The Country Cooking of France

by Anne Willan

Renowned for her cooking school in France and her many best-selling cookbooks, Anne Willan combines years of hands-on experience with extensive research to create a brand new classic. More than 250 recipes range from the time-honored La Truffade, with its crispy potatoes and melted cheese, to the Languedoc specialty Cassoulet de Toulouse, a bean casserole of duck confit, sausage, and lamb. And the desserts! Crpes au Caramel et Beurre Sal (crpes with a luscious caramel filling) and Galette Landaise (a rustic apple tart) are magnifique. Sprinkled with intriguing historical tidbits and filled with more than 270 enchanting photos of food markets, villages, harbors, fields, and country kitchens, this cookbook is an irresistible celebration of French culinary culture.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, France, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Culinary

392 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this cook book more than I did. The book is large and in charge, covering every kind of food you might think of. It is huge, exhaustive literature on French cuisine. But I wasn't impressed with the lack of pictures of the recipes! There are tons of pictures of everything else in the French countryside... so if you are looking for a book that explains history and nuance, this is the one. If, like me, you are looking for things to cook... this might not be your favorite pick. The only way you would know what was good was if you had already been to France and had favorite foods. Still looking for that French cookbook...

[Dave Laskowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who the hell did the proofreading

I realize that we do not all speak English in this world but when a book is presented to me in English I would prefer there be no misspelled words. France was spelled three different ways and only one correct. There are other misspelled words. Unforgivable. Recipes nice though.

[Janet Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still traveling through France via my library. This book gets 4 stars for size and photography alone. Section on breads and cakes is to die for and now that the weather has chilled homemade apple jelly and warm croissants look fabulous. There are simple recipes such as La Truffade--a cake of potatoes, bacon, cheese, or Tart Tatin a la Tomate--tomato tart, that are so very French you will be tempted to make them yourself. Great book.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Onebof my go-to cookbooks. Very accessible recipes.

[Earle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent content, both recipes and background/history of the food, suffers a little from some lack of organization and some disjointed, confused recipes.

[Arnaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

My go-to cookbook for French recipes. I was surprised to find a cookbook that is spot on for French cuisine. Have already tried more than a few recipes out of it, and all end results without fail remind me of my mom's cooking style (She was trained as a cook back in the day).
I gave it a 5 stars for a few reasons:
Recipes are clearly written, step by step approach
Ingredients are also clearly indicated, and if there are any "add-ons" to consider (such as a "beurre manié" for example), you can find more details at the end to finalize everything
Choice of recipes bring me back to my home country, and I enjoy the variety of recipes a d flavors this will bring to me
There is some history indicated in the book which is kinda cool (I honestly can't say I cared much about it, but it's a nice addition to a cookbook)

Cons as stated in some other reviews:
Yup, the lack of photos can be intimidating. This book requires at times a bit of imagination to try picturing what the end result will be
The cookbook could have some suggestions as to alternate ingredients or cooking with one recipe. For example, the "côtes de veau Dijonaises" can easily be done with thick pork chops instead of veal chops (veal can be hard to find depending where you live), and likewise using a chicken broth instead of veal broth will make it easy on you. Bottom line, it does require some "critical thinking" at times when you try out a recipe that may seem fancy or may involve funky ingredients.

That being said, get your hands at it, dig in and you'll be surprised at how creative you'll become with mixing seasonings, flavors and creating your own sauces :-)

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally finished this monster. The recipes still seem a little intimidating... maybe someday I will try one, but I can't say I'm in a big hurry.

[Bryn Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extensive seems an understatement, yet it is now an essential in my French cuisine quest

[Meredith]

Great resource on French cooking.