*dimsumdolly* - the different morsels of the life of a foodie

A Pig In Provence

A good book is one where you're able to experience the sights, smells and sounds the author is describing through words. In A Pig In Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France, American cookbook author Georgeanne Brennan brings us into the Provence she got to know in the 1970s when she moved there with her first husband and daughter to eke out a living making fresh goat's cheese.

The book centres around food and Brennan takes the reader into a time where there weren't hypermarts, and where more people were in tune with the land and what it had to offer. Readers are introduced to her French neighbours who teach her about French Provencal life. She learns how to make fresh goat's cheese the French way and ends up pleasing all her neighbours because no one in the area makes it anymore.

She experiences what it's like to herd goats and rear pigs. We feel her excitement when she goes on her first mushroom hunt and learns how to identify edible mushrooms. We can feel her squirm when she witnesses a pig being slaughtered to make sausages. Brennan also learns what it takes to make an authentic Marseille bouillabaisse. Her description of the long summer meals the locals enjoy seduces us to the charms of rural Provence.

If you love food and you're looking for an easy read for the weekend, this is the book to pick up!

For Singaporeans: This book is available in the National Library.

Posted by DSD at March 27, 2008 12:17 AM