Saveur Cooks Authentic French

I am professional chef and go thru tons of books in a year. This is one of the few I keep.

Everything about this book is delicious! From the stories, to the photographs and art direction, to the quality of stock on which it's printed, to finally the recipes. I couldn't get enough of it. It takes a dish and makes it more than just ingredients. You learn about people and places and events that are also a part of the recipe. It's so much more than just a cookbook.

Saveur is the best cooking magazine, and it has a primary focus on French cooking. This book reflects that, and an introduction that favors French over "silly fusion cooking" definitely has my vote. Most of the recipes are quite involved; some common, some quite unusual, all a treat to eyes nose and tongue. I have a lot of French cookbooks and this is compliments rather than duplicates.

Aside from the easy to follow and tasty recipes the book is filled with interesting photos and narratives.I've prepared several dishes following these recipes and all were delicious. One in particular, the Daube de Bouef was one of the best tasting meals I've had.

I love this book on many levels. The pictures are gorgeous to look at; the recipes make me weak with hunger; the pages are printed on thick paper that feels sumptuous for the relatively low price of the book; and the overall effect of the book is to transport me to a fantasy French life I'm living in my imagination. I appreciated the emphasis on traditional French recipes, as well as the abundant information about the origin of these recipes and the customs of traditional French life. Saveur, as a magazine, is always encyclopedic in its scope, and I was glad to see that this method was applied to the cookbook. Also, I was happy to find that not everything in the cookbook was just a rehash from the magazine -- there was some genuinely new information in the book. I got a really thorough understanding of the way certain regions of France approach the preparation of food, and was able to compare and contrast them based on their use of different ingredients and cooking methods. I hope this book gets the praise that Saveur Cooks Authentic American received.