The French Vineyard Table

This has been one of my proudest purchases of cookbooks in quite some time, although I really shouldn't call it a cookbook because it is so much more. Apart from the extraordinary photography of French dishes, there are numerous photos of the French countryside, architecture and local produce. The book is separated into regions based on the wines that are produced there and of course every recipe includes that respective variety in it's list of ingredients. I will admit that despite the excellent explanations and detailed instruction which accompany each dish, many of the recipes are quite daunting and many of the ingredients are quite difficult to find. This of course will make it difficult for most home cooks to actually execute many of them unless of course patience prevails. Having said that, this book is a real pleasure just to sit down on your couch and read with a nice glass of wine!

This is one of the prettiest cookbooks I've come across in years. Organized by wine region, it presents both photos and recipes for Burgandy, Provence, etc. The recipes are well presented, with clear explanations of unusual or hard to find ingredients (such as Bresse chickens or wild mushrooms) and they suggest subsitutions that don't make me feel as though I'll be using Velveeta cheese when only Emmenthaler will do. The recipes look scrumptious -- though I haven't tried to make any of them yet -- and each uses the regional wines. A few of the dishes seem a little _too_ precious (I can't see myself making a blanquette of frog's legs with cepes and gros plante wine, though I might order it in a restaurant). And others are unlikely: I'm not going to afford truffles anytime soon, but you'll find at least a half dozen recipes using them. That isn't a problem, though: several recipes are unpretentious and are begging to be made into Sunday dinner: fricassee of free-range chicken with roasted tomatoes and wild mushrooms (not to mention 2 cups of Chardonnay), or lemon scallops with tomato and white wine (this time the author recommends one from Gaillac). It's a little heavy on the fish and fowl, with only a few beef, veal or pork dishes, in case that's an issue for you. However, this book is worth it even if you don't cook a thing, because the photography is absolutely stunning. In addition to excellent food photography (most of the recipes are accompanied with a photo, which I appreciate), there's stunning photos of each French region, mostly of vineyards and other foodie issues (such as a photo of a prize winning Bresse chicken). But you'll get your quota of castles and rural French vistas, too, making this a worth book to look at even if you're simply considering a vacation in France.

It was a wondeful book. Very infomitive.