FRENCH COUNTRY COOKING by Elizabeth David, published by John Lehmann, London 1952 - Second edition. Signed by the author. Hardcover with John Minton's illustrated dust jacket.
Elizabeth David's second cookbook focusing on traditional French regional cooking, including a wide variety of dishes typical to rural areas in France, with each recipe relating to the resources of a specific region - form simple peasant soups, farmhouse sausages, Soups from the Catalan Quarter of France, freshwater fish dishes enriched with butter and cream from the Loire Valley and more. All with detailed explanations where David teaches how to prepare the dishes from ingredients available in any home. Additionally, a chapter on kitchen equipment and useful cooking advice. Elizabeth David created a new direction in the culinary world by teaching how to prepare simple yet tasty dishes made with local ingredients, a stark contrast to the heavy meat-based meals previously common in Britain. The impressive cover with an illustration of a French country kitchen was designed by John Minton, as were the other illustrations in the book. Following the book's success, David visited France again for an extended period and eight years later published her book French Provincial Cooking considered the culmination of a decade's work and thought.
Elizabeth David [1913-1992] was a renowned British cookbook author in the mid-20th century, hugely influential in reviving home cooking in her homeland and beyond with countless articles and books on European and traditional British meals. After traveling through France, Greece and Egypt, upon returning to England at age 36 she published her first Mediterranean cookery book in 1950. The book before us on French country cooking she published a year later in 1951, and over the years she wrote eight books whose influence on the British culinary landscape remains decisive today.
X, [1], 247 p. Hardcover with illustrated dust jacket. open tears on the spine of the dust jacket and upper back of jacket. Otherwise in good - very good condition.
