French Lessons by Peter Mayle

French Lessons by Peter Mayle
Vintage Books, ISBN 0 375 71332 8
Price paid: 1,00$

French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork and Corkscrew is a delightful foray into French cuisine, seen through the eyes of a British gourmand. Each chapter represents a particular festival happening in France and the adventures that mister Mayle has lived.

The way each story is told is much like hearing a traveler tell of his experiences after a copious diner, brandy in hand, near the fireplace. Each paragraph shows a deep respect for food and in particular, the way France cooks. I drooled with each chapter and felt, for the first time in my life, pangs of hunger with each adventure.

Is it worth a dollar?

This is the kind of book that will be extremely boring to those who see food simply as sustenance. For the rest of us, whose idea of a soft, smelly cheese is something akin to heaven, this book is more than worth the dollar: it is to French Cuisine what Hunter S.Thompson was to drug-filed adventures.