The Old World Kitchen: The Rich Tradition of European Peasant Cooking

A re-discovered classic on the essentials of European cooking, Mark Bittman calls it "the best cookbook no one’s ever heard of."

Award-winning food writer Elisabeth Luard joyously salutes the foundations of modern Western cooking with recipes collected during years of travel and research, many of them spent living in rural France, Spain and Italy. First published in 1987, this definitive collection of over three hundred time-tested recipes from twenty-five European countries is an indispensable guide to the simple, delicious and surprisingly exotic dishes of peasant Europe.

All of these authentic recipes are easy to follow for the modern cook. Highlights include French oatmeal soup and Spanish bean stew, British steak-and-kidney pudding, Romanian chicken pot roast, and, of course, classics like ratatouille and hollandaise sauce.

The Old World Kitchen is more than a collection of recipes. Luard's charming asides provide social history of the people and history from which they all come. And she’s an excellent guide to local herbs, oils, cheeses and meats and their lore. Her delightful presence throughout makes for a rich reading experience, as well as a truly unique cookbook.

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