- Unknown Binding
- ASIN: B0018EHMVW
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,099,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read this cook book alongside Gertrude Stein's 'The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.' These books are fascinating to read as a pair and have certainly made me want to learn more about the lives of Stein and Toklas.
Most of the recipes in this book are related to events in the author's life, including dinner parties thrown for famous artists such as Picasso, and dishes prepared by friends and servants. There is a focus on French cuisine (with a famous dish involving 100 frogs' legs) with some Austrian and American dishes included. The book also features a controversial recipe for Hash Fudge. However, unless you are already a very experienced cook, these recipes may be a little hard to follow as they are very short and there is little discussion of technique. The measurements and equipment referred to as well as some of the ingredients are also now quite out of date and may require some re-interpretation.
Though undoubtedly of interest to people with a strong interest in cooking and the origins of recipes, I would suggest this is better read as a work of memoir, particularly in terms of the relationship between food and memory. It gives an insight into life with servants in early 20th Century France, and Toklas' chapter on the comings and goings of her various cooks and housekeepers was one of my favourite parts of the book. I also enjoyed her descriptions of wartime rationing and examples of recipes that were used in times of scarcity.
It is an engaging read and Toklas' style is cheerfully amusing. However, I would suggest it is better to read this with at least some background knowledge of the life and times of Gertrude Stein. If you are already interested in the lives of the great 20th Century artists and the influence of Gertrude Stein, this will give you an interesting insight into their domestic lives.
Most of the recipes in this book are related to events in the author's life, including dinner parties thrown for famous artists such as Picasso, and dishes prepared by friends and servants. There is a focus on French cuisine (with a famous dish involving 100 frogs' legs) with some Austrian and American dishes included. The book also features a controversial recipe for Hash Fudge. However, unless you are already a very experienced cook, these recipes may be a little hard to follow as they are very short and there is little discussion of technique. The measurements and equipment referred to as well as some of the ingredients are also now quite out of date and may require some re-interpretation.
Though undoubtedly of interest to people with a strong interest in cooking and the origins of recipes, I would suggest this is better read as a work of memoir, particularly in terms of the relationship between food and memory. It gives an insight into life with servants in early 20th Century France, and Toklas' chapter on the comings and goings of her various cooks and housekeepers was one of my favourite parts of the book. I also enjoyed her descriptions of wartime rationing and examples of recipes that were used in times of scarcity.
It is an engaging read and Toklas' style is cheerfully amusing. However, I would suggest it is better to read this with at least some background knowledge of the life and times of Gertrude Stein. If you are already interested in the lives of the great 20th Century artists and the influence of Gertrude Stein, this will give you an interesting insight into their domestic lives.
14 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is both a classic, and an original. Original in the sense of a successful hybrid of cookbook and reminiscence. It is literature, and evokes the period of Gertrude Stein and her contemporaries.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
