Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Provence on the table, 14 Sep 2011
This review is from: Provence: the Beautiful Cookbook (Hardcover)
This large volume evokes such powerful nostalgia for the region and its cookery it makes me want to jump in the car and head off south! Coffee-table style perhaps, with its beautiful evocative photos, but the recipes are practical and clear. The only drawback is its large format when it comes to shelving!
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delightful and delicious tour of Provencal cooking, 24 Feb 1999
By finanej@utk.edu - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Provence: the Beautiful Cookbook (Hardcover)
Provence the Beautiful Cookbook is an outstanding guide to the joys and challenges of traditional Provencal cuisine. I purchased it as my only cookbook for a 3 week stay in a Provencal country house, where we hosted friends from both the US and Europe. Some of the recipes are accessible to beginning cooks, but a few would challenge a Cordon Bleu chef. The emphasis is on fresh, traditional ingredients and techniques, and the resulting meals are memorable in every respect. The only drawback of this approach is that some of the ingredients, such as salt anchovies, a French Mediterranean specialty, are not available in most places in the US. But this small failing is offset by the wonderful results attainable from most of dishes, the best of which are both simple and quick, such as chicken with a basic Provencal sauce, or fresh peaches marinated in a delightful dessert wine available everywhere. One of the traditional recipes, 40-Clove Garlic Chicken, was used by a widely-published wine critic some years ago as a challenge to measure good Sauvignon Blanc: a great wine still shines next to this overpowering dish. This is a great cookbook, and a fine initiation into French provincial cooking, and the accompanying photography and background information are a good introduction to life in Provence. Highly recommended.
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh la la!, 22 Jun 2000
By F. Evans "french tortilla" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Provence: the Beautiful Cookbook (Hardcover)
French born and 4th generation provençale, I take pride in the cuisine from my homeland and I have to confess I was a little wary about what I would find in this book. Well, the authors did a wonderful job at promoting the gastronomic traditions of Provence without betraying them. My grand-mother, our family's head-cook, and our culinary inspiration would have given her seal of approval without hesitation, would she have been around to discover this wonderful recipe collection and it is with her and my homeland in mind that I enjoy preparing the recipes featured in this excellent collection for my own enjoyment and the one of my (American) husband and our friends.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This series is a winner!, 25 April 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Provence: the Beautiful Cookbook (Hardcover)
My wife, who is the cook in our home, says of this book, "I love it!" I can attest to the results. The recipes are clear and accurate. The food is superb and exactly matches the wonderful cuisine that my wife and I have enjoyed in Provence. No recipe has disappointed. The presentation of the book, with its beautiful pictures, is excellent. When you've tried Provence the Beautiful Cookbook, explore the others in the series. My wife is working her way through Tuscany the Beautiful Cookbook and I'm loving it!
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