No comments about Vegetables: The French Way.

No comments about Make It Ahead French Cooking.

No comments about Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789.

No comments about A Table in the Tarn: Living, Eating and Cooking in Rural France.

No comments about The Art of French Cooking.

5 comments about Provence: The Beautiful Cookbook.

1. French born and 4th generation provençale, I take pride in the cuisine from my homeland and I have to confess I was a little wary about what I would find in this book. Well, the authors did a wonderful job at promoting the gastronomic traditions of Provence without betraying them. My grand-mother, our family's head-cook, and our culinary inspiration would have given her seal of approval without hesitation, would she have been around to discover this wonderful recipe collection and it is with her and my homeland in mind that I enjoy preparing the recipes featured in this excellent collection for my own enjoyment and the one of my (American) husband and our friends.



2. I was a little suspicious of the series. After all, should we trust a book more suitably sized for the coffee table than for the kitchen counter? But my mistrust was misguided. The food is wonderful. All people have assumptions about "others," and one of the assumptions Americans make about the French is that their food is very difficult to prepare and relies on expensive ingredients. The truth is that French food need not be difficult and that it is a cuisine that recognizes the beauty of each season. Since my children bought this book for me, we have been building seasonal rituals around it. For example, we get salt anchovies from the neighborhood Italian deli for our Christmas eve appetizer. At Mardi Gras, we make the oreilles found in this book, which are the pastries sold as "pig's ears" or "angel wings" in the last days before Lent by Polish bakeries in Detroit. Depending on the bakery, they were known as "pig's ears" or "angels wings." My only criticism of the book is that I feel the need to keep it open in the dining room, lest kitchen grease spoils it.



3. I like this book, but it does point out one weakness in Provencal cooking...a slight lack of variety. There are multiple gratin recipes, good fish dishes, etc. It also doesn't shy away from organ meats, etc., much like the region itself. Like all the books in this visually stunning series, this one has lovely photography.



4. "Provence, The Beautiful Cookbook" by Richard Olney is a beautiful coffee table book filled with exquisite views and mouth-watering authentic dishes from this region of France.
   
   Every time I look through this book, I feel like I am on an actual journey to Provence. And each time, I close this book, I feel a strong yearning to actually see this part of France with my own eyes!
   
   This book is divided into food chapters, like most cookbooks, but also, there are chapters about different areas within this region: Alpes-Maritimes; Soups and Starters; Alpes-de-Haute-Provence; Fish and Shellfish; Vaucluse; Meat, Poultry and Gram; Bouches-du-Rhone; Vegetables and Grains; Var; and Desserts.
   
   A wonderful book for lovers of Provence!



5. Having spent quite a bit of time in Provence I love to grab this book and go back there, remembering all the times and meals. Creating dishes from this book really helps me to enjoy Provence all over again.

No comments about French Cooking.

2 comments about La Cuisine Pour Tous.

1. This is a CLASSIC and a MUST have for anyone who is into french cooking. Move over jacque Pepin, this is what real french people eat and this book has been around for YEARS and has been translated around the world.



2. Ginette Mathiot, is a MUST. She is probably one of the best and the one everyone refers to.
   She has inspired so many.
   Perfect.

No comments about Paris: Spanish-Language Edition (Williams-Sonoma).

No comments about Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2.