Country Cooking of France

This beautiful book is proof that there is always something more to learn about the cuisine of France, even for a French-trained professional chef. Jacques P pin, chef, cookbook author, and public television cooking series host

The Country Cooking of France is fabulous for looking and cooking. A highly acclaimed teacher, food writer and cookbook author, Willan is the founder of the famed LaVarrene Cooking School in Burgundy. She knows French cuisine and culture intimately and shares that magnificent bounty here. A gift book par excellence for gourmet travelers and for those who would rather cook that cassoulet at hime, just dreaming of dinner in a ch teau. Bookpage, December 2007

Anne Willan's The Country Cooking of France (Chronicle, $50) is a powerful attempt to set forth regional classics, complete with history, provenance, and terroir. It's fascinating to watch the same fish stew transform from saffrony, Pernod-laced bouillabaisse neawr the Mediterranewan to oniony, buttery chaurdree by the Atlantic Coast. Gorgeous pastoral photography, too. The Boston Globe, Dec. 19, 2007

'Regionalism is back' declares the much-lauded cookbook author and cooking teacher before plunging into soups from Provence or Perigord or pork recipes from Normandy or Burgundy. Willan's heralding of these classic recette du terroir (or recipes from a specific place) suffuses the book with a respect for authentic flavors, all the while exciting the reader with the desire to capture the essence of the real thing. Chicago Tribune, Dec. 12, 2007

The season's most comprehensive tome on French fare is Anne Willan's The Country Cooking of France, a 400-page volume with gorgeous photos, carefully written recipes that really work, and enough information about cooking trends, ingredients and techniques that you'll feel immersed in all things French. Cookbook Digest, January, 2008

In the beautifully photographed The Country Cooking of France (Chronicle Books, $50), Anne Willan takes the reader on a culinary journey through the distinct gastronomic regions of France. Panache, January 2008

Longtime French-cooking authority Anne Willan's latest book, The Country Cooking of France (Chronicle Books, $50), presents a lifetime's worth of work in more than 250 recipes. The book is filled with color photographs that capture the romance of the French countryside and includes many sidebars on culinary traditions. It looks too pretty to sit on the kitchen counter. But it's a workhorse at heart, with clearly written instructions and, welcome but more unusual, the reasons for preparing a dish a certain way. Houston Chronicle, January 30, 2008

Regionalism is back declares the much-lauded cookbook author and cooking teacher before plunging into soups from Provence or Perigord or pork recipes from Normandy or Burgundy. Willan's heralding of these classic recette du terroir (or recipes from a specific place) suffuses the book with a respect for authentic flavors, all the while exciting the reader with the desire to capture the essence of the real thing. Chicago Tribune, December 12, 2007

Willan was friends with Julia Child, an her book feels a little antique. But her focus on the classics actually ends up refreshing, and her recipes - longer, but clear and detailed - are reassuring. The Charlotte Observer, January 23, 2008

Vigorously researched and exquisitely photographed, Willan's exhaustive treatise on the instinctive cooking of the country folk of France is authoritative and direct. We admire by her sentiment that there's a right way to cook traditional dishes, and all others are wrong. When it comes to classic provincial French cuisine, cookbooks don't get much more complete than this. Saveur, February, 2008

One of the best cookbooks of this year was The Country Cookin

This beautiful book is proof that there is always something more to learn about the cuisine of France, even for a French-trained professional chef. Jacques P pin, chef, cookbook author, and public television cooking series host

The Country Cooking of France is fabulous for looking and cooking. A highly acclaimed teacher, food writer and cookbook author, Willan is the founder of the famed LaVarrene Cooking School in Burgundy. She knows French cuisine and culture intimately and shares that magnificent bounty here. A gift book par excellence for gourmet travelers and for those who would rather cook that cassoulet at hime, just dreaming of dinner in a ch teau. Bookpage, December 2007

Anne Willan's The Country Cooking of France (Chronicle, $50) is a powerful attempt to set forth regional classics, complete with history, provenance, and terroir. It's fascinating to watch the same fish stew transform from saffrony, Pernod-laced bouillabaisse neawr the Mediterranewan to oniony, buttery chaurdree by the Atlantic Coast. Gorgeous pastoral photography, too. The Boston Globe, Dec. 19, 2007

'Regionalism is back' declares the much-lauded cookbook author and cooking teacher before plunging into soups from Provence or Perigord or pork recipes from Normandy or Burgundy. Willan's heralding of these classic recette du terroir (or recipes from a specific place) suffuses the book with a respect for authentic flavors, all the while exciting the reader with the desire to capture the essence of the real thing. Chicago Tribune, Dec. 12, 2007

The season's most comprehensive tome on French fare is Anne Willan's The Country Cooking of France, a 400-page volume with gorgeous photos, carefully written recipes that really work, and enough information about cooking trends, ingredients and techniques that you'll feel immersed in all things French. Cookbook Digest, January, 2008

In the beautifully photographed The Country Cooking of France (Chronicle Books, $50), Anne Willan takes the reader on a culinary journey through the distinct gastronomic regions of France. Panache, January 2008

Longtime French-cooking authority Anne Willan's latest book, The Country Cooking of France (Chronicle Books, $50), presents a lifetime's worth of work in more than 250 recipes. The book is filled with color photographs that capture the romance of the French countryside and includes many sidebars on culinary traditions. It looks too pretty to sit on the kitchen counter. But it's a workhorse at heart, with clearly written instructions and, welcome but more unusual, the reasons for preparing a dish a certain way. Houston Chronicle, January 30, 2008

Regionalism is back declares the much-lauded cookbook author and cooking teacher before plunging into soups from Provence or Perigord or pork recipes from Normandy or Burgundy. Willan's heralding of these classic recette du terroir (or recipes from a specific place) suffuses the book with a respect for authentic flavors, all the while exciting the reader with the desire to capture the essence of the real thing. Chicago Tribune, December 12, 2007

Willan was friends with Julia Child, an her book feels a little antique. But her focus on the classics actually ends up refreshing, and her recipes - longer, but clear and detailed - are reassuring. The Charlotte Observer, January 23, 2008

Vigorously researched and exquisitely photographed, Willan's exhaustive treatise on the instinctive cooking of the country folk of France is authoritative and direct. We admire by her sentiment that there's a right way to cook traditional dishes, and all others are wrong. When it comes to classic provincial French cuisine, cookbooks don't get much more complete than this. Saveur, February, 2008

One of the best cookbooks of this year was The Country Cookin

France Ruffenach is a San Francisco-based photographer, whose work also includes Tartine.