The Perfect Meal: In Search of the Lost Tastes of France

Description

IACP Cookbook Award Winner (Culinary Travel) John Baxter's The Perfect Meal is part grand tour of France, part history of French cuisine, taking readers on a journey to discover and savor some of the world's great cultural achievements before they disappear completely. Some of the most revered and complex elements of French cuisine are in danger of disappearing as old ways of agriculture, butchering, and cooking fade and are forgotten. In this charming culinary travel memoir, John Baxter follows up his bestselling The Most Beautiful Walk in the World by taking his readers on the hunt for some of the most delicious and bizarre endangered foods of France. The Perfect Meal: In Search of the Lost Tastes of France is the perfect read for foodies and Francophiles, cooks and gastronomists, and fans of food culture.

John Baxter is a film critic, novelist, biographer and broadcaster, whose books on the cinema include The Hollywood Exiles, The Cinema of John Ford, and highly praised biographies of Ken Russell, Fellini, Bunuel, Steven Spielberg, Kubrick and Woody Allen. Born in Australia, John Baxter now lives in Paris.

"A mouthwatering, erudite journey through France's foodie heritage, some of which might be lost forever without the likes of Baxter recalling and showcasing them for today's diner." -- France Today "Baxter's command of French history and culture offers the reader a cornucopia of anecdote and detail worth savoring." -- Booklist "Full of humor, insight, and mouth-watering details, The Perfect Meal is a delightful tour of 'traditional' French culture and cuisine." -- Travel and Leisure "The most valuable (and equally endangered) tradition restored by Baxter is the oral one. Local characters, friends, chefs, and enthusiasts enliven his quest and reveal each element in the evolution of the menu to be part of a collective cognitive lineage. A must read for foodies, Francophiles, and armchair travelers." -- Library Journal "Delightful. ... This is one of those delicious books that tickles the psyche, seduces the senses, and effortlessly enlarges the intellect simultaneously." -- Publishers Weekly "We are the beneficiaries of John Baxter's considerable, vivid love for the expatriate life in Paris." -- Los Angeles Times "Reading [John Baxter] is the next best thing to a Paris vacation." -- Boston Globe "A wonderful mix of travel memoir and French culinary history." -- Shelf Awareness "On a quest to find the soul of traditional French cuisine, John Baxter journeys from Paris to Provence. Along the way, he digs into bowls of bouillabaisse, confiture de vieux garcon and other classics." -- AAA World Magazine Winner - Culinary Travel -- IACP COOKBOOK AWARDS