This Good Food: Contemporary French Vegetarian Recipes from a Monastery Kitchen

by Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette, Victor-Antoine D'Avile-Latourrette

"To this Benedictine monk―whose vegetable and herb beds, chickens, and sheep surround his small monastery―preparing food is prayer.”― Gourmet Simple and these are key aspects of the monastic cooking for which Brother Victor has become so widely known and the reason his cookbooks have become international bestsellers, inspiring home cooks the world over. This Good Food presents some 150 French vegetarian recipes that take advantage of seasonal produce and readily available ingredients.These classic and contemporary vegetable dishes emphasize the connection to nature that is so vital to monastery cooking and the key to making meals that nourish both the body and the soul.From a healthy Peasant Soup to a Leek Tart, Fava Beans Castilian Style to a Mushroom Salad with Lemon to Basque Cake with Pears, Brother Victor will show you how rich and delicious flavors can be coaxed from simple ingredients when combined and prepared in the appropriate way. 50+ black-and-white illustrations

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Reference, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Shellie (Layers of Thought) · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Lilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Zade · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.)

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Stacy Kidd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously. A gorgeous cookbook for all the woordcarving and printmaking reproductions. Ingredent list is unpretentious. A really lovely book.