FRENCH PROVINCIAL COOKING

The one shot American tourist is apt to think of French cooking in terms of Paris. But once the tourist goes beyond the range of the environs of Paris and out into the provinces, he begins to feel that any motor tour of France is a gastronomique tour. For it is in the provinces that one finds the real France, and the social significance in terms of food. This book is a survey of that food of the provinces, not the peasant food but that one would find in the well-balanced middle class where traditions of the region and the past are preserved. Chamberlain gave us Bouquet De France, subtitled An Epicurean Tour of the French Provinces, which introduced many to the concept of French provincial cooking, but done as travel, highlighted by food, the recipes shared by chefs in the inns and restaurants. Then there was Waverley Root's The Food of France, which had more historical flavor. Now comes this, with introductory chapters particularizing the intensive investigation, the breakdown into specific provinces, their local and regional dishes and dependence on what the region provided, the seasonal aspects, and the equipment of a French oriented kitchen. There is some special information on cooking terms and procedures, a few English shortcuts (America could provide a few on her own), the herbs, spices and condiments, weights and measures, temperature timing, and so on. The recipe section two thirds of the whole- is divided along routine lines, from soups to sweets. A Bibliography of cookery books- from 18th century on, of English language sources, etc. and three types of indexes complete what is a provocative but specialized type of cookbook.