Book description
Voted 'The Best Cookbook Ever' by The Observer Food Monthly, Richard
Olney's The French Menu Cookbook is a beautifully written celebration of
French food and wine. Filled with inspirational seasonal menus, over 150
authentic recipes and evocative writing, this celebrated book conjures
up the scents and scenes of Provence.
Originally published in 1970, The French Menu Cookbook became an
instant kitchen classic that redefined modern cooking. Written from
Olney's home in the hills of southern France, Olney takes the reader
through spring, summer, autumn and winter with enlightening guidance on
French wine, exquisite dishes, lucid instructions and inspired seasonal menus.
The French Menu Cookbook includes 32 thoughtful menus - from a simple
Provencal lunch to an informal autumn dinner, an elegant winter supper
and a festive meal for two. Each menu includes honest and enlightening
explanations of how the French really cook and compelling descriptions
of dishes and techniques. With lyrical writing and unsurpassed French
recipes, Olney's delightful book is a masterful resource that is a must
for every home cook. The perfect prose is as beautiful as the menus.
-Rachel Cooke in The Observer Food Monthly
Immaculate instruction. Glorious prose. Recipes for serious kitchen
folk. My most cherished cookery book.
-Simon Hopkinson
[Olney] was a true genius in the kitchen, and his writing was as
sensual and precise as his handling of ingredients. Let trumpets sound
to mark the timely resurrections of this, one of his best-loved books.
-Alan Davidson, author of The Oxford Companion to Food
'Comes wreathed in compliments from people such as Simon Hopkinson,
Alan Davidson and Prue Leith … reading it is almost enough in itself;
for perfection, give it to someone clever enough to cook it all for
you.' - Telegraph Magazine
'Meticulous in its advice, the seasonal menus and recipes are superb.
Food writing as good as this is rare indeed.' The Western Mail, No. 8 of
the 30 best cookbooks of all time
Henry Harris of Racine told FT Magazine that Richard Olney “writes so
beautifully, you can lose yourself in his glorious prose.”
The book was selected by The Week as one of the best cookbooks of 2010
- “this cookbook is the perfect introduction to (Richard Olney's)
'passionate and idiosyncratic' approach to French cooking.”
The Sunday Tribune (Eire) has called it a “seductive read for any
Francophile, even better for one who can cook.” Richard Olney was one
of a kind - a scholarly cook who had a tremendous influence on modern
cooking via his cottage on a hillside in Provence. Born and raised in
Iowa, America he was drawn to France as a young man. Olney moved to a
Parisian suburb in 1951 before settling in a run-down property in
Provence where he wrote eight cookbooks and consulted on the Time-Life
Good Cook series. Olney passed away at his Provencal home in 1999.
