No comments about Living the Sweet Life in Paris: Adventures of an American Pastry Chef.

No comments about Good Bread Is Back: A Contemporary History of French Bread, the Way It Is Made, and the People Who Make It.

4 comments about Bread of Three Rivers: The Story of a French Loaf.

1. I loved this book! It is a wonderful read, the language always fresh, and the author's insights wise, sometime sad, but always big hearted. I learned a lot about modern-day France, but also salt, yeast, water, wheat -- and how the whole world is kneaded into something as simple as a good loaf of bread.



2. I just love the style of this portrait of all the people who contribute to a perfect loaf of French Bread. Beats Peter Mayle hands down in authenticity and beautiful writing.



3. This book offers a fascinating exploration of the sources of French bread, taking the reader to meet vivid and sympathetic figures such as a traditional village baker and his family, "salt farmers" who rake salt from shallow pools by the sea, and the engineers who operate an ultra-modern yeast factory. But moving far beyond "bread alone," it is also full of profound insights into family life, traditional vs. globalized culture, and the meaning of work in a human life. I highly recommend it.



4. This is where it all starts. Get to know the earth and all that is in it. Bread is basic to life, and only four items are required to make it.

2 comments about The Court of Two Sisters Cookbook: With a History of the French Quarter and the Restaurant by Mel Leavitt.

1. This makes a great souvenir for those who have had the great fortune to dine at The Court of Two Sisters. Almost half of the book is history of the restaurant and the area, and the rest is devoted to house recipes-the bread pudding is out of this world! I just wish they had included more recipes. It also has several pictures of the restaurant.



2. The history was very inviting to read. I plan to revisit this section before another visit to New Orleans. The number of recipes was disappointing but did have several of the restaurants staples in it.

No comments about Provence: the Beautiful Cookbook.

5 comments about France: The Beautiful Cookbook.

1. This is easily the greatest French cookbook I've ever seen and one of the best cookbooks overall. I've been to France many times and the same food is in this cookbook as is in France. The recipes are easy to understand, the food is great, and the photographs just make you more and more hungry. I am a 16 year old boy who has a hard time cooking and filling myself, but this cookbook remedies both of these problems. The meals are simple, yet elegant, not to mention delicious, filling, and scrumptious. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cooking and would like cooking to become a passion.



2. This book is really packed and pretty. The pictures are great, but I think it could have included more desserts.



3. I got this book on a closeout at my local bookstore, and at that low price the book is wonderful. I'd be a little less thrilled if I paid full-price... but only a little.
   
   I would guess that most "...The Beautiful" books are probably purchased for their coffee table appeal. This is a large format book (12"x18"), with stunning photos of different areas of France and of the food (there's generally one picture of the finished dish for every two recipes). If you want a book to inspire you to travel to France or to go out to eat at a French restaurant, or if you are searching for an impressive and pretty gift, this is a no-brainer. It's gorgeous.
   
   The recipes are very good, too, but I'm tempted to say that they're almost beside the point. There are 240 recipes, divided in menu-like sections (first courses, fish and shellfish, poultry and game, etc.) rather than regionaly. Each recipe is marked with the region it comes from, so you know that the mussels in cream is from Normandy and the veal rolls (paupiettes) are from Provence. There's also a couple of pages, with photos, describing each region. Nicely done.
   
   I'm not knowledgeable enough about French cooking to speak to the authenticity of the recipes, but none of them were jarring. Most of the dishes are kept on the simple side (I get the feeling that the "real" version might require a few more hours in the kitchen), and they do have interesting, if short, introductions. The intro for cassoulet, for instance, gives a little history of this well-known dish, and mentions regional variations ("Toulouse adds Toulouse sausage, leg of lamb and confit"). You'll find the usual suspects of French cuisine; 240 dishes is a bunch, but far from exhaustive.
   
   Most of the recipes are, as I said, very good. Their recipe for sole meuniere matches the one I use, and I have my eye on their recipe for beef braised with Calvados.
   
   However, the book does show that it was written in 1989, when it was difficult to find some "exotic" ingredients. The recipe for chaoucroute (saurkraut with pork and sausage) calls for, among other things, a smoked kielbasa, and 6 Strasbourg sausages or frankfurters. David Rosengarten's _Taste_ has a whole chapter devoted to charcoute (which led me to spend my sole evening in Paris at a restaurant for which it's the specialty -- maybe I'll send him the bill), and it's obvious that these are gringo subsitutions. Kielbasa, maybe; frankfurters, no way. (Oddly, though, they don't shy away from dishes made with venison or rabbit, which I find much harder to find.)
   
   As someone else mentioned, the desserts chapter feels short; there's about 20 recipes here, and I think most of us would assume that the French pastry section would be far larger.
   
   Overall, this is a fine book -- particularly for inspiration purposes. If you can get it at a good price, grab it.



4. I love this book! Great recipes and information about the country. Glossary is extremely useful.



5. Instead of purchasing this book here, I recommend looking for it in stores like Waldenbooks or Barnes and Noble in their section of books on sale. These stores always have a section of huge books that have been marked down to very reasonable prices.
   
   This book isn't particularly huge, but it is legitimate in its recipes. I have tried several recipes from this book and they've all come out wonderful and comparable to the "real deals" that I've tasted over in France myself. There was no need to alter any of the ingredients or amounts, as so far I've had no failures/disasters in cooking from this book. It is divided up into sections (poultry, fish, desserts, etc.) and each section opens first to an introduction to a region of France with a little bit of background. The book provides pictures for almost every recipe they list, which I know can be helpful to some readers/cooks to know what it is they're cooking.
   
   I would say, though, that some of the recipes might require you to be a little adventurous, as of course these authentic recipes require foods that Americans do not normally eat very often (like lamb and rabbit, for example). But I've found that other than that, the ingredients were not so exotic that I couldn't find them in the store and was forced to make adjustments.

5 comments about Saveur Cooks Authentic French: Rediscovering the Recipes, Traditions, and Flavors of the World's Greatest Cuisine (Saveur Cooks).

1. I have "worked" to identify in the book and bring forth three receipes with complete detail without alterations to the table. I have had unconditional success with my Family, my most honest critics!



2. Everything about this book is delicious! From the stories, to the photographs and art direction, to the quality of stock on which it's printed, to finally the recipes. I couldn't get enough of it. It takes a dish and makes it more than just ingredients. You learn about people and places and events that are also a part of the recipe. It's so much more than just a cookbook.



3. I am professional chef and go thru tons of books in a year. This is one of the few I keep.



4. This is our favorite French cookbook not only because of its great recipes but also because it gives you the story behind the recipe. For example, how did a French family end up creating a first class dessert called Tarte Tatin?



5. All of the Saveur cookbooks are beyond just good cookbooks. I have all of them and I would hate to part with any of them. They all have a vast collection of basic and/or not so basic recipes that you'd imagine any type of person cooking, from a peasant to a pro at an expensive restaurant. Each recipe has a picture, which I personally really like, and side notes explaining something more about the recipe.
   Excellent cookbooks, whether you're considering the Italian, French or American one, all are highly recommended.

2 comments about The Best of France.

1. I am a cookbook junkie...and own pretty much every award winning, best selling and even local cookbooks I know of... there is probably only a handful of them that I refer to constantly. This book may be small in size and small in content, but I have used almost every recipe in it...How many cookbooks do you have that you can say THAT about??? It has most of the French recipe that I love or were ever interested in...its VERY simple and delicious...I have made half of the dishes listed...and I have been titled the 'cooking diva' from my friends who have tasted what I have made from this book! Its definitely worth getting.... try the Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic....or the Grandmothers Chicken....or the Beef Stew...or the Chocolate Pots...or their creme brulee...OH! just try the whole book! The recipes definitely justify the beautiful photos.



2. This cookbook is a true gem. The book is small and the content minimal but the recipes themselves never fail. I have tried most of the recipes in this book and the results were stellar! In addition to beautiful photos of France it also has photos of nearly every dish. These are the recipes we most closely associate with standard Franch cooking: Onion Soup au Gratin, Cheese Souffle, and Creme Brulee just to name a few. There are also basic recipes for making Stocks and real homemade French Bread. I have other French cookbooks but this is the one i refer to the most. My favourite recipes are the Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables and the Veal Chops with Madeira Sauce...Sublime!

2 comments about Vegetables by 40 Great French Chefs.

1. Joël Thiébault is a legendary Parisian gardener. His great-grandparents set up shop as maraîchers, or market gardeners, in 1873 on what is now Avenue du Président Wilson in Paris. Today he grows 1,700 varieties of vegetables on 54 acres, in Carrières-sur-Seine four miles from Paris. He sells his vegetables at the market twice a week; many Pairs restaurants serve them while listing his name on the menu; and there is a weekly care package delivery system for home cooks.
   
   This book is a illustrated compendium of his produce with 250 beautiful photographs. Thiébault describes his life and some of the unusual vegetables he favors: for example, Purple Graffiti cauliflower, Hokkaido sweet squash, Green Zebra tomatoes and coriander flowers. There are also a number of recipes from many of the top chefs in Paris who serve his vegetables.
   
   He described his vegetables to Patricia Boccadoro in an article in "The Herald Tribune":
   
   "I am insatiably curious.The moment I hear about something new I can't resist trying to grow it while at the same time, I adore cultivating vegetables which have gone out of fashion. I enjoy discovering plants which were grown way back when. Last year alone I grew 50 or 60 different kinds of tomatoes, which, administratively speaking was way too many. But I love the colour, flavour and scent of each variety such as Green Zebra which has a perfume all of its own, particularly at the end of a sunny day. Some varieties are matte, others brilliant, and each has a unique texture. Finally, you can't ignore the actual sensation of the fruit in your mouth which can be very sensual, and differs according to the variety."
   
   Thiébault offers tips for growing your own produce, on selecting the best vegetables at market, and on the history and nutritional values. For example, "the best thing to do after shopping is to take everything home and put it in a cool place as quickly as possible, particularly all leafy foods which should be wrapped in cling film and kept at 2°C [36°F]." On making spinach, wash thoroughly and dry each leaf before putting it in a large frying pan or wok with a knob of butter and stir it gently for no more than three minutes.
   
   But Thiébault is a gardener, not a chef. He provides background on each vegetable and then "hands" the vegetable over to one of the chef contributors who come up with imaginative methods of preparing them. Chef François Brouilly sautées Samos spinach garlic and butter and tops it with a soft boiled egg. Chef Jean-François Piège describes a creamy French-style pea soup and garden pea ice cream. Chef Christophe Pele describes Spider Crabs in Cherry Belle Radish Jello with a Pistou of Radish Tops. There are recipes for caramelized Belgian endive with scallops, poached cabbage with foie gras, celery root souffle, and an arrangement of cockles, whelks and borage flowers "as if in an aquarium."
   
   Don't buy this book to learn how to cook vegetables; Mark Bittman's comprehensive How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food is a much better choice for that purpose.
   
   Buy this book primarily for the wonderful pictures and to get ideas on how to spiff up your own vegetable dishes. It's a delightful addition to any food lover's library.
   
   The same team produced POTATO, Uncooked and Egg.
   
   Robert C. Ross 2007 2008



2. A few of these recipes appear in other books by these chefs, and a few of the chefs are a little vague in their descriptions. Not as good as "EGG", one of the other books by these guys. I am curious about the potato book still, so I'll have to check that one out.

5 comments about From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant.

1. I enjoyed this book for the most part, but found it poorly edited. The author mentions the same things over and over again in different parts of the book. When the same idea or scene is repeated, it is as though it is being mentioned for the first time. I found this highly annoying when I was reading the book.



2. I started out prepared to like this book, after all, I love France, having visited it many times, and my Grandmother on my Mothers side was French. However, after only a few sentences, alarm bells started to go off. The more I read, the worse it got. Basically, -here are the problems. The authors appalling use of Grammar, the tortured sentences, the overuse of adjectives, the misplaced adverbs and verbs, the use of American slang, {as in "I wanted to get the "skinny" on the matter,-meaning the inside info.}The mixed use of Ameringlish, Franglais,and slang.
   Just read it yourself, and you will see what I mean. Michael Sanders badly needs a} a good proof-reader, one who is literate as well as literary, and b}someone to edit his work and be prepared to slash many tortured sentences with a red pen.I gave up before I was even half-way through, as being a retired English teacher, it was too painful to read further. Sorry, but I cant recommend this book to anyone who is half-way literate.



3. I found a link to this book on the site of the B & B in Albas I was planning to visit during my trip to France last year. I bought & read the book and had to see for myself. Since my traveling companion & I were going to be in the area we e-mailed the owners of the B & B to make us a reservation.
   
   It was the most marvelous meal I've ever had. Three hours long and there was no sense of time having passed. The owners were lovely and I have never seen a cleaner kitchen ever, anywhere. My only regret is that we didn't have time to see much of the village he writes about.
   
   My dream is to go back & do it again. I'm so glad I read this book.



4. Sanders has captured the life in a small French village and its wonderful restaurant. My wife, best friends and I organized a trip to France around Sanders' book. It did not disappoint. La Rec was unbelievable. My friend and I could not figure out how the restaurant makes money at 30 Euros a person for a wonderful meal (five courses, including some of the most elegant dishes we had in France -- the Lobster bisque and ravioli are beyond description, for example). We took many of Sanders' other suggestions, including a lunch at the cooking school in a nearby village, and found the experience to be wonderful. The only downside to Sanders' work is that Les Arques has been bought up by northern Europeans, with virtually no French people living there.



5. I just now finished reading the celebrated "foie gras" section; as a Francophilic reseller checking prices for this title, I noticed some of the reviews and got curious.
   
   For all I know the large-scale editing could be better (or the book might be intended to stand as chapter-independent), but the 5-6 pages I read were quite well crafted, with varied and sensitive sentence pacing and inclusion of many insightful details.
   
   If you can't get from one end of a compound or (perish the thought) complex sentence to the other, like so many young video-game-deranged ADHD cases apparently have trouble doing, this lovely slice of a beautiful if hard way of life will probably be too taxing to enjoy.
   
   But for seasoned readers, it's a delectable read as far as I've seen (and it's fun to handle a book with traditional, ragged page signature edges for a change).
   
   Foie gras production is a pretty inhumane business, but non-vegetarians won't be learning anything totally new about how the other half lives. The people are wonderful and real. I wish I too could visit the area, as one reviewer said she did, before it becomes a part of a bygone age!
   
   P.S. Anyone generally interested in the proud and warring nations of France and Paris are encouraged to read "Fragile Glory" by Bernstein, a former NY Times Paris Bureau Chief -- it's delightful and informative!....