The Kitchen Book & The Cook Book [Paperback]

Nicolas Freeling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1991

Nicolas Freeling, best known for producing some of the finest of modern crime fiction, began his working life as an apprentice cook in a large French hotel. He continued cooking professionally for many years, and his enthusiasm for, and interest in, gastronomy in its broadest sense is at least equal to his passion for crime. Here, reprinted in a single volume, are his two splendid books of gastronomical memoir drawn from those experiences. Each is a delicious blend of the culinary and the literary, and include such recipes as cinnamon lamb stew and bouillabaisse, all charmingly floating about in a consistently entertaining text. The work is illustraited by the witty and winsome pen of John Lawerence, the perfect visual sauce for Freelin's savouries. Funny, wise, full of inspiration and delight, The Kitchen Book & The Cook Book will find a place close to every cook's hearth and heart.

Editorial Reviews

Review

He] will be read for a long time, because while he was turning his vegetables and reducing his sauces he had an eye to the social context of what he was doing, and to the rich ragout of Zola-esque characters by whom we was surrounded. --The Guardian

Nicolas Freeling is the author of two of the best books about cooking in the English language. The Kitchen Book and The Cook Book have long been favorites of mine. That they will appear under one cover, with the original illustrations, is fine news indeed. I can't help regretting that Ludwig Bemelmans is not here to see this new edition of his good friend's prose. The two men were strangely alike in their abilities to describe the true joys of cooking and eating like civilized human beings. --M.F.K. Fisher

He] will be read for a long time, because while he was turning his vegetables and reducing his sauces he had an eye to the social context of what he was doing, and to the rich ragout of Zola-esque characters by whom we was surrounded. --The Guardian

Sensitively civilized and very European . . . absolutely delightful to read. --The Times (London)

Sensitively civilized and very European . . . absolutely delightful to read. --The Times (London)

He] will be read for a long time, because while he was turning his vegetables and reducing his sauces he had an eye to the social context of what he was doing, and to the rich ragout of Zola-esque characters by whom we was surrounded. --The Guardian

Sensitively civilized and very European . . . absolutely delightful to read. --The Times (London)

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: David R Godine; 1st edition (April 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879238623
• ISBN-13: 978-0879238629
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #631,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Culinary Adventures, February 16, 2005

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Kitchen Book & The Cook Book (Paperback)

This volume consists of two works originally published by Freeling in the 1970s, "The Kitchen Book," and "The Cook Book." The two are presented here one after the other as separate entities, together with whimsical illustrations by John Lawrence. At the back of the book is an index covering material in "The Cook Book".

"The Kitchen Book" describes Freeling's formative years as a cook in the 1950s and 60s. Freeling came of age in Britain at the close of World War II. He wanted to become a chef, and set off to the continent to find himself a job in a the restaurant of a fancy Parisian hotel. Determination and perseverance enabled him to withstand the rigors of an informal apprenticeship in the kitchen, where he learned the foundation of French cooking. Ambition and a desire for more pay led him to take a position in a provincial hotel, where he learned more, and not necessarily just about food. Much of the more interesting material in this volume covers this period in his life. The remainder covers his later cooking career, when he shifted from hotel to hotel in Britain, and presided as executive chef over a restaurant that was doomed from the start by fantastically poor management. Some of the material in the latter part of this volume can be slightly hard to follow for readers unfamiliar with the context of restaurant work in Britain or British dialects and slang.

"The Cook Book" is a written in a very informal narrative style, quite different from the detailed didactic instructions of more typical cookbooks. Freeling enumerates the merits of a dish and how and when it may best be enjoyed, and then narrates entirely in prose how the dish can be prepared. He eschews exact measurements, temperature or timing guidelines, since he knows that ingredients are variable, and will cook differently depending on their age and treatment, and the humidity and temperature of the kitchen. He notes that it is far more important to observe, taste, smell, and touch the food as it cooks than to rely on measurements of volume, temperature, or time.

Indeed, in the introduction to "The Kitchen Book," Freeling explains some of his philosophy on the subject, emphasizing that a good cook makes a dish well not through slavishly following a recipe, but through shear practice, and continuing to make the same dish repeatedly until it consistently comes out right. He tell us "In this book are no recipes, absolutely no useful hints, and above all no damned instructions; they do not give one an appetite." Actually, that's not quite true-a careful reader can pick up a number of great hints by reading the book, starting with the idea that good cooking comes through practice, not instructions. Nevertheless, Freeling's narrative style for giving recipes in "The Cook Book" is not for everyone. It works well for experienced cooks who are familiar with the ingredients mentioned. Such cooks won't have a problem with statements like "cook until done," but the rest of us may wistfully wish for a few more specific guidelines to help us along. But this doesn't detract from the delightful readability of the recipes.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charming and Witty, October 28, 2008

By 

O. A. Stephano (NY, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kitchen Book & The Cook Book (Paperback)

I found the book to be charming, written in a slightly old-fashioned, witty tone and filled with scraps of kitchen wisdom-- and plenty of tales of kitchen horror. It's literary, food-loving, and anyone who's ever worked in a kitchen will find themselves nodding with Freeling's character portraits and kitchen commentary. Highly recommended.