Cuisine
- 101 Beautiful Towns in France: Food and Wine - Simonetta Greggio
Beautifully illustrated as well as informative, One Hundred & One Beautiful Towns in France: Food and Wine explores the local delicacies of a country known for and proud of its love of food and wine. Organized by region, this book features a wonderful sampling of French plaisirs de la table and the shops and markets where you can find them.
Simonetta Greggio was born in Italy and moved to Paris to study literature under Milan Kundera. She has coauthored numerous lifestyle books, including Provence, Luberon, and La Côte d’Azur des jardins. She has also published the widely acclaimed novel, La Douceur des hommes.
- A Taste of my Life - Raymond Blanc
A rattling good story BBC Good Food Magazine We hail his astonishing determination, and his evocation of his life at home with Mum and Dad, and revel too in his descriptions of English catering in the years before Blanc Guardian Much more than a cookbook, more of a bedtime read, his book deserves a place on any food-lover's bookshelf Leicester Mercury His story takes us from simple, rustic cuisine to the rarefied realms of molecular gastronomy
Entirely self-taught while growing up in the Franche-Comte region of eastern France, Raymond Blanc has been a restauranteur since 1977, and has nurtured the talents of scores of the world's finest chefs in his kitchens. The face of the BBC's The Restaurant, in which he puts nine couples through their paces for a chance to become his partner in owning a restaurant, Raymond was recently awarded an OBE in recognition of his efforts to promote culinary excellence. Author of the seminal Foolproof French Cookery and owner of a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, he was also recently awarded a Lifetime Acheivement Award at The Catey Awards - the catering industry's 'Oscars'.
- Barefoot in Paris - Ina Garten
Hearty boeuf Bourguignon served in deep bowls over a garlic-rubbed slice of baguette toast; decadently rich croquet monsieur, eggy and oozing with cheese; gossamer creme brulee, its sweetness offset by a brittle burnt-sugar topping. Whether shared in a cosy French bistro or in your own home, the romance and enduring appeal of French country cooking is irrefutable. Here is the book that helps you bring that spirit, those evocative dishes, into your own home.
Ina Garten is one of America's most loved culinary icons and the author of five previous bestselling cookery books. Her Barefoot Contessa cookery programmes are screened each day on UK TVFood. Ina writes a column on entertaining for America's Home Beautiful magazine and lives in East Hampton with her husband Jeffrey.
- Bon Appetit - Peter Mayle
Gastronomy is a wonderful starting point to study France and the French. As the retired schoolmaster from Provence says 'The religion of France is food. And wine, of course.'
Peter Mayle spent 15 years in the advertising business, first as a copywriter and then as a reluctant executive, before escaping Madison Avenue in 1975 to write educational books for children. In 1990 Mayle published A Year in Provence, which became an international bestseller; his books have since been translated into more than 20 languages, Mayle has contributed to The Sunday Times, the Financial Times, The Independent, GQ, and Esquire. He and his wife, Jennie, and their dogs live in the south of France.
- Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery - Jane Grigson
Every town in France has at least one charcutier, whose windows are dressed with astonishing displays of good food; pates, terrines, galantines, jambon, saucissions sec and boudins. The charcutier will also sell olives, anchovies, condiments as well as various salads of his own creation, making a visit the perfect stop to assemble picnics and impromptu meals.
Jane Grigson was brought up in the north-east of England, where there is a strong tradition of good eating, but it was not until many years later, when she began to spend three months of each year in France, that she became really interested in food. Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery was the result, exploring the wonderful range of cooked meat products on sale in even the smallest market towns. This book has also been translated into French, a singular honour for an English cookery writer.
- Confessions of a French Baker - Peter Mayle
'In Cavaillon, there are seventeen bakers listed in the Pages Jaunes, but we had been told that one establishment was ahead of all the rest in terms of choice and excellence, a vertiable palais de pain. At Chez Auzet, so they said, the baking and eating of breads and pastries had been elevated to the status of a minor religion.'
Peter Mayle spent 15 years in the advertising business, first as a copywriter and then as a reluctant executive, before escaping Madison Avenue in 1975 to write educational books for children. In 1990 Mayle published A Year in Provence, which became an international bestseller; his books have since been translated into more than 20 languages, Mayle has contributed to The Sunday Times, the Financial Times, The Independent, GQ, and Esquire. He and his wife, Jennie, and their dogs live in the south of France.
- Country Cooking of France - Anne Willan
Why is the country cooking of France so compelling, and why does it exert such fascination and evoke so much respect? The answer lies in the terroir of its pays (regions), the fresh produce and specialty foods that are unique to each area and are then transformed into such traditional favourites as Soupeau Pistou and Choucroute Alsacienne.
Anne Willan is an award-winning cooking teacher, food writer, and the author of more than 30 cookbooks. She operates La Varenne, her esteemed cooking school, at Chateau du Fey in Burgundy, France.
- Cuisine Gascon - Pascal Aussignac
"Cuisine Gascon" is Michelin-starred chef Pascal Aussignac's exquisitely evocative celebration of the food and culture of his native Gascony. On moving to Britain in the late 1990s, Pascal opened up his award-winning restaurant Club Gascon in London's Smithfield Market.
Pascal Aussignac is a Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur. He cooks in and oversees five award-winning restaurants in London, all of them with a slightly different culinary theme but all of them alluding to and celebrating the food of his beloved homeland of Gascony. Pascal Aussignac's restaurant Club Gascon was awarded a Michelin Star in 2002 and in 2007 was awarded the ultimate peer group accolade of Restaurant of the Year by The Caterer Magazine. The sister restaurants in the Club Gascon group are Comptoir Gascon and Cellar Gascon in Smithfield, Le Cercle off Sloane Street in Knightsbridge and Croque Gascon in the newly opened Westfield Centre in Shepherd's Bush. Pascal Aussignac lives in London just above two of his restaurants in Smithfield.
- Culinaria France - Andre Domine
France has long been and remains the stronghold of culinary culture. No other country in the world can boast such an immense richness of specialties or comes even close to offering such an extraordinary wealth of noble restaurants, in which thousands of chefs nurture the tradition of grand cuisine and with notable creativity continue to produce new culinary delights.
Andre Domine, in spite of his French-sounding name, comes from Hamburg, Germany. He put down roots in a winegrowing village in the south of France in 1981, and for more than a dozen years he has sniffed and sipped his way through French cellars, kitchens, and landscapes. Part of the project from its beginning, he animates fans of the Culinaria series to retrace his pleasurable discoveries and experience them for themselves. Gunter Beer discovered his passion for the subject of food while working on the European Specialties volume of the Culinaria series. Further publications with Konemann followed. Beer has lived, worked, and enjoyed life in Barcelona, Spain for several years.
- French Food at Home - Laura Calder
You'll be cooking French food in no time thanks to Laura Calder's friendly and witty introductions to each of the recipes in her charming cookbook, French Food at Home. Calder lives in Paris where she works as a correspondent for Vogue Entertaining & Travel, and where she taught herself to cook the same way most of us learned - by feeding herself and her friends.
Laura Calder is a Paris correspondent for Vogue Entertaining and Travel. Her writing has also appeared on Salon.com and in the Los Angeles Times and the Wine Journal. She lives in Paris.
- French Laundry Cookbook - Thomas Keller
Thomas Keller, chef/proprieter of the French Laundry in the Napa Valley—"the most exciting place to eat in the United States," wrote Ruth Reichl in The New York Times—is a wizard, a purist, a man obsessed with getting it right.
Thomas Keller, author of The French Laundry Cookbook, Bouchon, Under Pressure, and Ad Hoc at Home, has been honored with innumerable awards, from an honorary doctorate to outstanding restaurateur to chef of the year (for successive years). His two Michelin Guide three-star-rated restaurants, French Laundry and Per Se, continue to vie for best restaurant in America and for ranking among the top five eateries in the world. Ad Hoc, his casual family-style restaurant, opened in 2006.
- French Menu Cookbook - Richard Olney
As those who knew him will attest, Francophile and food writer Richard Olney was one of a kind-a writerly cook who had a tremendous influence on American cooking via his well-worn cottage on a hillside in Provence.
Richard Olney was one of a kind - a scholarly cook who had a tremendous influence on American cooking via his cottage on a hillside in Provence. Born in the Midwest in 1927 and drawn to France as a young man, Olney was attracted to the style, flavours, and tastes of French cooking.
- French Provincial Cooking - Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David's classic work on the regional cuisine of France is one of the most evocative, inspiring cookery books ever written.
Elizabeth David discovered her taste for good food and wine when, as a student at the Sorbonne, she lived with a French family for two years. After returning to England she made up her mind to learn to cook, so that she could reproduce for herself and her friends some of the food that she had come to appreciate in France. Subsequently Mrs David lived and kept house in France, Italy, Greece, Egypt and India, learning the local dishes and cooking them in her own kitchen. Her first book, Mediterranean Food, appeared in 1950, when rationing was still in force and most of the ingredients she so lovingly described were not available. At the time her book was read rather than used, and created in its readers a yearning both for good ingredients and for a way of life that saw more in food and cooking than mere sustenance. French Country Cooking followed in 1951, Italian Food in 1954 and Summer Cooking in 1955, all of which were received with equal critical acclaim. The publication of French Provincial Cooking in 1960 confirmed Mrs David's position as the most inspirational and influential cookery writer in the English language.
- Goosefat and Garlic - Jeanne Strang
When Jeanne Strang and her husband Paul bought a house in South-West France over forty years ago, they found themselves captivated by the 'old ways' of the surrounding villages and their cuisine du terroir - earthy, homely dishes that celebrate not only the quality of the yearly harvests but also a style of cooking so rooted in the rural culture that its taste affirms a timeless allegiance to place and history.
Jeanne Strang's interest in food and cooking took a professional turn when she was loaned by the Consumer's Association, for whom she worked, to Raymond Postgate to help with the first publication under their auspices of his Good Food Guide. She is co-author of The Good Food Guide Dinner Party Book and The Good Cook's Guide and has contributed articles to various food and wine publications.
- Le Manoir - Raymond Blanc
Raymond Blanc has achieved worldwide fame as an inspired chef with a relentless drive for perfection. His cooking has been described as 'an extraordinary process of creativity, passion, subtlety, indeed genius'.
Raymond Blanc was born in Besancon in eastern France into a family of food lovers. Moving to England at 22, he worked first as a waiter and then in a hotel kitchen. From these humble beginnings, his talent propelled him to fame within only a few years.
Entirely self-taught while growing up in the Franche-Comte region of eastern France, Raymond Blanc has been a restauranteur since 1977, and has nurtured the talents of scores of the world's finest chefs in his kitchens. The face of the BBC's The Restaurant, in which he puts nine couples through their paces for a chance to become his partner in owning a restaurant, Raymond was recently awarded an OBE in recognition of his efforts to promote culinary excellence. Author of the seminal Foolproof French Cookery and owner of a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, he was also recently awarded a Lifetime Acheivement Award at The Catey Awards - the catering industry's 'Oscars'.
- Mastering the Art of France Cooking: Vol 2 - Julia Child
Soups from the garden, bisques from the sea, famous fish stews from Provence and Normandy, the real French crunchy bread, meats, vegetables and desserts in variety, all accompanied by step-by-step instructions and superb illustrations. Mastering the Art of French Cooking: volume 2 is as the Daily Telegraph commented, a book that no serious cook should be without.
Julia Child revolutionised cooking in the US and this was the cookbook that launched her career. A native of California and a Smith College graduate, Julia Child studied at Paris’s famous Cordon Bleu, and worked under various distinguished French chefs. In 1951 she started her own cooking school in Paris, L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes, with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle and the three women started compiling this cookbook. Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published in 1961 and was an instant hit. Julia Child consequently began appearing on the television series The French Chef, which aired for many years all over the United States, and many more books and TV series ensued.
- Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Julia Child
This isn’t just any cookery book. It is Mastering the Art of French Cooking, first published in 1961, and it’s a book that is a statement, not of culinary intent, but of aspiration, a commitment to a certain sort of good life, a certain sort of world-view; a votive object implying taste and appetite and a little je ne sais quoi.
Julia Child revolutionised cooking in the US and this was the cookbook that launched her career. A native of California and a Smith College graduate, Julia Child studied at Paris's famous Cordon Bleu, and worked under various distinguished French chefs. In 1951 she started her own cooking school in Paris, L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes, with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle and the three women started compiling this cookbook. Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published in 1961 and was an instant hit. Julia Child consequently began appearing on the television series The French Chef, which aired for many years all over the United States, and many more books and TV series ensued.
- My Life in France - Julia Child
When Julia Child arrived in Paris in 1948, a 'six-foot-two-inch, thirty-six-year-old, rather loud and unserious Californian', she spoke barely a few words of French, and didn't know the first thing about cooking.
Julia Child revolutionised cooking in the US and this was the cookbook that launched her career. A native of California and a Smith College graduate, Julia Child studied at Paris’s famous Cordon Bleu, and worked under various distinguished French chefs. In 1951 she started her own cooking school in Paris, L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes, with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle and the three women started compiling this cookbook. Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published in 1961 and was an instant hit. Julia Child consequently began appearing on the television series The French Chef, which aired for many years all over the United States, and many more books and TV series ensued.
- New Bistro - Fran Warde
"New Bistro" profiles a diverse selection of France's best bistros and eateries, from the vintage sophistication of Benoit in Paris, where quality, taste and presentation are of the utmost importance, to the rustic charm of La Colline in the mountains of Provence, with its emphasis on organic, locally sourced ingredients.
Fran Warde has worked all over the globe in the pursuit of culinary perfection. Raised in the rural West Country and an enthusiastic cook as a child, she studied hotel and catering management and, after an eighteen-month stint at The Cafe Royale, headed first to the French mountains and then to Australia. Fran connected with the Australian approach to cookery, even spending time on a prawn trawler to learn about fish and seafood. She returned to England and set up a restaurant in London, later moving into catering. She has also set up her own successful cookery school. Fran became associated with French country cooking when she co-authored the internationally best-selling The French Kitchen with Chocolat author Joanna Harris, which won a Golden Ladle at the 2005 World Food Media Awards. This book was followed by the similarly successful The French Market. Other books include Food for Friends; Eat, Drink, Live; and Party! She has written for numerous publications, including The Saturday Times Magazine, BBC Good Food and Waitrose Food Illustrated and Red magazine.
- Plats du Jour - William Black
There is more than a slight malaise in the air these days about French food and cooking. While the rest of the world delights in the intricacies of molecular gastronomy and even Britain is revelling in a culinary renaissance, in France the years of worship at the temple of the great god Michelin seem to have blinded them to change and evolution.
William Black is the author of Al Dente and The Land That Thyme Forgot and the co-author with Sophie Grigson of Fish, Organic and Travels à la Carte. He featured in the Glenfiddich award-winning television series, Matters of Taste, and he has sourced ingredients (fish in particular) for many of the UK’s finest restaurants. He lives in Oxfordshire.
- Pork and Son – Stéphane Reynaud
"Pork & Sons" is an authentic and intensely personal cookbook, presenting the reader with a multitude of ideas on how to cook fine and succulent pork, whilst giving a rare glimpse into a day in the life of a small family business in rural France.
Stéphane Reynaud comes from the Ardèche plateau in France, where his grandfather was the village butcher. Brought up on the traditions of French cooking, Reynaud is now owner of Villa 9 Trois in Montreuil, near Paris – a highly regarded restaurant that specializes in pork.
- Ripailles - Stéphane Reynaud
Acclaimed Parisian chef Stéphane Reynaud writes beautiful recipes that combine his passion for traditional French cooking with his enthusiasm for modern cuisine.
Stéphane Reynaud is the chef and owner of renowned Villa 9 Trois in Montreuil, near Paris. He comes from a family of pig farmers and butchers in the Ardèche plateau in France and now lives in Paris with his wife and three children.
- Rôtis - Stéphane Reynaud
From Stéphane Reynaud, the bestselling French author of Ripailles, comes this book about roasts. Pot-roasted or oven-roasted, Rôtis turns up the heat on cooking a butcher shop window's worth of meat. There's a roast for every day - Monday's beef, Tuesday's veal, Wednesday's poultry, Thursday's pork, Friday's - you guessed it - fish, Saturday's lamb and Sunday, well, that's leftover night.
Stéphane Reynaud is the chef and owner of renowned Villa 9 Trois in Montreuil, near Paris. He comes from a family of pig farmers and butchers in the Ardèche plateau in France and now lives in Paris with his wife and three children.
- Simple French Cookery - Raymond Blanc
Entirely self-taught while growing up in the Franche-Comte region of eastern France, Raymond Blanc has been a restauranteur since 1977, and has nurtured the talents of scores of the world's finest chefs in his kitchens. The face of the BBC's The Restaurant, in which he puts nine couples through their paces for a chance to become his partner in owning a restaurant, Raymond was recently awarded an OBE in recognition of his efforts to promote culinary excellence. Author of the seminal Foolproof French Cookery and owner of a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, he was also recently awarded a Lifetime Acheivement Award at The Catey Awards - the catering industry's 'Oscars'.
- Simple French Food - Richard Olney
First published in the 1970s to critical acclaim Richard Olney's "Simple French Food" follows in the tradition of the writing of Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson, and Grub Street are re-issuing this classic work in the same format and size as "Elizabeth David Classics" and "Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery".
Richard Olney was one of a kind – a scholarly cook who had a tremendous influence on American cooking via his cottage on a hillside in Provence. Born in the Midwest in 1927 and drawn to France as a young man, Olney was attracted to the style, flavours, and tastes of French cooking.
- Tarragon and Truffles - Anne Gregg
Traditional food markets and flea markets; markets devoted to foie gras or fashion bargains, oysters or truffles; massive everything-including-the-kitchen-sink markets and magical Christmas markets. In a region-by-region guide, the author picks out her personal favourites, usually in the most beguiling towns and villages and points out the specialities to look for, be they Mirabelle plums or Provençal cottons.
Anne Gregg's love affair with France began as a teenager when she first took the train to Marseille and woke up to the garlic-and-Gauloises smells of the seductive south. Since then, she visited almost every corner of the country, writing numerous travel articles about it and was editor of The Traveller in France magazine for the French Tourist Office for over 25 years. Between times, her stint as presenter of the BBC Holiday programme as well as other television and radio work also often took her to France. Anne Gregg died shortly after publication of Tarragon & Truffles.
- Terrine - Stéphane Reynaud
Terrine presents a selection of recipes that bring together Stéphane Reynaud’s passion for rural French cooking and his enthusiasm for modern cuisine. The book offers some well-loved favourites as well as some more surprising dishes that reflect contemporary tastes.
Stéphane Reynaud comes from the Ardèche plateau in France, where his grandfather was the village butcher. Brought up on the traditions of French cooking, Reynaud is now owner of Villa 9 Trois in Montreuil, near Paris – a highly regarded restaurant that specializes in pork.
- The French Chef Cookbook - Julia Child
All the recipes that Julia Child demonstrated on her first public television series, The French Chef -- the 119 shows that made Julia a household name and changed forever the way Americans cook.
Julia Child revolutionised cooking in the US and this was the cookbook that launched her career. A native of California and a Smith College graduate, Julia Child studied at Paris’s famous Cordon Bleu, and worked under various distinguished French chefs. In 1951 she started her own cooking school in Paris, L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes, with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle and the three women started compiling this cookbook. Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published in 1961 and was an instant hit. Julia Child consequently began appearing on the television series The French Chef, which aired for many years all over the United States, and many more books and TV series ensued.
- The French Kitchen - Joanne Harris
Joanne Harris' bestselling novels, "Chocolat", "Blackberry Wine" and "Five-Quarters of the Orange", are affectionately known as her culinary trilogy.
In them, Joanne Harris whets our appetites with some tantalisingly delicious recipes taken from her own grandmere's recipe book.
Joanne Harris is the author of the Whitbread-shortlisted Chocolat (made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp) and many other bestselling novels.
For a full biography, please visit Joanne Harris - Author Page.
- The French Market - Joanne Harris
Following the success of The French Kitchen, Joanne Harris and Fran Warde have collaborated once more to write a French cookbook with a difference.
This time they have taken their inspiration from the rural markets of Gascony.
Joanne Harris is the author of the Whitbread-shortlisted Chocolat (made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp) and many other bestselling novels.
For a full biography, please visit Joanne Harris - Author Page.
- Walnut Wine & Truffle Groves - Kimberley Lovato
WALNUT WINE AND TRUFFLE GROVES is a culinary travel book that invites readers to pull up a chair and visit the Dordogne the way it should be visited…one bite at a time.
Join author Kimberley Lovato and Chef Laura Schmalhorst as they navigate the back roads, as well as the menus and markets, with newfound excitement and a fork and knife!
Kimberley Lovato is a freelance journalist and author specializing in lifestyle and travel writing, with a heaping spoonful of culinary curiosity on the side.
Her love of French language, food, and lifestyle inspired her to write a culinary travel book, Walnut Wine & Truffle Groves, about the Dordogne region of France. The book was released by Running Press in April 2010.
All the best
