Customer Reviews

Good Cheap Food

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I first picked up this book in the '70's when I was living "off the land" in Colorado. It worked then as well as it does now; with time-tested, not be be had elsewhere, recipes. I still find myself caught up in her funny, entertaining writing style. And the recipe for Brunswick Stew is not to be left untested!

Just for kicks I entered Miriam Ungerer on a search engine and was really surprised AND pleased that this book was reprinted. It has been my favorite cookbook. I own a 1973 Viking first edition and while I haven't worn it out, I use it a lot.

I cannot name a favorite recipe, they all are good, and even if they are nothing I can fix (Mussels Dumas appear interesting, but I am potentially terminally allergic clam-like shellfish) they are informative. She gives practical wasy to cook most anything if you know how to cook and just need a nudge on ingredients. And she gives good ways to cut corners and make good meals while saving money.

And it is just as useful today as it was when I was a young housewife just starting out.

Hats off to Miriam Ungerer for producing such a good work.

This book is just great. I have a very old edition that my aunt bought in Germany in the 70's. I don't think it was even available in the U.S. then. It not only has great recipes, the style is wonderfully intimate and fun to read.

I found a ratty paperback copy of this book back in 1973, when I had just moved into my very first apartment- it was the first cookbook I ever owned. I still have the book, though I've since supplimented it with a hardcover edition as well.

Ungerer is a wonderfully engaging and entertaining writer, and certainly knows her way around the French peasant kitchen, too. She entertained me, introduced me to a wonderful simple cuisine, and just as importantly, introduced me to the wonderful writing of M.F.K. Fisher. All that in one little book! Buy it and treasure it.

M.F.K. Fisher gave the original edition a rave review -- it has been updated considerably and immensely enlarged with new material. Use it; you'll learn how to cook or to cook better. The recipes are thrifty but imaginative and span several cultures from South Carolina to Szcehuan with lots of stop in the French countryside. Unfortunately it has no color pictures -- or any pictures. However it is a literary cookbook, not a table setting manual

I got this on a remainder table last month and have been reading it ever since. Reminds me of when I discovered Elizabeth David (also on the remainder table!) a dozen years ago. This book is a classic, and should be in every good cook's library, even if you aren't watching your food pennies. I love the eclectic mix of American regional food and good solid French peasant cooking. You will also find reliable discussions of the classic stocks and sauces of French cuisine. Furthermore, she tells you how to make yogurt from scratch!

As the primary cook in a rather large family, I am always looking for ways to stretch what I have and still make a satisfying meal. I found this book in the '73 hardback edition, and have just about worn it out- an almost daily tool. I have recommended it to everyone I know, and was happy to find it back in print

This author has also written "Country Food" and "Summertime Food," both Random House books findable only in second-hand bookshops now. Although this writer has always had many rave reviews, she's never been a best-seller. Maybe this is because the public seems to be inamored of gorgeous picture books and Ms. Ungerer's are literary and teaching books. They are reader's books, rather than coffee table books. Maybe someday they will be available in a boxed set, much like Elizabeth David's, whom Ms. Ungerer lauds as one of her role models, along with MFK Fisher

I got this book in the 1970s, when I was still a starving (until I bought the book) student. The recipes are straightforward and work well, some spectacularly so. The stuffed veal breast, for instance, and the shinbone stew. The Irish soda bread is a beautiful loaf. I don't know what's in the new expanded edition, but I trust this author to do a good job here.