Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery [Hardcover]

Rose Carrarini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2006

The Rose Bakery is a small Anglo-French restaurant, shop and bakery, tucked away in a street near the Gare du Nord in Paris. This book introduces this hidden gem and the philosophy and style of its creator Rose Carrarini to a wider audience for the first time. Beautifully illustrated with more than 100 specially commissioned photographs, and featuring 100 of Rose's most popular recipes, this book is as much a treat for the eye as for the taste buds. The unique style and atmosphere of Rose Bakery, as well as the people who prepare, buy and eat the food that is made here, are captured in Toby Glanville's evocative photographs. The images show everything from the first preparations for breakfast and gearing up for the lunchtime rush to the final customers lingering over a piece of cake and a last cup of coffee in the late afternoon. Rose Carrarini became a pastry chef because neither she nor the customers of Villandry, the 'epicerie fine' she set up in London with her husband Jean-Charles in 1988, could find the pastries and desserts they wanted anywhere else. Now based in Paris, Rose has been serving simple, fresh and natural food that blurs the boundaries between home and restaurant cooking at Rose Bakery since 2002. Over 90 per cent of the products sold in the shop and served in the cafe are made on the premises with the best ingredients: Rose uses as much organic and locally sourced produce as possible, and has reduced the sugar content in her cake recipes to make them healthier without sacrificing flavour, texture or pleasure. Rose Carrarini's approach to food and hospitality has proved to be very popular with the locals, who crowd into the shop on weekdays, choosing from the lunchtime display of salads, vegetable tarts and pastries displayed on the shop's counter, and line up on weekend mornings for a full English breakfast or a plate of pancakes. This book will make the flavours and style of Rose Bakery accessible for people outside Paris, too.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Bolstered with striking images of a day in the life of her namesake Paris bakery, self-made chef Carrarini's fine compilation of rustic French foods skillfully echoes her restaurant's mission, "to dissolve the distinction between home and restaurant cooking." Focusing on simple foods and emphasizing fresh, high-quality ingredients, Carranini's classic recipes for pancakes, scones and tarts-"the culmination of years of our taking out what is not necessary"-allow the ingredients to shine through. Favoring baked goods, Carrarini offers a generous selection of cakes, including Lemon Cake, Fruit Cake and Ricotta Cheesecake; cookies, such as Gingerbread, Regelach and Almond Cinnamon Meringue; and bars like Coconut Custard, Date and Oat. Also included are more rarified baked goods such as bread-like Fresh Ginger Cake ("wonderful toasted and eaten warm with butter") and gluten-free Orange Almond Cakes. Heartier fare, such as Braised Lamb Shanks with Cumin, Aubergines and Chickpeas is also included, but the focus remains on lighter dishes. Fans of the Barefoot Contessa cookbook series will find this a fitting (and perhaps superior) companion to Barefoot in Paris.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

'When a lot of thought and expense has gone into the choice and installation of the kitchen shelving unit, it seems so wrong to spoil things with an unconsidered collection of cookery tomes. Only those that look great and whose authors have reached cult status should get a look-in. The Rose Bakery's Breakfast Lunch Tea ticks all the right boxes. - this book is filled with recipes for tasty, wholesome food, along with some great photography by Toby Glanville.' Wallpaper*, November 2006 'When a British cake-maker can win over the notoriously snooty Parisians, you that something is up' Gordon Ramsey, The Times, 18 November 2006 'One book which will end up with its page glued together with cake batter within months - the ultimate tribute - is Breakfast Lunch Tea. - there's so much here you actually want to cook. Which is what food writing is all about.' Evening Standard, 20 December 2006 'beautifully produced .. This is no predictable set of standard French dishes, but a modern and well-judged eye exploring and revising in the best way.' Food & Wine Magazine, April 2007 'The author's enthusiasm for honest, flavoursome food is enough to get even the cook-shy cracking.' Select Kitchens and Bathrooms, June 2007

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (November 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714844659
• ISBN-13: 978-0714844657
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 0.9 x 10.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > English, Scottish & Welsh

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderfully Quirky Cookbook March 1, 2007

By Joan K. Mocine

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

What a charming and wonderful book this is! From the lemon, rice and polenta cake to the Pistachio cake using a bit of wheat flour and ground almonds and pistachios, to the Eccles Cakes (cookies that use pie dough as cases) filled with raisins, spices, lemon zest and brown sugar to the lamb shank with cumin, eggplant and chickpeas, it's all wonderful. I've tried several other recipes, and, although I've only had this book for a few months, it's covered with smudges and bent pages.

I love this book!

72 of 79 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece of small meals December 3, 2006

By Aira Soovere

Format:Hardcover

I noticed the book Breakfast, Lunch, Tea by Rose Carrarini being mentioned in the Lifestyle magazine that came with Sunday The New York Times newspaper. The idea of little meals caught my eye. Over the years I have handpicked cookbooks into my small collection, but I'm constantly on the market for something that I might like or might not have imagined. The latter appeared in the form of this book. I ordered the book, opened it on a random page and - it took my breath away, literally, with its structure, beauty (needless to say - Phaidon press)and a promise of finer things, food included. I opened it on a back flap, which quoted Rose Carrarini saying "Life can be improved by great food." Oh yes - they are my kind of people! The Carrarinis prefer and prepare their food simple and natural, preferably, but not necessarily organic. They put vegetables above meat or fish with ambition to blur the line between home and restaurant cooking; they have put together menus, and based on them, a cookbook that is too filled even to be read in many sittings. Rather, it is to be enjoyed by tiny morsels that make your lunch, snack or day. A thousand thanks for this masterpiece!

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Feast ForThe Senses May 21, 2007

By Antigone Walsh VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a delightful book that operates on a number of levels. First the exquisite photographs capture the beauty of the mundane doings of the Rose Bakery. From the simplicity of a zested lemon to the ruddy faces of the apple suppliers to the delivery truck to the ooh so chic clientèle, the pictures transport the reader to this Paris cafe.

Then there is the author's story, a tale of a woman who loves food and people. With no formal training and a belief in natural, fresh and unpretentious dishes, Rose Carranini built the wildly successful business. Her sense of purpose and commitment to quality and sustainability is impressive and her affection for her patrons is palpable.

Finally, the recipes themselves are superb. Basically, there are two types of people: those who follow recipes to a tee and those who view recipes as a guide or starting point for their own creativity. The author advocates the flexible approach. She encourages the cooks to use their favorite ingredients and substitutions, cautioning that it is the method as opposed to the ingredients that is crucial to the ultimate success of the recipe. She correctly points out that cookie cutter results are impossible when using natural ingredients...the juiciness of a piece of fruit, the humidity,the weather, the rainfall or lack thereof, the temperature of the room all impact the final result. The amateur cook should not be deterred. While some of the recipes are a bit labor intensive, they all are fairly easy. Additionally there are plenty for vegans and vegetarians.

The author embodies the joy of cooking. Food should be fun not fake. Her secrets are all revealed...always buy fresh, seasonal and local; use organic and sustainable when possible and remember the most important ingredient is love.