Saturday, January 3, 2015

Provence 1970




PROVENCE 1970
This book is written by Luke Barr who is the grand-nephew of M.F.K. Fisher a writer of many books focused on cooking.  In December of 1970 a group of very famous foodies, Julia Childs, James Beard and Simone Beck all found themselves in the South of France where they cooked and ate and debated with each other about cooking techniques. Fisher being the writer she was kept detailed journals. Some of this event was captured in Fisher's journals and provided the content for this book.

I am really not that familiar with this set of chefs for lack of a better word. In actuality, they were cook book authors and TV personalities.  Julia Child wrote the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol I and II which was revolutionary.  It brought The art of French Cookery into the American home kitchen and sat on the shelf next to the Betty Crocker Cookbook.  Home cooking became and art form with so many new options.  If you could follow the recipes you could create new and delicious dishes to serve to your family and friends.  Dinner parties were taken to a whole new level.

Of all the chefs mentioned in the book, Julia Child is the most recognizable to me. We had a copy of her cookbook in our house.  I was a little too young to appreciate her first TV show The French Chef but I did occasionally watch the show Julia Child and company if I was home from school.  Her voice and her ability to laugh at herself during the show if something happened while preparing her dish was impressive.  She was Like the founding daughter for food shows today.

Until I read the book I had never heard of Richard Olney.  He had originally started out as a painter in Greenwich Village and ended up going to France and becoming a cook and food writer.  He was very much into the food to table type of cooking, growing many of his ingredients right in his garden.  He built his own wine cellar and collected wine which he took great pleasure pairing with the dishes he prepared. He believed in seasonal cooking. When he planned a dinner party, food prep could span over several days. 

The book is very readable.  The subject is interesting. If you would like more information about this book click on this link Provence 1970

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."



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