A Trip to France
Feasts of Provence by Robert Carrier
Cookbook Type: French, Mediterranean
Favourite Recipe: La soupe de poisson (pg 64)
Favourite Page: Ratatouille (pg. 154)
Favourite Quote: “Bruno will never expand; he is a born perfectionist, and no chef could ever meet his exacting standards. He could raise his prices, but he doesn’t. And when you consider that Bruno’s forte is the use of the fresh black truffles and wild mushrooms of the countryside to accompany wild game and wild asparagus, you have an idea of the gift that this jovial giant has on offer. There is no written menu chez Bruno. No wine list. Just what Bruno chooses to serve you that day.” (pg. 111)
Rating: 5/5 Larousse Gastronomiques (📕📕📕📕📕)
Robert Carrier is one of the OG celeb chefs. And with over 20 cookbooks to his name, you know your Auntie loves Robert. You’ll see the wholeness of that passion for Robert’s work (you better believe I own more than one of his books) as more blog articles develop, but the first book we’re going to look at is Robert’s Feasts of Provence. Let’s go to France, BAYBEEEE!
Feasts of Provence is as much a cookbook as it is a travel guide, a collection of chef’s biographies, and a love letter written to French way of life.
Originally published in 1992, the pages of Carrier’s book are accented with beautiful photography - two dogs tied up outside an open window on a sunny day, a smattering of herbs lightly dressed on a plate, sheep on a grassy hillside, perfectly ripe olives, the shadows from an empty beach chair as the sun moves across the sand. I could go on. In eight chapters, the reader is whisked along to different areas of the southeastern french province, and we are introduced to the local land, the vegetation, the gastronomic specialties, and the chef’s who call those regions home.
Certainly a prized book in my collection, I am instantly brought back to my short time in France each time I pick it up. I can smell lavender as I flip the pages. I’m reminded that nothing is as special as freshly picked currants, or the crust of well baked bread, or hazelnuts from that tree down the road. As France may be further away than we’d like, this book reminds us to be thankful for the culinary gifts we each have, wherever we call home.
-Auntie.
