Customer Reviews

South Wind Through the Kitchen: The Best of Elizabeth David

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South Wind Through The Kitchen, The Best Of Elizabeth David is a selection of Ms. David's work that was compiled by Jill Norman, who is Elizabeth David's literary trusty. Jill Norman, publisher and author, also completed Harvest Of The Cold Months, Elizabeth David's final book, which she was working on at the time of her death; it was completed using notes left by Ms. David. Many of the selections in this book were chosen by people that either knew Elizabeth David or were influenced by her-she influenced a legion of chefs and food writers, I count myself among those ranks.

Reading the writings of Elizabeth David is inspirational to say the least; she is often said to be the best food writer of her time. Her work in general is not merely a collection of recipes and essays on food; it is more akin to an autobiography telling of the people and food that she has known. While this is definitely a utilitarian book that is full of recipes, it can also easily be read cover to cover, like a novel-even the recipes read as a form of prose. A classic example of her poetic form of recipe writing is evident in her essay on Cornish Saffron Cake, which appears on pages 326-328 of this book; it originally appeared in English Bread And Yeast Cookery, which was published in 1977.

Over the years I have often found myself reading (and re-reading) the introduction in my well worn copy of A Book Of Mediterranean Cuisine for enjoyment and inspiration. A Book Of Mediterranean Cuisine was Ms. David's first book, which was published in 1950. Though it was published almost a half century ago it still rings true today. The first and last paragraphs are what I find most interesting; they are as follows (it appears in full on page 3 of South Wind Through The Kitchen):

"The cooking of the Mediterranean shores, endowed with all the natural resources, the colour and flavor of the south, is a blend of tradition and brilliant improvisation. The Latin genius flashes from the kitchen pans."

"With this selection (it does not claim to be more) of Mediterranean dishes, I hope to give some of the lovely cookery of those regions to people who do not already know them, and to stir the memories of those who have eaten this food on its native shores, and who would like sometimes to bring a flavour of those blessed lands of sun and sea and olive trees into their English kitchens."

Elizabeth David was a prolific writer who between 1950 and 1994 published nine books, most of which are considered classics amongst food professionals; portions of all of her books appear in this "best of" volume. As a cook she always strode to be as authentic as possible and often this meant writing about ingredients that were not yet known or at least not available in post-war England, and that is what I find really interesting about this book. Much of her work was published three, four, even five decades ago and is not only relevant today but is still used as reference by serious cooks around the globe.

In short, South Wind Through The Kitchen is a "must have" for any cook's library, whether a professional or a layperson. It is both an inspirational read and also an invaluable source of food information and recipes.

Reviewed by Chef Joe George of ChefTalk.Com

`South Wind Through the Kitchen' is a collection of sections from the books of premier English food writer, Elizabeth David by her literary executor, Jill Norman, with suggestions on what to include by a wide variety of Ms. David's colleagues and professional fans.

The problem with this book is that one must decide whether it is more appropriate to review Ms. David's work or the way in which pieces of it have been assembled in this volume. As I have already reviewed most of Elizabeth David's major works that are digested in this volume, I think it is clear to me that the thing to do is judge the way in which the pieces have been assembled.

In reviewing this book, some other Amazon.com reviewers have taken the alternate course and focused on the work of Ms. David herself. In doing so, I feel they have misjudged Elizabeth David's place in culinary writing. For starters, Ms. David was not the `English Julia Child'. Ms. David and Ms. Child had slightly different agendas, which should be clear when you examine the way they go about presenting a recipe. While Julia Child is the consummate teacher in `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' and her subsequent books and TV series, Elizabeth David is the scholar and analyst. Her recipes, especially in her major early works, `Mediterranean Food', `French Provincial Cooking', and `Italian Food' tend to be briefer, but with a whole lot more explanations on the backgrounds of dishes, where Ms. David first encountered the recipe, and why the recipe is done the way it is. While Julia Child has a great way about her writing that makes reading her recipes almost as much fun as watching her PBS shows, there is not much personal material. Julia Child is writing the great classic cookbook. Elizabeth David is recording her experiences with food. That does not mean that Elizabeth David is playing the epicure, giving us a record of her experiences and reactions to food, as you find in the writings of M.F.K. Fisher. She is giving us the scholar's diary of what she has learned about her subject. The best fit to this model of Ms. David's work is her first book in 1950, `A Book of Mediterranean Food' which was literally assembled from her culinary diary begun in 1939.

This same reviewer devalues Ms. David's work as being good but not great for emphasizing fresh local ingredients. The reviewer makes the mistake of saying that Elizabeth David anticipated this great mantra of modern culinary doctrine. This principle is, in fact much older than Elizabeth David's writing. She is simply reporting it. My favorite illustration of how old and well established this doctrine is comes from the practice of the great 19th century New York City restaurant, Delmonicos, which maintained its own truck farm in New Jersey from which it got almost all its greens and vegetables in season.

If any one thing is to set Elizabeth David's writing apart from most others, aside from the sheer quality of her composition, it is the fact that she downplays rules and conventions and speaks to us about the properties of ingredients, what people do with them, and what we may be encouraged to do with them. The finest example of this is her great little piece on omelet technique from `French Provincial Cooking' that is reprinted in this book. Before presenting what is the best ever description of the classic technique I have ever read she says that the right way to make an omelet is the way you want to make it! I see the same freedom from convention expressed in many of her other writings in this book.

So how about the quality of this book? My opinion, which may or may not suit your needs, is that virtually everyone who enjoys reading culinary writings would do better by acquiring copies of Ms. David's major complete works rather than spending money on this volume. I believe the quality of her writing was so consistently high that you will not find any rough or uninteresting patches as you read the three books I mentioned above. I will say that the book `English Bread and Yeast Cookery' may not be for everyone. It may not even be for everyone interested in bread baking. But the original article is superior to the short snippets from that book you get in this volume. And, this is in spite of the fact that one of those snippets has a really excellent technique for making Irish Soda Bread, one of my favorite quickbread preparations.

This book has one very good use. If you have no previous exposure to Ms. David's writing, this is a better sampler of her mainstream work than the collection of newspaper and magazine pieces, `An Omelette and a Glass of Wine'.

As the words are from the incomparable writer, Elizabeth David, I must give this at least four stars, but as I think you are better served by reading her original works, I do not give it five stars, especially as all of her major works are available in incredibly cheap Penguin editions.

Like many food writing and cookbook collections from the past 30-odd years, 'South Wind Through the Kitchen' aims ridiculously high: illustrating how its author was ahead of her time (emphasizing fresh ingredients, regional cuisines--especially of France and Italy--and "authentic" food), historically important ("the British Julia Child," if that's not oxymoronic) and relevant to modern cooks. A roughly organized collection of recipes followed by notes from esteemed cooks strain to hammer these points home.

I'll admit I'm tiring of these efforts. To be fair, 'South Wind' is hardly alone here, but I'd surely wish books of this sort decide on an angle and stick with it. Attempting to show the author's prescience, cooking knowledge (via well-worn or annotated recipes), writing wit, *and* recent gastronomy historical significance, the editors here clearly overreach. The result is far from a disaster, but I was certainly left occasionally frustrated if for no other reason than I was only shown a glimpse of David's brilliance.

And brilliance it is--at least at times. David's recipe format, for example, displays delightful informality; eschewing the traditional list of ingredients followed by turgid instructions, she simply writes freeform paragraphs and intersperses clever and reassuring comments ("a tablespoon of rum won't hurt," "don't be alarmed by ..."). The recipes seem solid, if occasionally dated and betraying an English slant . David's clear and confident writing comes through strongest, however, in her essays--of which this volume contains not nearly enough. The last three ('Ladies Halves,' 'Table Jewellery,' and 'Cathay to Caledonia') are simply brilliant, and compensated for me for an unfocused and shallow format.

An example of this unfortunate style is evidenced by the "chosen by" notes following many of the recipes and essays. Though surely intended to display David's influence on many of today's cooks, these accolades often just came across as intimate anecdotes. Reading how Ms. David was so re-assuring or insightful to someone at some point in the distant past is mildly interesting but often struck me like a speech at an awards show: only important to those being thanked. By only excerpting a sample, the editors here do not convince; more often than not an admonition to simply read the original book would have been far preferable to a watered-down quote.

As an accomplished writer and well-traveled gourmet Elizabeth David was, no doubt, quite an inspiration to the despairing and deprived cooks of a rationing and gray post-war England. I'll brook no arguments there, and this collection of essays and recipes may indeed be "the best of" her work. But if her gastronomy knighthood rests on this volume alone I'm far from convinced that she was a *great* food writer. A good one, and inspiring to boot, but I can't elevate her to the Child-Beard pantheon based on this evidence which I can only recommend--excepting historical interest--to hard-core foodies.