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A review by c_l
French Provincial Cooking by Elizabeth David
4.0
You should read this if you want a foundation in (European) cooking.
One of the great food writers of western cooking in the 20th century. And Elizabeth is a great writer. The book is educationally delivered, but the stories surrounding dishes are often with wit and bounce. The fondness she has for the food on the page is clear, and the times she is forthcoming about a dish, even when she’s not particularly interested in it, are even more pronounced.
An extremely well-researched piece, with the glossary and bibliography being more than 50 pages alone, Elizabeth knows her stuff. Much of the technique and ingredients in this book are not in use today. I'm curious how much we forgot, versus we as a society decided to move away from - for taste or ease or economics. I'm also curious if this is how we use to cook and shop. Whether this was sequestered to the french bourgeois or the average American home cook was also thinking about cooking in these terms.
French Provencal Cooking really changed how I think about food in a lot of ways. A lot of the technique presented here comes from necessity (lack of refrigeration, etc) and we no longer need to think about food handling in quite the same way. But that doesn't mean old/outdated technique should be cast aside. I'm curious which of this is still deeply delicious, coupled with any extra burden, compared to what/how we cook now.
If you’re very interested in cooking, I can't recommend this enough. Additionally, if you’re interested in history (particularly food history post-1850) I would doubly recommend this. A great read.
One of the great food writers of western cooking in the 20th century. And Elizabeth is a great writer. The book is educationally delivered, but the stories surrounding dishes are often with wit and bounce. The fondness she has for the food on the page is clear, and the times she is forthcoming about a dish, even when she’s not particularly interested in it, are even more pronounced.
An extremely well-researched piece, with the glossary and bibliography being more than 50 pages alone, Elizabeth knows her stuff. Much of the technique and ingredients in this book are not in use today. I'm curious how much we forgot, versus we as a society decided to move away from - for taste or ease or economics. I'm also curious if this is how we use to cook and shop. Whether this was sequestered to the french bourgeois or the average American home cook was also thinking about cooking in these terms.
French Provencal Cooking really changed how I think about food in a lot of ways. A lot of the technique presented here comes from necessity (lack of refrigeration, etc) and we no longer need to think about food handling in quite the same way. But that doesn't mean old/outdated technique should be cast aside. I'm curious which of this is still deeply delicious, coupled with any extra burden, compared to what/how we cook now.
If you’re very interested in cooking, I can't recommend this enough. Additionally, if you’re interested in history (particularly food history post-1850) I would doubly recommend this. A great read.