The Kitchen Book & the Cook Book

by Nicolas Freeling, John Lawrence (Illustrator)

For cooks who love to read, here are two gastronomical memoirs in one volume that are funny, wise, full of inspiration and delight.

Nicolas Freeling began his working life as an apprentice cook in a large French hotel and his writing is drawn from those experiences. This is a delicious blend of the culinary and the literary, and include such recipes as cinnamon lamb stew and bouillabaisse, all charmingly floating about in a consistently entertaining text.

The Kitchen Book & The Cook Book will find a place close to any cook’s heart.

Genres: Food, Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Culinary, Food Writing, Biography

346 pages, Paperback

Published September 8, 2015

About the author

Nicolas Freeling born Nicolas Davidson, (March 3, 1927 - July 20, 2003) was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the Van der Valk series of detective novels which were adapted for transmission on the British ITV network by Thames Television during the 1970s.

Freeling was born in London, but travelled widely, and ended his life at his long-standing home at Grandfontaine to the west of Strasbourg. He had followed a variety of occupations, including the armed services and the catering profession. He began writing during a three-week prison sentence, after being convicted of stealing some food.[citation needed]

Freeling's The King of the Rainy Country received a 1967 Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Novel. He also won the Gold Dagger of the Crime Writers' Association, and France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.

From Wikipedia

Series:
* Van Der Valk
* Henri Castang

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ran across this in the footnotes of one of Bourdain's books as an inspiration for Kitchen Confidential. The first book, "The Kitchen Book", reads much the same-- an entertaining biography of a cook in post-war France and England.

Much of the book is the very entertaining minutiae of keeping a decaying French hotel or a ill-conceived restaurant afloat. In both cases, Freeling writes candidly of his professional short comings and how they're dampened or amplified by the various personalities orbiting these businesses. The companionship outweighs the hardship, but not by much-- but Freeling's prespective keeps it from feeling weighed down.

This is one of the few books I've read more than once.

The second book, "The Cook Book", is an effort by Freeling to create a cookbook entirely devoid of measurements. There's a lot that can go wrong and it's not as friendly a read although it has some very entertaining passages. For the most part, if the subject is a dish you've cooked or want to cook, then it works. If you're interested in cookbooks like this Nigel Slater hits a homerun with Appetite-- very highly recommended.

[^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved “The Kitchen Book”, but found “The Cook Book” a bit more of a ramble.

Freeling’s turn of phrase is sharp and pithy as he describes his early career working in kitchens; “he was quartering boiled potatoes with of all things a long ham knife” (p.92, KB). What a wonderful picture?! One feels that there is much wisdom within the pages of The Kitchen Book. And much give and take; “All cooks like to show off virtuosity, and restaurants encourage them since it is good publicity. The horrors begin to creep in when all this art forgets about the nose and only clamours for the eye’s attention.” No change from today, then. This is definitely a book which every catering student would benefit from reading; and be thankful for their training in an educational establishment prior to their final knocking into shape in a restaurant or hotel kitchen.

The Cook Book is quite different. Freeling muses on the practice of cooking dishes. Unsurprisingly this acts to remind the reader that many (but not all) culinary tastes and methods have radically changed over the last forty years; though he writes so interestingly (even bringing in the legends of King Arthur) that his reader is more than happy to both wallow in nostalgia …. and wonder if some present day ‘improvements’ actually are?

[Michael Flick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The detective-novelist describes his day jobs starting out a as apprentice in the kitchen of a grand, French seaside hotel, then working his way up the ladder to attempting to open his own first-rate fashionable standalone French restaurant from scratch. That’s the kitchen book. The cookbook are tales of great meals, all times of day, with scant attention to exact ingredients and methods, more memories of great eats and how to approach them. Delicious read.

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you rate two books in one? The Kitchen Book is a fun romp through Freeling's time as a cook in European hotels. (Who knew the creator of van der Valk and Castang was a chef?) The Cook Book is a little less interesting. There are recipes, but I marked only three to look at again.

[Milos Gallo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kitchen book me encantó, pero the cook book estaba muy difícil a cada rato tener que estar checando la traducción de cada terminología la vdd jajaj

[Bill Keefe · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the genre of food and cooking literature, which runs from recipe-first books like The Art of French Cooking to romantic histories like Croque en Bouche, Freeling's Kitchen Book, and to a much lesser extent his Cook Book, lean towards the latter. There's as much info about working in professional kitchens as you'll find in Kitchen Confidential or Heat, and the Cook Book certainly has descriptions - you certainly wouldn't call them recipes! - of numerous dishes but these works are works of literature first and foremost. Freeling, an established detective writer, plombs the depths of his long first career in European kitchens to entertain and enlighten the reader with tales of food and those who prepare it. Both are wonderful reads but The Kitchen Book is certainly the more entertaining, as The Cook Book's attempt to overlay storytelling with cooking instruction gets a little chewy after 145 pages. Not that it's not entertaining, and it's certainly more beneficial instructionally than the former, it's just that you read a lot about any number of recipe that, due to the changing tastes over time, you are likely not going to want to make. Many serve only to make me regret that I live in a country where you're not likely to find a good butcher, no less get him to throw in the veal kidney with your loin. So you read on for the writing. I guess I would simply recommend that you read through The Kitchen Book and take The Cook Book in small doses.

[Godine Publisher & Black Sparrow Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Nicolas Freeling is the author of two of the best books about cooking in the English language. The Kitchen Book and The Cook Book have long been favorites of mine. That they will appear under one cover, with the original illustrations, is fine news indeed. I can't help regretting that Ludwig Bemelmans is not here to see this new edition of his good friend's prose. The two men were strangely alike in their abilities to describe the true joys of cooking and eating like civilized human beings."
— M.F.K. Fisher

"[He:] will be read for a long time, because while he was turning his vegetables and reducing his sauces he had an eye to the social context of what he was doing, and to the rich ragout of Zola-esque characters by whom we was surrounded."
— The Guardian

"Sensitively civilized and very European . . . absolutely delightful to read."
— The Times (London)

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a comfortable apprenticeship and with a good start, Freeling spent 15 years in hotel kitchens and kitchens throughout Europe where ever he could pick up work. Hilarious narrative of some grand old hotels where the system reigns supreme - from process to price, the system keeps staff, costs and food all in line. Some unforgettable characters eking out yet another dish from bits and pieces - croquettes, stews and soups. The kitchens themselves, often so antiquated that I wonder how it was possible to work, and the forgotten stretches beneath are mesmerizing and haunting. Freeling writes of the grand old hotels in their last days.

Published in the 70s, these two classics of gastronomy covered Freeling's early, pre-crime fiction career in the post war period.

A must read!

--Ashland Mystery

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Freeling's crime fiction, the characters, the sense of place, the quality of the writing. These memoirs of his early life as a cook in European restaurant kitchens are wonderfully written and give a vivid picture of post War life, society and food.
Nine years later, the books seem even more appealing, better examples of the best in culinary memoirs.
Freeling's international life, his literary and life experiences make these books a great look into a wider world.

[Marty Greenwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this at a Little Library. It was hard to read, being over 50 years old, and European at that. But, it gives a human and emotional feeling on how people prepare our food and what they put up with (The Kitchen Book) and our food from years ago and what it means to us (The Cook Book). Not a recipe book and not a how to in professional kitchens. This book is meant for certain people who have the love of food and the patience to read about it.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time reading this author, and I did so on the late Anthony Bourdain's recommendation. Very charming, old-school accounting of apprenticeship in the European culinary scene. Not as cheeky as Tony, but still pretty good.

[Myles · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd mix of contempt and love for the cook’s life.