Edouard de Pomiane (1875–1964)

de Pomiane wishes to help anyone have a civilized lunch or supper, that is, to within an hour arrive home, start cooking, eat several courses, and have the time for a leisurely coffee or cigarette with a friend. With some cleverness and some reservations, he succeeds.

The planning is, basically, to set water boiling literally as soon as you come through the door; to be satisfied with one of (dozens) of menus that lend themselves to quick and efficient cooking, especially once the water is show more boiling; and to use bought-prepped food where possible. He's also cooking for only one or two, so the chops and soups are small and heat quickly.

My largest reservation is that he completely ignores all the dishwashing. I'm a little puzzled by this; in 1930, would a French bachelor have scullery but not cooking help? Let us assume nowadays that our pans can go in the dishwasher, be grateful for the dishwasher, and pass on. We have more good soups in cans than he did, and he was willing to make soup of `vegetable flour', so that's a pass. I think his butcher surpassed any I'm likely to find outside the gourmet ghettos: "Buy 4 larks which have already been plucked, cleaned, and wrapped in fat or bacon." is something of a challenge.

On the whole, as a reminder of possible efficiency, excellent; having the menus as a whole is a help when trying to cook something satisfying quickly. As a reminder that eating a little of several different things has been a standard of cuisines long before our handy freezers and microwaves, also useful. With the suggestion of Saddle of Hare with Sour Cream as a 'quick but refined meat dish', an inspiration.

Bon appetit! show less

A classic among cookbooks, this small offering is packed with gems for elegant and simply food. Time has not dated it. The 'recipes' are more in the way of methods with precise quantities rarely mentioned but all make perfect sense to anyone with some basic culinary skills and / or sense.

Anything by De Pomiane is a joy to read but this is bound together with La Goutte au compte-gouttes ou 47 adaptions gastronomiques. It is therefore 2 books in 1

This was printed in 1949 and is still useful! If you like Elizabeth David and company you'll like Edouard de Pomiane