French Regional Food by Loic Bienassis

My rating: 5 of 5 spoons
ggggg

Come along for a gourmand's tour of traditional cuisine and culture in rural France! Divided into 27 chapters which are 27 regions, each chapter is further divided into local areas. For instance, the chapter on Normandy is further divided into The Contentin, Rural Normandy, The Auge, The Caux and The Bray. Discover each region's cuisine, specialties and ingredients as well as iconic recipes and the traditions behind them. Not every local area has a recipe included, but the majority do.

Recipes are clear and easy to follow. Preparation time is clearly marked along with the level of difficulty shown by the number of asterisks. I didn't see any that had more than three, so it seems to be a simple easy, medium and hard classification. There is a nice blend so that anyone can find something they can easily cook.  From the delectable simplicity of 'Truffade' to the more complex 'Daube de Boef a la Dauhinoise', there is something for everyone. I do wish they had included the English translation of the recipe name. Not all recipes have a photo, and so you either have to look up the translation, or read the recipe and guess what it is if you don't speak French. 'French Regional Food' is not just a cookbook, though. It works as well to just curl up and read, soaking up French history, tradition and culture.

The book itself is a beautiful, high-quality hardback with nice, thick pages, a sewn binding and even a ribbon bookmark. It was clearly made to last a long time, and I really appreciate that in a book. This is a great book that I highly enjoyed and wholeheartedly recommend!

I received a copy of this book from Quarto Publishing for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.