Richard Olney: The French Menu Cookbook (First Printing, Simon & Schuster), 1970

Description: the phrase “beautifully composed menus for American dining and entertaining by an American living in Paris and Provence” is in the subtitle, but the menus are quite French. for example, one features Boiled Pigs' Tails and Ears With Vegetables. there's a lot of offal in this book :-) i think the menus just give Olney a chance to present his very aesthetic and thoughtful perspective. for Boiled Pigs' Tails, he suggests, “If possible, the accompanying bread should be coarse, heavy, and not too fresh.” when i gave a copy of this book to a cook who was moving to Paris with his new wife (she was from one of its suburbs), my favorite part was the introduction to bouillabaisse. now i prefer the fiery, nine-line paragraph/sentence in the introduction to cassoulet (p. 247): Gastronomic literature, which, although abundant, is rarely able to stumble out of a pathetic morass of pretension and deliberate mystification (happily, a few artists have, incidentally, written brilliantly and with lucid passion of food and wine—Colette, no doubt, leading the twentieth-century contingent), has nearly drowned this good, solid dish of beans in more idiotic odes to its glory, essays on its mystic divinity, etc., even than those dedicated to la bouillabaisse; and it is more often read about than tasted, for although rustic in personality, it is long of execution and not particularly economical. in short, people will care about The French Menu Cookbook until dining ceases to be relevant. strictly speaking, this copy might be in Very Good condition, but Good is more likely to agree with a reader's estimate. positive features include a tight binding and very clean pages, i.e. no tears or creases. the only writing is the number 15 penciled on the front endpaper. on the other hand:the jacket is torn, chipped, and discolored. i think the book looks better without it.the bottom of the spine is discolored.the back cover has a small, square dent. there is no corresponding mark on the jacket, so i think this is a manufacturing defect.the red paint on the top edge of the pages is discolored.one leaf is stained. this small blemish is visible on pages 81 and 82.these flaws are visible in my photos. feel free to ask questions. postage costs more than usual, because the book weighs over 2 lbs.

Price: 29 USD

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

End Time: 2025-01-03T15:46:55.000Z

Shipping Cost: 6.13 USD