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LE CORDON BLEU AT HOME

Name: LE CORDON BLEU AT HOME
Author: Andre Cointreau
ISBN: 0-688-09750-2

by Andre Cointreau ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1991

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This ``course'' in French cooking from the well-known Paris cooking school sets out to teach standard cooking techniques, sauces and stocks, and pastry magic in a series of 90 three-course menus that are arranged in three sections: basic, intermediate, and professional. The first 11 lessons (or menus) include boxed comments (not really very detailed) on sautÇing, roasting, mayonnaise, choux pastry, and other basics. ``Technique photo''- strips throughout demonstrate operations from making an omelet to boning a rabbit. By the end of the book, you're into lengthier preparations (the medallion of venison surrounded by tartlets of celeriac and chestnut purÇe is a two-day operation), preparing several terrines in aspic (one seafood, one rabbit) as starters, and serving what seems throughout to be an excessive number of courses in choux pastry shells. (One of these, filled with salmon and asparagus, calls for a total of 36 tablespoons of butter in a recipe for six that's described as a ``light'' dish in the modern style.) The menu arrangement makes the book heavy on pastries and desserts, and there is much butter, eggs, and cream everywhere. The Cordon Bleu name will lend cachet, but this doesn't notably stand out from other major French cooking tomes available, some of them more patiently detailed.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1991

ISBN: 0-688-09750-2

Page Count: 592

Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1991

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.