Posts Tagged “French”

They are becoming ubiquitous. Those colourful chubby discs are showing up in smart patisseries across the land. They have long been popular in France and we are all very ready to state that French food is best. Well, I would not go that far (although I am driven to admit that the French make the…

Yes, it’s true dear reader, that this reviewer does love cookbooks. How often have I urged you to scurry off and purchase a particular title? You might be shocked to hear that I am asking you not to buy a single copy of this book. I can hear the gasp from the author and the…

I started thinking about food on my journey to Le Colombier. I started thinking about engineering, haulage and transport when I arrived at Le Colombier. How did they manage it? Had they transported a bit of France to Chelsea? Was the original restaurant removed in sections from some smart Parisian street? Was the furniture stacked…

I review books by many new authors, many smart young foodies and quite a few old stagers, who each have lots to offer the culinary opus. Elizabeth David is, depending on your viewpoint, either a shining star in a dazzling firmament or a treasure island in the sea of mediocrity. It’s true that Elizabeth David…

The name ‘bistro’ is said to have come from the dark days when Paris was full of Russian troops. It was 1815 and they had captured the city and would shout “bystro” to the waiters of the cafes. This meant “quickly” in Russian and so those establishments were considered as places where fast food was…

This book has been around for a good many years and that’s a good indication that it’s a worthwhile read. You can bet that any book that is reprinted as many times as Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery is a winner with the public. I have been looking forward to delving into the pages and…

This is another amazing book from John Wiley publishers. They might not be the most celebrated of cookbook publishers but the food-related books that they present are some of the best around, and Sauces is included in that list. You know that any book, cookery or otherwise, that reaches its third edition has got to…

The name Joël Robuchon might not mean too much to you … unless you are a food professional, a passionate home cook, interested in classic French cooking, a lover of fine food or a collector of the best cookbooks. Consider this as an introduction to one of the most celebrated of contemporary French chefs and…

I thought that this was going to be the story of a chef’s attempts to open and run a cooking school in Provence. Well, it isn’t that, exactly. It’s a cookery school neatly contained within the binding of this very fine book. Marie-Pierre Moine set out to create a school that would be accessible to…

Trish Deseine has written a cookbook that proclaims French home cooking to be still the best in the World. I would rather say that the best French cooking can be found in French homes, and Nobody Does It Better gives recipes for some of the finest. This book is one of the most faithful representations…

Asparagus officinalis is a flowering plant species in the genus Asparagus, a member of the lily family, from which the popular vegetable known as asparagus is obtained. It is native to most of Europe, North Africa and Asia. Asparagus has been used from very early times as a vegetable and also as a medicine due…