A Passion for Provence [Paperback]

Not only does Provence lead in pure numbers, I think it also leads in the quality of the writing and in the diversity of the cuisine. As evidence, I submit a book I reviewed earlier, `Patricia Wells At Home in Provence' and my current subject `A Passion for My Provence' by Lydie Marshall. The two books have very similar chapter headings and both deal with tarts, daubes, vegetable stews, and fish stews aplenty. Aioli and tapenade flows over their pages like water. Still, it was very surprising to me to find virtually no duplication in recipes in the two books. This is doubly surprising because when I reviewed two books on Roman cuisine, I easily found five different entree (not condiment) recipes occurring in the two books with identical Italian names and similar recipes.

Both authors conduct cooking classes in their homes in Provence. Ms. Marshall lives in an old chateau in Nyons, a small town on a small tributary of the Rhone in central Provence. Ms. Marshall is a native of France. Ms. Wells, a native American, spends most of her time in Paris, but she summers in northern Provence, where she and her husband have had a farmhouse for over twenty years.

All of this makes choosing between these two books very difficult, especially since I believe the sizes of each book is almost perfectly proportional to the list prices and the presence of color photos in the more expensive (Wells) but not in the less expensive. The absence of common recipes in these books can probably be explained by the fact that both books specifically advertise themselves as collections of home recipes. As the two homes are separated by quite a distance in a very provincial land, it is no surprise that the two writers have little but a general style of cooking in common.

Certain ingredients share the starring roles in both books. It would not be Provencal cooking without eggplant, onions, asparagus, tomatoes, cepes (porcini), monkfish, and chicken. Ms. Marshall has a great section on fowl of various types, but all recipes can be made with chicken if pheasant or guinea hen is not available. Ms. Marshall also surprises us by covering ingredients such as pumpkin that Ms. Wells does not even mention. Ms. Marshall also devotes a considerable amount of space to pissaladiere, `the Provencal version of pizza' which has its origins in Nice. The classic topping for pissaladiere is an anchovy and onion marmalade. The crust is quite thick, more like a Sicilian than a Neapolitan thin crust pizza. Ms. Marshall in fact makes her pissaladiere with potato dough. She devotes over twenty pages to pissaladiere and other recipes one can base on this dough. In contrast, Ms. Wells has recipes for pizza and fougasse (French foccacia), but nothing on pissaladiere.

On average, I find Ms. Marshall's instructions less detailed than Ms. Wells, but I find no resulting deficiency in the quality of her dishes. Ms. Wells, being a professional journalist who hobnobs with the likes of Joel Robuchon will certainly have more to say about ingredients and technique. But, Ms. Marshall even has her own Robuchon story in describing the great chef's solution to doing a salt baked fish where the salt coat comes off without excessive salt in the fish itself. Ms. Wells includes wines to match each dish and Ms. Marshall does not.

As both books are in paperback with a total list price below $40, I would buy both, especially if you are fond of French cooking. If your budget is tight, get the work by Ms. Marshall and wait for Ms. Wells soon to be published new book on Provencal cooking.

Highly recommended, especially for those on a budget.