Sigal, who has edited the food newsletter Paris en Cuisine and other publications, pays tribute to classic French provincial cuisine with savory dishes that allow even novices to indulge in rich, traditional fare or alter the recipes to reduce the fat content for healthier but equally tasty meals. She also emphasizes using the freshest ingredients available, so the engaging sidebars that accompany each recipe, which offer everything from regional cooking history to personal anecdotes to serving suggestions, also recommend seasonal substitutes (for example, just-picked asparagus tips or morels instead of the rather mundane, but always available, vegetable medley for an impressive puff pastry with tomato sauce). Sigal evidently put a lot of research into this endeavor, studying the diversity of local produce, farming techniques, cheese production, meat curing, salt harvesting, grain preferences, and the like in four regions of France: Brittany, Normandy, Burgundy, and Provence. She imparts this knowledge in the informative, but shockingly ill-written, introduction and chapter openings, as well as prior to particular dishes—the ideal environmental conditions for snail farming (``an eternally muggy summer day'') are described just before the recipe for snails in basil and garlic sauce. Sigal's attention to detail insures cooking success, with accurate cooking times, convincing encouragement to use free-range chicken for full flavor, simple tips for peeling roasted red peppers, and perfectly subtle seasoning. Menu planning suggestions offer guidance for typical regional dining as well as ways to combine dishes from many regions. Kudos for cooking like a peasant—ignore the fact that Sigal writes like one too. (b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Nov. 11, 1994
ISBN: 0-385-42454-X
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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