Cooking With Pomiane [Paperback]

Edouard De Pomiane (Author), Edouard De Pomiane (Author), Peggie Benton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1994

First published in France in the 1930s, Cooking with Pomiane continues to inspire today's chefs with its inventive simplicity. Edouard de Pomiane turned classic French cuisine on its head, stripping away complicated sauces and arcane techniques to reveal the essence of pure, unadorned good cooking. A food scientist, he offers lucid explanations for why food behaves as it does. Read him and the cream in your gratin dauphinois will never separate, your pot au feu will never be stringy, and your choux pastry will puff to astonishing proportions. Pomiane's great accomplishment was to restore confidence to the cook, and joy to the kitchen. Cooking with Pomiane spills over with amusing stories and more than three hundred superb and streamlined recipes; it is as much a delight to read as it is to cook from. This Modern Library edition is published with an Introduction by the renowned food writer Elizabeth David.

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

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Gourmet, scientist, and cookbook writer of endearing prose, Edourad de Pomiane's revolutionary approach to French food and diet of his day involved sane, perceptive simplification--a distinctly modern tactic. Cooking with Pomiane, first published in the 1930s and reissued in the Modern Library Food series, encapsulates Pomiane's debunking methods: away with complicated techniques and elaborate sauces; in their place, find concise formulas that discover the essence of their ingredients and celebrate them in simple preparations. Though Pomiane provided precise, even scientific cooking rationales ("Everyone agrees that [fish] must be served [before] the meat course," he writes, "...but such as meal is far too rich in nitrogenous substances"), he is also a beguiling instructor. "Take a bunch of parsley," he advises, "the size of a bunch of violets." Any reader interested in cooking and its modern history will treasure the book.

Beginning with useful information for the host or hostess (for a dinner party, "one should prepare only one good dish," Pomiane advises sensibly), the book then presents over 300 recipes, arranged by course or type, and "a few drinks." Pomiane's revolutionary approach is embodied in his formula for Noodles with Mushrooms, which requires only noodles, mushrooms, butter, and grated Parmesan. Use good ingredients and you have a feast. Though he includes many, albeit streamlined, recipes from the classic canon, such as Artichauts à la Barigoule (artichokes braised with a ham, bread crumb, and onion stuffing), he also supplies recipes that were unconventional in his day, including Choucroute Salad and Piroshki. Readers will also want to prepare such treats as Mousse au Chocolat (chocolate, sugar, eggs, cream) and Pumpkin Gratin (pumpkin, almonds, sugar, an egg, and macaroons). With an introduction by Elizabeth David, the book provides a rare opportunity to meet and learn from an original cooking master. --Arthur Boehm --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Cooking with Pomiane recounts how Edouard de Pomiane brought together the art of the kitchen with food science and improved eating standards for both the French and the British. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: North Point Pr (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865474818
• ISBN-13: 978-0865474819
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,754,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars magnifique!, July 23, 2003

By 

K. Jensen "art twinkie" (Camas, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cooking With Pomiane (Paperback)

This is the one cooking book I reach for time and time again. Everything in here turns out fabulously well, and the text is so humorous and engaging, I find myself just reading it for pleasure. One word of warning; it will require some adaptations if you are on a fat free diet, as many of the recipes are loaded with butter and cream. Of course, that's what makes them so delicious!
Try this book, it's the best.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Smell Something Yummy!, September 27, 2001

By 

Shadow Woman - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cooking with Pomiane (Modern Library Food) (Paperback)

This is my favourite cookbook-- or should I say my favourite food cookbook (The Anarchist's Cookbook is my fave overall). There are lots of recipes in here for all dishes and occasions- be it a fancy dinner or a not-so-fancy dessert- and the good news is, most of them are of the minimalist tradition, so no complicated procedures or fancy-schmansy ingredients. Just plain old good food, and believe me, if you follow Pomiane's and tips, you'll be cooking like a pro in no time!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars bad translation, September 11, 2009

By 

Karin Roos "brioche" (San Franncisco Area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cooking with Pomiane (Modern Library Food) (Paperback)

I have the original Pomiane cookbook - in french. Unfortunately this translation does not do it justice. For example confusing the" pāte" ( as in pāte a Choux ) meaning dough and pate - With the accent on "E" meaning - well pate ( as in liver pate).
Also missing are his funny "asides"