A terrific and simple vegetarian cook book with many basic recipes for standard French recipes (like white and bechamel sauces) as well as notes about the monastic life.
I look forward to trying-out a handful of recipes here with my carnivorous family. I did not read the entire introduction but it looks intriguing so I hope to go back and read before I return this library book. My son and I enjoyed the drawings and I especially liked the quotes sprinkled throughout.
Also, it’s helpful to have the recipes divided-up into seasons, in order to get the freshest ingredients.
I discovered a copy of this lovely cookbook in used book shop. The recipes I've tried so far have been delicious, easy to make and healthy. My favourite cookbook!
This is a lovely cookbook, filled with recipes and quotations about food, nature, and religion. The woodcuts tie the recipes to the long history of the monastery. The recipes are not, to my mind, particularly contemporary. There's a fair amount of traditional food here, but I found the variety of preparations interesting. I've made only a few of the dishes, but they were well explained and reasonably simple to prepare. I'm not sure if the cooking is actually simple or if the author's calm demeanor makes them seem simple. In any case, I found myself willing to try recipes that I might have found intimidating in another cookbook. (I am a good home cook, but by no means a gourmet.)
I love the feel of this book and will try many recipes. However, recipes containing fish are not vegetarian. I eat fish and am not a vegetarian but was a bit surprised to see these in a vegetarian cookbook. Also, many of the recipes are a bit too high in fat, sugar, and white flour, which I will adapt in my exploration of these recipes.
Impressive array of recipes, I will be cooking several of these very soon!! Like I always suspected, real french food is mainly just about good fresh ingredients and not messing them up with fol-di-rol. I suspect I will be adding this to my standby collection of cookbooks eventually. Worth searching for.