Wells, who's been presenting French food to American home cooks for several years now, turns here from the comfortable informal fare she featured in Bistro Cooking (1989) to the upscale cooking of superstar chef Joâl Robuchon's three-star Paris restaurant, Jamin. She makes much of what she has learned from this kitchen wizard and emphasizes how important it is to follow his procedures and ingredient list in every detail, but she doesn't always practice this slavish obedience in her own ``translations'' of his dishes. As for the cuisine presented here, Robuchon holds to current principles on using only fresh ingredients and bringing out their inherent flavors—rather than mushing them together in old- style purÇes that he says were made for people who couldn't chew- -but he also uses plenty of old-fashioned butter, cream, and foie gras, as well as expensive truffles. For admirers of this synthesis style, Robuchon is king, and along with the recipes Wells passes on a number of his special techniques for bringing out the flavor in dishes both simple (roast chicken) and ``elegant'' (pheasant stuffed with foie gras and roasted on braised endive in a casserole sealed with pastry).
Pub Date: Nov. 15, 1991
ISBN: 0-688-06642-9
Page Count: 324
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1991
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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