “The Love Cookbook.” The cookbook incorporates his philosophies of love throughout the text. (And it just might be the perfect gift - or inspiration - for Valentine’s Day.)

While Buscaglia, author of the best-selling book, “Loving Each Other,” does not see himself as a gourmet chef, he’s been fascinated with food from an early age: how it is prepared, the wonderful aromas that accompany it, the mood and the conviviality of gathering at mealtimes.

His family was large (nine children), and the dinner table groaned with lots of simple, delicious foods. “Family dinners were a time of joy and laughter, tears and a sharing of knowledge,” Buscaglia said in an interview. “My aim with this book is to encourage families and friends to sit down together at the table and recapture a time when people paid more attention to eating together.”

“The Love Cookbook” (Slack, $29.50), written with Biba Caggiano, is divided into three sections: Loving Dinners for Two, Loving Dinners for Friends and Loving Dinners for Family. The book is illustrated with color photographs.

The recipes are designed so that last-minute preparations take no longer than 10 to 15 minutes. This is simple, basic, tasty food, says Caggiano, host of “Biba’s Italian Kitchen” on national cable television and chef-owner of Biba Restaurant in Sacramento, Calif. Dishes include spicy scallops and rice salad, veal stew with Marsal wine and mixed mushrooms, and steak salad with peppercorns, coriander and ginger.

Each recipe emphasizes the freshest ingredients possible. Most feature an Italian influence. A recipe for polenta, one of Buscaglia’s favorite foods, requires little stirring. “My mother made soft polenta often, and as a child I would watch her stir until she looked like her arm would fall off,” Buscaglia said. “This recipe uses a double boiler covered with foil which enables the polenta to simmer. It tastes as good as my mama’s - with a lot less work.”

Buscaglia and Caggiano agree that paying attention to details, using candlelight, soft music and pretty table settings create a festive mood - even for everyday. “You don’t have to fuss too much,” Buscaglia says. “A simple plate of fruit as a centerpiece and pretty paper napkins can often serve just fine.”