From a Breton Garden: The Vegetable Cookery of Josephine Araldo [Paperback]

Josephine Araldo (Author), Robert Reynolds (Author), Gary Bukovnik (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1992

Brittany's vegetables have long been the jewels in the crown of French cook, and in the hands of Breton-corn chef, Josephine Araldo, the vegetables and fruits of this fruit gastronomical region become the key to an unfettered style of cooking that is a hallmark of French regional cuisine. Illustrated.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Foodies are by now more than familiar with recipe books that double as memoirs, but this one stakes out new territory: that of the biographical cookbook. Araldo (1896-1989) came of age at a time when the cooking of Brittany was just winning high regard among Parisians; a student of Henri-Paul Pellaprat, she was one of the first women to earn a toque from the Cordon Bleu. For most of her life, she worked as a chef in the homes of the wealthy, which may have given her the autonomy she needed to preserve and further her own family's Breton tastes, detailed here by Reynolds, first a student of Araldo's and later a close friend. Characterized by unusual combinations and a passionate hatred of waste, Araldo's recipes use almost every part of every vegetable. Pairings of wild blueberries with red cabbage, beet custards with black currants, and Jerusalem artichokes with bananas may sound outlandish--but the tongue will confirm the correctness of the match, enforced by the tart instructions of the formidable cook herself. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Araldo was born in Brittany, studied at the Cordon Bleu in the 1920s, and spent the next 50 years in San Francisco as a cook and teacher. This lovely book, put together by a chef with whom she worked, contains her vegetable recipes for simple dishes in the Breton tradition, more elegant classically based French dishes, and the innovative creations developed for Reynolds's restaurant. Araldo was a unique woman, and this is a charming and unusual book.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201608251
• ISBN-13: 978-0201608250
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,255,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique and Beautiful, January 29, 2001

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From a Breton Garden: The Vegetable Cookery of Josephine Araldo (Hardcover)

This cookbook features very imaginative vegetable recipes, although they are neither completely vegetarian nor low fat. Josephine Araldo, who "influenced a generation of American chefs," was born in Brittany, studied at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and, in 1924, moved to San Francisco. The book is divided into three sections reflecting her work and influences from these settings. One simple and tasty recipe is for "Green Beans From the Brittany Coast" ("Haricots Verts Cotes de Bretagne"); it combines blanched string beans, new potatoes, scallions, garlic, butter, parsley, and seasoning. Directions are clear but brief; for example, there is no instruction on how to "blanch" vegetables. This is probably a very simple procedure, but the author, Robert Reynolds (friend and student of Ms. Araldo) assumes you know the technique. (Caution: Vegetarians and Bugs Bunny fans may also be turned off by the suggested accompaniment of braised rabbit.)

It's interesting to contrast the regional and perhaps historical differences among recipes for a particular vegetable; for example, "Cabbage and Rutabaga with Almonds" from Brittany (you may want to skip the two tablespoons of goose or duck fat), "Red Cabbage and Pears" from Paris, and "Cabbage with Apples and Gooseberries" (good with poached salmon) from her San Francisco days.

Collated by her friend, Chef Robert Reynolds ("Le Trou Restaurant Francais," San Francisco), who also wrote fascinating regional and biographical notes for each section. No nutritional information, but excellent brief comments on each recipe, an index, and some black and white reproductions of watercolors, and clear uncrowded typeset on thick luminous paper: Overall, a beautifully produced book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual Combinations that Work, July 5, 2009

By 

Barbara Arnoldini "moonbeam" (Tunkhannock ,PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From a Breton Garden: The Vegetable Cookery of Josephine Araldo (Paperback)

This recipe book isn't like any other. The author skillfully combines ingredients that one wouldn't think belong together. I bought my first copy of this book after reading the review in the New York Times almost 20 years ago. It became one of my favorite sources for ideas for using the beautiful produce from my vegetable garden. Ingredients and techniques aren't complicated and the unique way with using vegetables makes cooking with these recipes a little bit of an adventure, or at least a departure from the usual recipes found elsewhere. I now like to give this book as a hostess gift for the good cook with a vegetable garden who seems to have everything and is hard to buy for.