THE FRENCH COUNTRY KITCHEN

Town and Country food-writer Villas (Villas at Table, 1988, etc.) fell in love with French cooking as a student there 30 years ago. To judge from the first-person introductions to the recipes presented here, he has spent considerable time since then traveling throughout the country, enjoying the earthy, regional cooking of country homes and neighborhood bistros. SautÇed tripe, roast calf's liver, eel stew, and jugged hare are among the lusty dishes that take his fancy—though about the liver he admits that ``I haven't had much luck with [this] method, but...if you'd like to try....''- -hardly an inducement to do so. Many ingredients, too, he deems just not the same stateside—often insufficiently gamey for him— but he can usually recommend acceptable American products. Villas also dispenses advice to other gastronomic travelers, who can follow his lead to the real thing. Either way, his own impassioned and informed appreciation is persuasive. For an undiluted taste of real French food, look no further.