The Perfect Cookbook series provides illustrated shopping lists, detailed equipment guides, and fabulous step-by-step recipes for making superb dishes to delight your family and friends. Recipes and variations come from the culinary expertise of Anne Willan, director of La Varenne, Burgundy's prestigious cooking school. Full-color photos.
Anne Willan has had an extraordinary career in the culinary arts and is recognized as one of the world's preeminent authorities on French cooking. She founded Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris in 1975.
Anne has more than 40 years of experience as a teacher, cookbook author, culinary historian and food columnist. She has written more than 30 books, including the influential La Varenne Pratique and the 17-volume, photo-illustrated Look and Cook series, showcased in her 26-part PBS program. Anne's reach, with books published in two dozen countries and translated in 24 languages, makes her the most internationally renowned of today's cooking authorities. Much in demand as a teacher, Anne has given cooking demonstrations and lectures throughout North America as well as in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Chile, and often appears on Martha Stewart's show. Her latest book, The Country Cooking of France (Chronicle Books, October 2007) won two 2008 James Beard Foundation Book Awards and was nominated for an IACP International Cookbook Award. Other recent works include Quick Fixes and Kitchen Tips (2005) and The Good Cook (2004). Currently, Anne is working on a history of cookbooks specifically based on her and her husband Mark Cherniavsky's antiquarian cookbook collection for publication by University of California Press in 2012.
Born in Newcastle, England, Anne received her Masters degree from Cambridge University, then studied and taught cooking in London and Paris before moving to the United States (she has been a U.S. citizen since 1973). Early in her career Anne was an associate editor of Gourmet and food editor of the Washington Star. She wrote a food column for the Los Angeles Times andTribune Media Services International from 1994-2010. Anne was elected to the Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America in 1986 and was honored in 1995 both as Grande Dame of Les Dames d'Escoffier International and with the Silver Spoon Award from Food Arts Magazine. In 1999, The International Association of Culinary Profes¬sionals recognized Anne with their prestigious Lifetime Achievement award, while in Australia she was elected to the World Food Media Hall of Fame. In 2000, Bon Appétit named Anne Teacher of the Year and in 2000 the Philadelphia Book and Cook Festival honored her with their Toque Award.
Anne is currently an honorary trustee of the International Association of Culinary Professionals' Culinary Trust and serves on the Advisory Council of The Julia Child Foundation. She was President of the IACP from 1990-1991 and Treasurer of the IACP Foundation from 1999 to 2003. She has also served on the Corporation of the Culinary Institute of America and was a trustee of COPIA (The American Center for Wine, Food and The Arts) in Napa, California.
Anne divides her time between Santa Monica, California and France.
For more information about Anne, her books and La Varenne, please visit www.lavarenne.com.
