The Country Cooking of France
C**M
Avoid the Kindle version
I have no doubt that the hardcopy version of this book is wonderful. However, the Kindle version is filled with egregious typos. Just looking at chapter titles in the Table of Contents, the phrase "The French Touch" shows up in the Kindle version variously as "The Friench Louch" (chapter 2), "The Fiench Louch" (chapters 5 and 14), and "The French Louch" (chapters 8 and 11). Chapter 4's title is listed in the Table of Contents as "A Great Gatch: Fish & Shellfish". It's as if a hardcopy of the text was scanned into a digital format using optical character recognition and processed into Kindle format without even a spell check. The publisher should be ashamed and the editor (if there was one) might well consider a career change.
B**E
Kindle edition missing pages, partial recipes.
This is an outstanding book. Wonderful recipes, little vignettes of life, great fun to read, and to cook from. However the kindle edition is missing pages, leaving partial recipes, and unintended cliff hangers. What a crime, this is a top notch book brutalized by careless editing for the online edition.
G**S
Bon appétit--The Country Cooking of France
Here is a wonderfully huge coffee table book on French Country Cooking. It is a history lesson along with the lifestyle and recipes of the French countryside. Beautiful photography accompany the recipes. Learn how Roquefort came to be. Legend has it that a shepherd boy mislaid his lunch of bread and white curd cheese in a limestone cave. A few weeks later he returned to collect it to find his abandoned cheese had become lined with veins of blue-green mold: the first Roquefort.I have a French friend who is living in the United States. She checked this book out so many times from the library to get the French recipes she needed, she finally bought the book. It is truly the go-to book for riches of rural France.The author gives the reader the French sights, smells, and the diversity of ingredients that change with the seasons. Included is a detailed map of France where the famous produce can be found.In many country households the day ends with a big bowl of broth and vegetables fortified with bacon, cheese, along with quantities of bread. Where else could you find cream of chestnut soup? I think I will skip the chapter on frogs and snails! I am more the eggs and cheese person. I love, love, love Quiche Lorraine.There is a section on wine including how to cook with it. (Now I am also skipping the section on duck-- and the one on game birds.) Even though there are the recipes I am skipping, who knows someday I might need them?On to Potatoes, Pasta and Legumes.Love the section on olives, olive oil. Check out the recipe for Ratatouille on page 261.Glossary included gives the ingredients, techniques, recipe and equipment you might have questions about. Recipes are given in US measurements and metric. Extensive index makes this a wonderful book for the collector and serious French chef.
S**A
... recipes out of this book and they've all been great! Authentic
I've cooked the most recipes out of this book and they've all been great! Authentic, easy to follow recipes with great tasting results. It's less confusing and time consuming than Julia Child's cookbook. The recipes and directions are very easy to follow despite having an intimidating ingredients list for some recipes, this book lays it all out in an easy to follow fashion.I love Julia Child, if you're looking to branch out of the Mastering the Art of French Cooking this cookbook would be the next best one to start exploring.
D**E
I had to have it!
I was thrilled when I found this beautiful cookbook. It's been a long time since a cookbook has captured me this way. It is exceptionally written. In reviewing all the recipes I became excited to think of being in the kitchen this fall with these new recipes to try. I can't wait! And besides all the wonderful recipes there are little stories all through the book describing various foods, and how recipes came about, things like the importance of onions, charcuterie, pastry's. She describes various villages and regions and cooking in those areas. I loved reading all the stories and explanations. It's like two books in one. The photographs are beautiful and so real, like the food is sitting in front of you on your table. I can't wait to make the recipes and take some photo's to see if I can replicate them. I own many cookbooks and rarely buy new ones these days but this book I had to have for my collection. It will be sitting on my kitchen counter for the first few months!
K**E
Beautiful Cookbook
This is my most favorite all-around French cookbook. This book covers cooking from all over the country of France, and contains just about every traditional recipe. While many recipes are time-consuming I wouldn't classify them as being difficult, and it is certainly suitable for the everyday cook who wants to make an extra-special meal. Our family owns many of Anne Willan's cookbooks and her recipes always turn out well on the first try, and this book is no exception! I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves French cuisine. The photos and little anecdotes are superb as well. A beautiful book!
W**T
Beautiful and delicious recipes
This cookbook has beautiful photographs and clear and concise instructions to make all the wonderful recipes included in the beautifully bound book. I use post it flags to mark recipes that I want to make and my book is chock full of flags. The index is also very clear and easy to understand. I highly recommend this book as well as the series. I also have the country cooking books on Ireland and Italy.
P**N
Lots of good recipes
Tasty and authentic recipes. Not for faint of heart, but recipes are definitely worth the effort.
R**R
One volume summary of French country cooking
This book is a distillation of every worthwhile French recipe in my collection; if I had to take just one to a desert island this would be it. Anne Willan has done a marvellous job in compressing so much first-hand knowledge into it. Her credentials are first-class - La Varenne etc. The recipes look to have been well tested, and I can't wait to get to work. These volumes by Chronicle Books and superb productions
M**R
Country Cooking of France by Ann Willan's
This is the most beautifully produced book which is ful of interesting and different recipes which, from past experience of Ann Willan's work, I know will all be' doable' - unlike so many of the television chefs' recipes which don't seem to have the same rigorous testing before being published. Not only does the book contain recipes but also has fascinating articles on the production of food, regional topics of interest and so much more to read of interest to those interested in food. Highly recommended as a prize possession.
V**K
best book
I am totaly excited about this book. delivery, was perfect and now I am enjoyin the fantastic world of cooking France.
A**R
Five Stars
Fab book
M**E
Not bad.
I married a French woman and live in France. Been using this book for several years. Some of these recipes just don't work. Although the information and history is very good.
J**Y
Very disappointing cookbook
I was looking forward to try dishes from this book. I thought this will be a much better and useful cookbook than the ones that have fancy, restaurant style recipes that are not practical. The book is large, have detailed recipes and nice pictures.However, the dishes taste very bad. I was very disappointed. I tried three deserts: 1. Cherry Batter Pudding (Clafoutis Limousin) which we couldn't eat (it was like eating eggs, and had bad taste). 2.Soft-Centered Chocolate souffle (Souffle Moelleux Au Chocolat) which was not good at all. 3. Lemon Tart (Tarte Au Citron) which was OK but was too fatty (too much butter: 90 g (6 TB) in the crust, and 140 g (2/3 Cup) in the filling). I was really looking forward for french country cooking, but this book is not the one.
Trustpilot
5 days ago
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