The Paris Cookbook [Hardcover]

Patricia Wells (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 24, 2001

When acclaimed cookbook author Patricia Wells moved to Paris in 1980, she had no idea it would be "for good." In the two decades since, she has become one of the world's most beloved food writers, sharing her deep passion for her adopted home and teaching millions of Americans how to cook real French food.

In this new book, Patricia leads readers on a fascinating culinary exploration of the City of Moveable Feasts. Both a recipe book and a gastronomic guide, The Paris Cookbook covers all facets of the city's dynamic food scene, from the three-star cuisine of France's top chefs, to traditional bistro favorites, to the prized dishes of cheese-makers, market vendors, and home cooks. Gathered over the years, the 150 recipes in this book represent the very best of Parisian cooking: a simple yet decadent creamy white bean soup from famed chef Joël Robuchon; an effortless seared veal flank steak from Patricia's neighborhood butcher; the ultimate chocolate mousse from La Maison du Chocolat; and much more. In her trademark style, Patricia explains each dish clearly and completely, providing readers with helpful cooking secrets, wine accompaniments, and métro directions to each featured restaurant, café, and market.

Filled with gorgeous black-and white photographs and Patricia's own personal stories, The Paris Cookbook offers an unparalleled taste of France's culinary capital. You may not be able to visit Paris, but this book will bring its many charms home to your table.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

American-born Paris dweller Patricia Wells has turned her love of French food into a remarkable series of culinary works. The Paris Cookbook reflects that affection and her familiarity with the Paris food scene, offering 150 of its best recipes. From famed chef Joël Robuchon's sublime Creamy White Bean Soup to a hearty flank steak dish courtesy of Wells's butcher; from bistro Chez Benoit's Asparagus and Green Bean Salad to confectioner La Maison du Chocolate's Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse, the book abounds in wonderful food. Wells's achievement, here as elsewhere, is to make her recipes genuinely accessible to the average cook; well-chosen and lucidly written, they invite even the hesitant into the kitchen with the promise of great eating.

Following the courses of a typical Parisian meal, from appetizers through desserts, the book presents three-star dishes like Arpège Eggs with Maple Syrup, as well as more humble fare, including an exemplary Lemon Chicken and socca, the delicious Provençale pancakes. A section on pasta, rice, beans, and grains offers such standouts as Flora's Polenta Fries. Desserts also receive their due with delights like Fresh Fig and Almond Gratin. Illustrated with photos that evoke Parisian life at the market and at the table, and containing a wealth of tips and helpful information, wine recommendations, plus the addresses of the dining spots mentioned, the book is a worthy addition to Wells's dependable store of cooking guides. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly

Drawing on more than 20 years of experience as a food writer in Paris, Wells (Bistro Cooking) presents cherished recipes from famous Parisian restaurants, such as BenoŒt Guichard of Jamin's Tarte Tatin (Caramelized Apple Tart), Jo‰l Robuchon's Creamy White Bean Soup, Caf‚ Bonaparte's Chicken Salad and Le D“me's Sole Meuni‚re. She ferrets out the best recipes from the authority venues, such as La Maison du Chocolat's Bitter-Sweet Chocolate Mousse and Chef William Ledeuil's Fresh White Beans with Mimolette, Roquette and Pistachio Oie. If readers can get over some haute cuisine pretension (a Black Truffle Mayonnaise recipe suggests using "eggs that have been enclosed in a glass jar with the truffles for 1 day"), they will find down-to-earth recipes such as The Market Gardeners' Zucchini and Curry Soup and The Taxi Driver's Wife's Secret Mussels. Regional France is well represented by the likes of southwestern polenta (H‚lene's `Polenta' with Sheep's-Milk Cheese) and seafood from Brittany (Memories of Brittany Lobster with Cream). Wells has a knack for choosing simple yet elegant recipes quintessentially French with reliable results in the North American kitchen. She follows a growing trend of replacing red meats (although there is a short chapter on them) with poultry, seafood and vegetables (a whole chapter is devoted to potatoes). This book is a must for any Francophile yearning for Brasserie Balzar's Midnight Onion Soup, and for visitors who want a great resource for where to buy and how to handle the spectacular foods in Paris. Photos. (Nov.)Forecast: Wells's fans will be pleased, for this is very much in the tradition of her other books. Despite a glut of French cookbooks, Wells is the real deal, and her latest offering will satisfy its readership, which includes anyone who loves France, or who lives there and wants to learn more about its foods.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks; (5th) edition (October 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060184698
• ISBN-13: 978-0060184698
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patricia Wells is a journalist, author, and teacher who runs a popular cooking school--At Home with Patricia Wells--in Paris and Provence. Salad As A Meal is her twelfth book. She won the James Beard Award for The Provence Cookbook, Patricia Wells at Home in Provence, and Simply French. Also nominated for Beard Awards were Vegetable Harvest and The Paris Cookbook. With her husband, Walter, she is also the author of We've Always Had Paris . . . and Provence. The French government has honored her as a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, recognizing her contribution to French culture. A former New York Times reporter, she is the only foreigner and only woman to serve as restaurant critic for a major French publication, L'Express. For more than twenty-five years she was the global restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars TERRIFIC RECIPES IF YOU HAVE THE TIME! November 2, 2001

By Sandra D. Peters

Format:Hardcover

The recipes contained in this book are numerous and diverse. However, unless one is experienced in French cuisine, it may be difficult to achieve the exact same end result as one who has experience, such as the author. The recipes are certainly original and authentic.

As dedicated chefs will know, one cannot rush in the preparation of these recipes and the downside, for most of us who are career people, is finding the time and energy to prepare most of the recipes contained here. They are by no means ones you can whip up in thirty minutes or less. Some take the best part of the day to prepare so perhaps these recipes are best set aside for special occasions, week-ends or for some event where time is not a factor. "The Paris Cookbook" will make a great addition to any library. Most of the recipes tried to date are excellent such as the Bonaparte's Chicken Salad and the Zucchini and Curry Soup; however, you might want to pass by the White Bean Soup - it left a lot to be desired and had the same appeal as wallpaper paste! Oh, well, we cannot expect every recipe to be perfect.

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Appealing Fare October 24, 2001

By disco75

Format:Hardcover

Wells has assembled a fine collection of recipes culled from the many wonderful restaurants in Paris, whose chefs she seems to know, and from other sources such as French magazines and newspapers. What she seeks to present is a sampling of quintessentially French urban fare that reflects the tastes of a populace enamored with daily marketing, locally grown, fresh produce, and distinctive saucing. The recipes are well written, clear for both newer and more seasoned cooks, and generally straight-forward, non-complex.

Her instructions provide the rationale behind each dish, and her selections stray from the familiar French cuisine found in the myriad other cookbooks on the subject. The book has a distinctive appearance, with B&W photos displaying the cooks, restaurants, and markets rather than the food. Wells is a connoiseur of food and other social features, and her writing is mildly pretentious, but the food is accessible and the dishes come out tasty and reliable.

The book contains separate chapters for Appetizers, Salads, Breads, Vegetables, Potatoes, Pasta/Grains, Soups, Fish, Poultry, Meats, and Desserts. Its offerings are produce friendly so that it works well for vegetarians. Interesting recipes include the Aspargus Veloute, a soup made from the oft-discarded stems of the spears; Carrot Salad with Cumin and Lemon Juice; Spinach, Bacon, Tomato and Avocado Salad; Asparagus and Arugula Salad; Zucchini Stuffered with Goat Cheese and Mint; Jerusalem Artichoke Puree; Cooked Carrots with Orange and Cumin; Potatoes Anna; Penne with Mustard and Chives; Polenta Fries; and Pumpkin Soup. There are several bean dishes and polenta recipes.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you love French cuisine, this is for you July 18, 2002

By Joanna Daneman #1 HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was so impressed with this cookbook. First, I adore Paris and love the art of French cooking. I learned French style cooking years ago and I love to watch how my French friends put together a seemingly simple meal that turns out so impressively. And the black-and-white photos of Paris that illustrate the book are great reminders of visits past.

The key to these seemingly simple recipes in "The Paris Cookbook" is good ingredients, a knack for combination, some fundamental traditional ideas, and a passion for excellence. For example, some of the most interesting recipes to me were for peasant cooking from Provence. There was a soup of spelt (a wheat-like grain with many healthful properties.) It was combined with barley and the green French de Puy lentils to make a Mediterranean-style meal-in-a-pot soup. The use of spelt is more common in Germany --however the Provencal use it as one would use rice, in risottos or as here, in a soup. There is also a recipe for a simple version of bouillabaise fish soup that I really want to try.

The other recipe that got me excited was for an ordinary gazpacho cold tomato soup but...with a savory mustard ice cream as a garnish. Now THERE'S an interesting idea. If you have ever had a blob of cream in a tomato-based soup, you know how nicely cream blends and smooths the flavor of the acid fruit. But to add the cream in the form of ice cream, but unsweetened and with a spicy mustard, now that is exciting! I will be making that for my next summer dinner party. I also got the idea to modify the recipe and make wasabi green tea ice cream (wasabi is the green Japanese mustard you get with sushi.) I can pair that with a cold cucumber-crab soup.

That's what I adore about this cookbook.... Not only great recipes, but they are in essence, fundamental and can be adapted with your own creative ideas.

The author also includes information about each restaurant where she obtained the recipes--chef, address, notes. So if you go to Paris, you essentially have quite a good restaurant guide.

The only caveat about this cookbook is that to make any of these recipes, you must get top-quality ingredients, as they are the backbone of each dish. This means a trek to the farmer's market, to the specialty shop, the farm, your backyard garden, the dairy or mail-order as many grocery store items will just not measure up. I can tell you from experience that the quality of the ingredients is paramount to success, and grocery store cream and butter in most of the US just can't do the job. And don't get me started on the vegetables. Read more ›

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Paris Cookbok November 14, 2001

By Paul Madden

Format:Hardcover

Nobody has a finger on French cooking like Patricia Wells and certainly nobody has the pulse on the Parisian food story like Madame Wells. She has been at the epicenter of the Parsian restaurant scene and has incredible access to the powers that be. Patricia Wells not only is a superb journalist but her taste in food is au courant. She has gathered recipes that not only enliven the palate but also are very practical. The recipes are uncomplicated and have easily obtainable ingredients. The book has the flavor of Paris - one can almost be there and smell the glorious aromas. This is not a coffee table type cookbook. It is a black and white themed portrait from its blurred image of the Eiffel Tower to the intimate photographs around and inside the greatest food scene in the world.