Patricia Wells (1)Rezensionen

There are a couple of rather lovely desserts in this book, and, as others have observed, easy at that.

But...there is a recipe for a crisp apple thing. Sorry, book not to hand so thing it is. The idea that this recipe could result in something crisp is beyond me. The night I made it I happened to have two highly educated cooks to dinner and neither of them understood either. So I wrote to her. That was about ten years ago. Still waiting....

Personally I've never found anything useful in the rest of the book.

There are a couple of rather lovely desserts in this book, and, as others have observed, easy at that.

But...there is a recipe for a crisp apple thing. Sorry, book not to hand so thing it is. The idea that this recipe could result in something crisp is beyond me. The night I made it I happened to have two highly educated cooks to dinner and neither of them understood either. So I wrote to her. That was about ten years ago. Still waiting....

Personally I've never found anything useful in the rest of the book.

The recipes here look so good I wanted to eat the pages.

Cachat: Provencal cheese spread, p.41, simple, good, useful for leftovers, silly to buy ingredients for.

Healthy main-dish salads for every season

Not as useful as Bistro Cooking, but there are several simple and tasty recipes here. There are several useful gratins and other recipes that feature vegetables, such as crustless onion quiche and tomato clafoutis. My second-favorite of Patricia Wells' cookbooks.

Two of our most famous Francophile expatriats muse of the good life they've created for themselves both in Paris and Provence. Patricia's narrative was much stronger than Walter's, but like any good working partnership, they clearly are in love with their work, with France, and with one another. We are merely along for the ride.

Patricia Wells is my new best friend. I have had her cookbook, Bistro Cooking, for a while but only recently began cooking out of it. The recipes are simple but hearty French bistro fare that rely on the best ingredients for flavor, and each one I have attempted has been delicious. Her Marinated Goat Cheese, for instance, should be a pantry staple; it keeps for a long time, and it is a tasty snack and a useful ingredient to have on hand for salads and other dishes.

Wells’ book Bistro Cooking encourages you to keep great ingredients on hand in order to quickly put together satisfying meals that don’t require the fussy handling and intricate preparation we often associate with French cooking. I love turning my kitchen into a French bistro.

Oh those pictures: How many pictures do we need of vegetables, even French ones? We know what a leek looks like but we NEED to know what the finished dish should look like. Recent cookbooks persist in this dreadful habit of glossy photos of bowls, whisks, eggs and landscapes when we want to know what we are cooking.
These recipes are great but there is nothing in the photos, colourful as they are, to tempt me to make any of them. One day I guess I'll have a glut of something, open this book, find a picture to make sure I know my onions and actually cook comething.

Patricia Wells has a particular genius for translating beautiful regional cuisines into recipes well-suited to American kitchens and cooks. Trattoria is a case in point. In it, Wells provides simple, clear instructions for reproducing some of the best dishes of Italy from pasta to pork to a perfection dessert. Now I am a great fan of Italian cooking and enjoy trying to reproduce what I eat in Rome, Florence, Tuscany and the Ligurian coast. Wells has nailed it for me. She's also introduced me to some dishes I've never had. Her golden arborio rice cake is a marvel of a dessert-- delicious, easy to prepare and impressive looking. This is one of the cookbooks I return to over and over for ideas for dinner.

"Salad" is defined pretty broadly here, to include a number of lightened dishes. This looks like the perfect summer cookbook to have on hand. Even though I garden in pots, I might have to plant a zucchini just to have blossoms so I can try the zucchini blossom frittata. This book is definitely on my wishlist.

This cookbook was one that I would recommend to my vegetable loving friends. There were tons of recipes that I think they would find very useful and unique.

Ingredients: I would say that most of them you could get from your local Central Market or Whole Foods. However, your local grocery store will depend on whether it is well stocked in the produce department.

Preparation: Most of these looked like there was a good amount of prep time, so keep that in mind. With fresh good there is often chopping and marinating involved.

Types of dishes: I would say these were "upscale" dishes with many of them looking good for tea parties and fancy dinners. There were some great day to day recipes but on a whole that is probably not what I would use this cookbook for.

Overall: For me personally, this cookbook would not work because I am super picky when it comes to Vegetables. That being said I would buy as a gift for my more Vegetable loving friends, of which I have many!

I have checked several of Wells' cookbooks out of the library and “travel” through the bustling market places of southern France by flipping through this particular book, The Provence Cookbook.

She brings it to life for me with photos and narratives of local merchants, complete with addresses and recommendations of where to purchase fresh cheeses, olives, vegetables and the like.

With over eight books published, this is one of my favorites.

To quote from the jacket cover, “Patricia offers readers an intimate guide to the culinary treasures of sun-drenched landscape and dishes that will transport you and your guests with every flavorful bite.”

Please see my blog for the start of my reviews, and the process of her recipes (with photos!)by clicking on the link below:

http://tinaculbertson.blogspot.com/2010/06/patricia-wells-tribute-roasted-chicke...

Patricia Wells is on a mission to translate everyday French cooking into recipes that Americans can love. Bistro Cooking is a compendium of the best recipes of beloved French bistro chefs crafted for the American kitchen. I've tried dozens of these recipes and they all work well. Many have become part of my regular repertoire. Here you will find the very best way to make potatoes au gratin with very little trouble and consistently perfect results; a melt-in-your-mouth apple tart that looks like it came from a Paris bakery window; simple salads that satisfy; and many other dishes from soup to dessert.

Wells' book is an excellent teacher for the home chef and I have learned a good deal about French cooking from her. She shows techniques learned from kitchens that must serve a discerning public. These are far easier than Julia Childs' painstaking classics. A one-time food critic, Wells has chosen well from the bistro repertoire.

This is not a book for the busy. Many of its recipes require planning ahead (the beef daube must be marinated in red wine for a day in advance) and longer cooking times (again, a few hours for the daube). But it is a godsend for a special Sunday dinner or a party.

good inside information from the perspective of "Americans in Paris."

I expected this to be an Americans in Paris story, something in the vein of Adam Gopnik's [Paris to the Moon], a book I much enjoyed for its gentle humour and insights into French culture.

Instead this book, which is essentially an autobiography of time spent in France by Patricia and Walter Wells, reads much like a very long newspaper story. This should perhaps not be too surprising, since they are both newspaper reporters.

They are both very hardworking Americans, he poured most of his life into long hours at the International Herald Tribune, she poured her energies into a huge number of restaurant reviews, later accompanied by a well-received book about French food, more books about French cooking, and eventually by her running a cooking school.

Unfortunately, having put so much of their energies into print in other places, they seem to have very little left for the story of their lives in France. What remains is mostly a story of working really hard, the (re)building of their houses in Paris and Provence, and some of her favourite recipies.

You kind of get a sense of distance in this book, of not quite getting to know them. You can guess that they must be interesting people, given their friendships with various famous chefs including Julia Child, but you have to deduce that, it's not evident in the text. There isn't even much passion for France in the book, it's mostly stories of workmen (some reliable, some not) and neighbours (most annoying, it seems). The only time you get some sense of their enjoyment of France is in the chapter about shopkeepers (the butcher, etc.) that they like.

Basically they worked their way onto the New York Times, and then used good connections and an incredible amount of hard work to succeed and build a pleasant life in France with interesting friends, good food, and nice houses, but I have to say you get more of a sense of the incessant (and typically American) drumbeat of work work work from this book, than you get of them actually enjoying themselves.

I would only recommend this book if you're really interested in Patricia Wells because you've enjoyed her food books or some other aspect of her prolific output, this will add a small piece to your understanding of her, but I have to say you probably get more of her heart and soul from her food books (I expect, I haven't read any of them) than you will from this rather workmanlike news report of her life.½

heerlijk, authentiek, makkelijk

Comes across as lightweight (not so) and suffers the usual disadvantages of the compendium approach. It's great strength is the strength of its subjects - a crack selection of contemporary Parisian chefs.

Probably the best reinterpretation of *** concepts for the domestic kitchen available. Notable not only for the recipes, but also for the insights into Robuchon's philosophy contained in the introduction. If there is any criticism it is that Wells is too gushing over her subject. He probably deserves it though.

I took this one to Paris on my honeymoon. Still have the book, but not the husband! A few souvenirs are slipped between the pages, including a menu from a wonderful meal on a bateau mouche.

The book is excellent. It's not limited to restaurants, but lists wine shops, cheese shops, markets, etc., each section divided by arondissements.

Since this edition is 20 years old, I'd buy a current one for my next trip, but keep this one for the memories.

read 2023

175 Recipes and a Select Guide to the markets, Shops, & Restaurants

Italian