Posted by g.e. willis on January 14, 1998 at 16:20:44:
In Reply to: Re:My Favorite Books posted by Francois de Melogue on January 11, 1998 at 11:11:52:
Some of my all-time favorite food books:
1.) The Time-Life "Foods of the World" series, published in 1968-69,
is still inspirational, informative, and the recipes work. Seek
out the volumes at used book stores (I've got 'em all except
Africa, I think). This series did 30 years ago what "Saveur"
does now in terms of travelogue and bringing authentic foods
to the American kitchen.
2.) "Honey from a Weed," by Patience Gray. Reprinted last year
in paperback! Real rootsy peasant fare from some great Med
rim places: Catalonia, Greek islands, S. and N. Italy, etc.
Full of entertaining stories and folklore, too.
3.) "Simple French Food" by Richard Olney.
4.) "The Auberge of the Flowering Hearth" by Roy Andries de Groot.
A bit dated now, but another inspiring bedside book about the
ultimate little alpine inn and its mythical kitchen.
5.) "When French Women Cook," by Madeleine Kamman. My only gripe
is that her autobiographical stories about France in the 1940s and 1950s
and the cooks who influenced her are only a page or two before each recipe
section.
6.) Elizabeth David's "Mediterranean Cooking" and "French
Country Cooking." (A hardcover from the 1960s contains
both books in a single volume) David's recipes are notoriously
brief and vague, but that's their charm. They seem to come
directly from hasty transcriptions that she made, perhaps,
as some country cook was speaking over her stove. If you already
know basic skills, David's recipes make great sources of ideas
for flavors and combinations of ingredients.