The Provence Cookbook

No matter where you live, or how gloomy it may be outside, Patricia Wells will brighten your kitchen with the sunny flavors of France's bountiful south with The Provence Cookbook. A French-food expert and longtime Provence resident, Patricia offers readers an intimate guide to the culinary treasures of this sun-drenched landscape and dishes that will transport you and your guests with every flavorful bite.

The Provence Cookbook's 175 enticing recipes reflect Patricia's long and close ties with the farmers and purveyors who provide her and her neighbors in Provence with a kaleidoscope of high-quality foods. Their year-round bounty is the inspiration for these exciting, healthful Mediterranean-French dishes,which Patricia shares with home cooks everywhere. Over the past twenty years, it is Patricia who has often been the student, learning Provencal ways and regional recipes directly from the locals. With The Provence Cookbook, her readers benefit from this rich inheritance, as she passes along such recipes as My Vegetable Man's Asparagus Flan, or Maussane Potter's Spaghetti.

Along side authentic and flavorful dishes for every course from hors d'oeuvre to dessert, as wellas pantry staples, The Provence Cookbook features eighty-eight of Patricia's artful black-and-white photographs of Provence's farmers, shopkeepers, and delightful products. More than a cookbook, this is also a complete guide and handbook to Provencal dining, with vendor profiles, restaurant and food shop recommendations and contact information, and twelve tempting menus — delight in An August Dinner at Sunset or perhaps A Winter Truffle Feast.

Whether you are a home cook, a traveler, or an armchair adventurer, enjoy Provence as the locals do, with Patricia Wells and The Provence Cookbook as your guides.

"[A] lively volume....[A] robust collection, encompassing all manner of food, wine and preparation techniques, and a highly personal one too....Altogether, this is a lovely cookbook, a celebration of simple, delectable cuisine." Publishers Weekly

"Francophiles will rejoice in the appearance of this cookbook. As usual Wells has assembled an enormous amount of information, as valuable for the traveler as for the cook." Mark Knoblauch, Booklist

"Highly recommended." Library Journal

Culinary adventurers will enjoy this intimate guide to the edible landscape of the region, complete with more than 200 recipes, photos, wine pairings, a guide to local markets and more.

Patrica Wells is the author of Bistro Cooking,which won the 1990 Julia Child/IACP award for Best European Cookbook, and Simply French,which received the james Beard Foundation Award for Best International Cookbook. A former food writer for the New York Timesshe is also the author of the acclaimed books The Paris Cookbook, The food Lover's Guide to Paris,and The Food Lover's Guide to France.Patricia Wells currently lives in Paris, where she is the restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune.