We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,536,783.52 | Books Available: 801,094 | Members Online: 175

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - French Provincial Cooking

French Provincial Cooking
Author: Elizabeth David

Elizabeth David's books belong in the libraries of everyone who loves to read and prepare food and this one is generally regarded as her best; her passion and knowledge comes through on every page. She was one of the foremost writers on food in the latter half of the 20th century and this book has her most celebrated writing. "French Pr... more »ovincial Cooking" should be approached and read as a series of short stories, as well written and evocative as the best literature.

The voice is highly personal and opinionated, sometimes sharp but always true and always entertaining. Here is a long essay on French cuisine, offering background stories and sketches of recipes more than the slavishly didactic type of recipes that most modern readers might be used to today. For many Elizabeth David was the first to introduce us to the French notion of la cuisine terroir, sometimes interpreted as 'what grows together goes together'. For David, this is the heart of regional cooking, and the thing which most distinguishes it from cooking in haute cuisine restaurants where diners arrive at any time or any season and expect to be able to order any well known French specialty.

One of the passages which best characterizes David's approach to a lot of cooking is her opening statement on the perfect omelet: 'As everybody knows, there is only one infallible recipe for the perfect omelet: your own.'

The book starts with a short essay on each of the major culinary regions of France, starting perhaps not surprisingly with Provence which is blessed an abundance of produce. The largest portion of the book consists of chapters on cuisine by type of dish: Sauces, Hors-D'oeuvres and Salads, Soups, Eggs and Cheese, Pates and Terrines, Vegetables, Fish, Shellfish, Meat, Composite Meat Dishes, Poultry and Game, and Sweet dishes.

The book is all the more valuable in that it paints a picture of a cooking style which existed before modern equipment such as the food processor. Most importantly, the recipes work if your aim is to produce the most excellent food imaginable. What initially may seem to be annoying details (e.g., for omelets, eggs 'should not really be beaten at all, but stirred,' whereas for scrambled eggs, they should be 'very well beaten') are actually secrets to be treasured, that elevate a good dish to a superb one. The lesson is that good food should be done simply, but it takes care, attention to detail, and frequently, time.

ISBN-13: 9781904943716
ISBN-10: 1904943713
Publication Date: 4/25/2008
Pages: 528
Edition: New
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Grub Street
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 2
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Cookbooks, Food & Wine >> Regional & International >> European >> French

Back to the Top ↑

Search - French Provincial Cooking

Loading...