Customer Reviews

French Cooking in Ten Minutes: Adapting to the Rhythm of Modern Life (1930)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Extremely useful as well. I read it cover to cover the day it arrived (just last week) -- and I can't say that about ANY other cookbook! It is written (and translated) in a graceful and witty style, and is as enjoyable for the historical and cultural perspective it offers as it is for its culinary instruction and gastronomic joie de vivre. I have prepared two of Docteur de Pomiane's suggested menus and have greatly enjoyed both of them. I can see that with a bit of practice, I will indeed be able to turn out a 5-course lunch for two in about 15 minutes (not counting the time it takes to boil the water, of course).

With this book and a little (fun) practice, you can impress your friends, astound your dates, and enhance your own quality of life. So what are you waiting for?

I have owned this book since 1974 - in fact I taught myself to cook from it. It's so much more encouraging than most cookbooks - no fancy equipment needed, no expensive ingredients, but lots of encouragement and enthusiasm. Should be on everyone's shelf.

I love it first of all for its attitude. Here's how it begins:

"First of all, let me tell you that this is a beautiful book. I can say that because this is its first page. I just sat down to write it, and I feel happy, the way I feel whenever I start a new project."

"My pen is full of ink, and there's a stack of paper in front of me. I love this book because I'm writing it for you. It's nice to imagine that I'll be able to let my pen go and you'll understand everything it writes down..."

Actually I better not say any more, I don't want to spoil your happy experience of reading it yourself. Let me just say that I have made many of the recipes from the book, they were delicious, and that before reading it I never attempted to make a sauce, not even one, but that now I am no longer one bit intimidated by sauces.

But more than the recipes, I have absorbed the attitude and orientation. After reading this book I have on more than one occasion concocted a bona fide complete scrumptious meal out of a little bit of this and that lying around the kitchen.

Thank you, thank you, Dr. de Pomiane.

This little book is well on its way to being one of my favorites. I bought it because I saw some of the recipes in the March 2001 issue of Gourmet, and it's even better than they said!

Witty writing, practical advice, and an airy style make this a cookbook that you'll want to read from cover to cover. And once you start making the recipes, you'll be even more pleased with it. Okay, maybe some take a little more than 10 minutes, especially the first time around. But once they become favorites (like Chicken Marengo is for me), 10 minutes is really an accurate estimate! And the recipes are so intuitive, that they will become part of your repertoire almost immediately, because you'll want to make them again and again, and soon you won't need to look at the book to make them.

This was the most charming and most helpful cookbooks I have ever used. As a grad student, I have little time and little money and the quality of life I experience has increased 1000-fold thanks to the instructions in de Pomiane's book. I especially recommend the Alsatian dumplings and the varied sauces for meat. There is something here for everyone, and his injunction to enjoy life by cooking well in a limited time has been welcome in my life. By promising very limited cooking time for his recipies, I have been able to experiment more in the kitchen and to pay more attention to the quality of my cooking instead of making the usual tried and true. If you are not a "foodie" by nature but you recognize the value of good cooking in your own life, I cannot recommend this little book more strongly.

This little book is so beautiful that I have given away several copies as presents. None of the recipes is terribly fancy--breaded veal on green peas, onion soup, french fries, chestnut puree with whipped cream--but they are simple to make and delicious; the kind of dishes you find yourself using on a weekly basis. There's a extensive section on sauces--white sauce, Normandy, curry, brown sauce, mornay, etc.--which is a very helpful resource and the author offers lots of good advice on how to improve efficiency in the kitchen. Most of all, the cheerful writing makes it a pleasure to spend an evening reading this little book.

French Cooking in Ten Minutes: Or Adapting to the Rhythm of Modern Life by Edouard De Pimiane will give cooks basic information about preparing a meal in a short amount of time.
Written in 1930, the quick and easy recipes can be just the thing for a change of pace in the kitchen.
Translated from the French, this little cookbook gives us a view of life 58 years ago when things moved at a fast pace and people had little time for cooking after a long day at the office. Sounds like today!
De Pomiane's recipes utilize pre-packaged and canned foods, fresh fruit, and step by step instructions. De Pomiane, a doctor by profession, makes even the trickest of sauces appear easy to make. All in all, not a bad addition to the kitchen bookshelf.

For anyone seeking to downsize their life, this is an excellent starting point in downsizing your kitchen life. The author directly points out the limits of downsizing ("You won't be able to make complicated dors d'oeuvres. You have no right to, since you don't have the time."). At the same time, he's very charming and instructive, not only about the varied recipes but also about composing a complete french meal. It's a good starting point for beginner cooks who don't have the time, energy or the equipment to do dinner a la Martha Stewart. Buy it for the author's great wit alone as he guides you like a know-it-all aunt leaning over your shoulder:

"Only a millionare can afford black caviar, and millionaires are not very interested in ten-minute cooking, but for the rest of us, there's red caviar."

"It takes two to scramble. That's why you always make scrambled eggs, not scambled egg. "

Okay, so I'm probably not your kind of cook. I'm the geeky sort of guy who thinks Julia Child is a reasonable substitute for divinity, who worships the ground Chris Kimball walks on in a "Brocktoon" sort of way, who considers superstars like you and Emeril the people the Food Network employs to keep the lights on for Alton Brown. But you know, even if I'm not exactly a fan, that doesn't mean I don't respect what you do. So I have to say right now, if you've never heard of this minute masterpiece from 1930, read it, reread it, incorporate some of his stuff into your own recipes, and then lay a wreath on Pomiane's grave next time you and John are in France to shoot an episode of Tasty Travels, because this guy is your granddaddy just as much as the nice Sicilian fellow you're always talking about on the show.

I mean, look at this guy. He hits practically every French classic that can be done in ten minutes and he's got you beat on organizational technique (first thing you do when you get in the door and want to cook Pomiane-style: boil a pot of water. Doesn't matter why, you'll find a use for it.). The recipes are simple and tasty, and would do Julia, Simca and Louisette quite proud. He even provides menus to plan from, because life is more than meat and two veg. He hits a few of the classic sauces (though his "white sauce" recipe is written as a joke), features a good-sized section on vegetables, and provides a surprisingly diverse selection of meat dishes ranging from a simple steak to some surprisingly complex veal and pork dishes.

There is a sizeable and varied selection of soups (none of those annoying "stoups", fer chrissake) and some remarkably fast desserts, including a chestnut puree that the author was very proud of. A decent but concise section covers cooking techniques suitable for quick cooking, and the whole thing is topped off by a nicely informative preface by the translators describing how to handle Pomiane's recipes in a kitchen three-quarters of a century in his future. And did I mention this guy had a hell of a sense of humor, even in translation? Seriously, take a hint. Not one catch phrase anywhere, and he's still a hoot to read.

Rach, here's the deal. You're the reigning queen of convenience cooking and a kitchen superstar. Controversial, yes, but few have the luxury of near-universal love like Julia, and at the very least you've got it all over that bimbo Sandra. But you gotta give this guy props -- after all, like I said, he's your granddaddy.

Signed,
Brian from the Cape

I've done a fair amount of French cooking in my time and even owned a four-star rated restaurant for a # of years. I can say with confidence that if you knew nothing of French cooking but followed the recipes in this little book you could turn yourself into a competent chef in no time!