Clementine in the Kitchen (Modern Library Food) [Paperback]

Samuel Chamberlain (Author), Ruth Reichl (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Modern Library Food | Publication Date: February 20, 2001

The Chamberlain family spent a dozen blissful years in pre World War II France, with their beloved cook, Clementine, learning the gustatory pleasures of snail hunting in their backyard and bottling their own wine. When war rumblings sent them scurrying Stateside, Clementine refused to be left behind and made a new home for herself in Marblehead, Massachusetts, where she introduced the initially suspicious Yankees to the pleasures of la cuisine de bonne femme. First published in 1943, Clementine in the Kitchen is a charming portrait of a family of gastronomic adventurers, and a mouth-watering collection of more than 170 traditional French recipes. This Modern Library Food series edition includes a new Introduction by Jeffrey Steingarten, food critic for Vogue and author of The Man Who Ate Everything, winner of the Julia Child Book Award.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For more than a dozen years before World War II, the Chamberlain family lived and learned to eat in the tiny cathedral town of Senlis, France. Their Burgundian cook, Clémentine, presided over their kitchen in France, and later in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The alert, good-natured cuisinère is the heroine of Clémentine in the Kitchen, first published in 1943 and happily reissued in the Modern Library Food series. The book is a gem: part gastronomic diary and part cookbook (over 170 recipes are included), it also evokes, perhaps most interestingly, Clémentine's affect on a small town in pre-"gourmet" America, and its influence on her.

From the moment of Clémentine's Senlis arrival with her eloquent notebooks (containing lists of superb everyday dishes such as omelette aux fines herbs and blanquette de veau), to her preparation of extraordinary family meals, to her struggle and then triumph with American ingredients and kitchen ways, the book details the deeply shared gastronomic life led by the tiny, resourceful cook. It's a life defined by dishes, and the book includes recipes for many of Clémentine's best, including Coquilles St. Jacques au Gratin (gratinéed scallops), Escargots de Bourgogne (snails in garlic butter), Poisson à la Niçoise (fish baked with tomatoes and olive oil), and Crème Renversée (caramel custard). The recipes have been adapted for modern use by Narcisse Chamberlain, the author's daughter. Illustrated with dry points, etchings, and drawings, readers will delight in this wry yet charming tale and enjoy poring over the authentic mid-20th-century French recipes. --Arthur Boehm

From Library Journal

This is the first volume in the Modern Library's new "Food" series. More than simply cookbooks, the volumes offer some cultural information and illustrations along with the recipes. Other books in the line are Edouard de Pomaine's Cooking with Pomaine (ISBN 0-375-75713-9), Henri Charpentier's Life ? la Henri (ISBN 0-375-75692-2), and Laura Shapiro's Perfection Salad (ISBN 0-375-75665-5).
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library; Revised edition (February 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375756647
• ISBN-13: 978-0375756641
• Product Dimensions: 4.9 x 1.2 x 7.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #265,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This gastronomic treasure made me laugh until I cried., March 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Clementine in the Kitchen (Modern Library Food) (Paperback)

Eloquently written with wit and humor, and peppered with recipes, I was wrapped in epicurian delight as I followed the expatriate Beck family from their idyllic home in pre-World War II France back to the States. Clementine, the family's Cordon Blue chef extraordinaire, introduces the Becks to the joys and adventures of French cuisine. Subsequently returning with them to New England, the indomitable Clementine continues to captivate as she navigates the highs and lows of American gastronomy. As one who reads at least six good meals a day, I consider this book to be one of the very best.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Your Own Private Cordon Bleu Cook, April 29, 2002

By 

sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clementine in the Kitchen (Modern Library Food) (Paperback)

This delightful part-memoir, part-cookbook is a poignant tale of times past, probably never to be recaptured. The author and family lived for a decade in France where they enjoyed the services of their excellent cook, Clementine. When war clouds broke over Europe, they were somehow able to convince this estimable lady to cross the ocean with them and settle in Marblehead Massachusetts.

Clementine braved the culture shocks of 1940 USA very well to hear Mr. Chamberlain tell it. The mighty American supermarkets, the excesses of packaging, and the difficulties of a one-language nation left her unfazed and French to the core. Unfortunately for her, the one language was not French. I suspect Clementine was not as innocent and circumspect as the author believed, and I am sure at times was very lonely.

The occasional recipes in the memoir section of the book can be daunting to the American cook who is used to exact measures. Mr. Chamberlain rather grumpily hints we should use our imagination. I think I can handle "butter the size of an egg," but confess "a handful of flour" makes me uneasy. The recipes are not exceedingly difficult, though many are painstaking, and all will make a cholesterol counter wince. The recipe for Coquille St. Jacques (scallops) is a marvel of simplicity and excellence. The latter half of the book contains recipes with measurements translated by Mr. Chamberlain's wife and daughter. Somehow, these lack the charm of Clementine's unexpurgated notes.

The book is lavishly illustrated with the author's charcoal and line drawings expertly done. This is a fun book to own for anyone with a taste for provincial French cooking and warm-hearted memoirs.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sumptuous celebration of French home cooking, September 20, 2001

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Clementine in the Kitchen (Modern Library Food) (Paperback)

Imagine contemporary food/wine lover and author Peter Mayle (A YEAR IN PROVENCE, FRENCH LESSONS) stumbling upon, and subsequently hiring, a fabulous French cook, then writing a book about the experience. This will give you some idea of the flavor of CLEMENTINE IN THE KITCHEN, written by Samuel Chamberlain (under the nom de plume Phineas Beck), and first published in 1943.

The Chamberlains - Samuel, wife, son, and daughter - were residents in the French town of Senlis for several years immediately before the outbreak of World War II. Samuel was an American businessman representing a U.S. company. After enduring five successive unsatisfactory cooks, the family discovered Clementine, a miracle worker in the kitchen. Then, brought back to the States by his company in 1939 because of gathering war clouds, Samuel offers to take the unattached Clementine to the Chamberlains' new home in Marblehead, MA. In addition to being about French food and the preparation of it, CLEMENTINE IN THE KITCHEN is a charming narrative of the lady's introduction to things distinctly un-French, including such wonders as the American outdoor barbecue ceremony, supermarkets, hot dogs, whole hams (unknown back home except by the very rich), frozen foods, canned clam juice, breakfast cereals, Coon cheese, and blueberries.

A few eternal truths were apparent even 60+ years ago. Two examples:

"Sliced American bread in cellophane puzzled Clementine. Those even white slices might be fine for sandwiches of ham and cheese sauteed in butter and covered with a cream sauce, but they didn't have enough substance for her idea of good table bread." Isn't this the truth?! (Such bread does make good peanut butter 'n' jelly sandwiches - though folded over, not cut.)

"The wastefulness of American packaging shocked us all... Fully half the weight of our purchases seemed to go into the trash barrel. The economical Clementine began to save paper bags, until the pile became overwhelming." Don't I know it! Sounds like my wife.

The book's first 150 pages comprise Samuel's narrative regarding Clementine's initial admission into the household, and her subsequent expatriation to Massachusetts. This section contains a few recipes relevant to the text, and a number of B&W sketches, perhaps pencil/charcoal originals, by the author himself. These sketches are truly marvelous works of art depicting locations described: the family's homes in Senlis and Marblehead, the Senlis main shopping street, a favorite French cafe, Boston's Faneuil Hall Market, shady Marblehead lanes, and many others. The book's final 100 pages is a compilation of Clementine's recipes revised by Samuel's daughter, Narcisse. (Clementine didn't stay with the Chamberlains, for a reason I won't reveal here.)

CLEMENTINE IN THE KITCHEN is a must-have addition for anyone interested in food, the time necessary for experimenting with French cooking, and the metabolism to absorb unscathed lots of butter and cream sauces. Unfortunately, I don't have the last two. So, let's see - what frozen dinner gets popped into the microwave tonight?