One complaint I often hear about clay is the cost. And clay vessels can be expensive if you buy them new.

On the other hand, you can find some great bargains at garage sales, flea markets, and antique malls. One piece I use fairly often, for instance, is a covered, round baking dish. It was bisque fired, but never glazed. There’s a small chip in the edge of the bowl. But I paid US1.50 for it. So how can you get hurt!

One deal I regret is the largish Romertoph I found at a mall. They were asking less than ten bucks. Unfortunately, it was badly stained, and I didn’t know, at the time, how to remedy that. Alas!

For those interested, here’s one of the great recipes from the book. A Tiella is a wide, medium-high glazed vessel popular in Calabria and Puglia. As with tagines, the name is used for both the pot and the dish. A large cazuela or casserole dish will work just fine.

Pork Tiella with Wild Mushrooms and Potatoes

¾ cup dried porcini or crêpes mushrooms

3 tbls extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 oz thinly sliced pancetta, shredded

1lb boneless pork shoulder cut in 1 ½ inch chunks

1 lb red potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced

1 lb Italian brown mushrooms, quartered

1 long fresh rosemary sprig

¼ tsp crushed hot red pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 oz caciocavallo or aged provolone cheese, shredded

1 tbls chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Soak the porcini in 1 cup hot water for 20-30 minutes. Rub the mushrooms together to loosen any dirt and grit; then remove them from the water and coarsely chop. Strain the soaking liquid through a coffee filter or double layer of cheesecloth and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in the casserole. Add the garlic and pancetta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. When the casserole is warm, raise the heat to medium, add the pork, and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes, chopped porcini, quartered fresh mushrooms, rosemary, hot red pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and the reserved mushroom soaking liquid. Cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes. (The recipe can be prepared to this point up to 1 day in advance. Bring back to room temperature before continuing.

About 1 ½ hours before serving, scrape any fat from the pork dish. Carefully pick out as many potatoes as possible and set aside. Arrange the meat and mushrooms in with layer and top with a layer of the potatoes. Gently press down to make the dish compact. Scatter the remaining tablespoon olive oil and the cheese on top and set in a cold oven. Set the temperature at 400F and bake for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, and let the dish continue to cook in the receding heat for 45 minutes. Serve hot or warm, with the chopped parsley sprinkled on top.