| | Bon Appetit: Travels Through France With Knife, Fork and Corkscrew |  | Author: Peter Mayle
Publisher: Diane Pub Co
Category: Book
Buy Used: £34.75
New (3) from £35.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 1963837
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 233
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0756763541
Dewey Decimal Number: 914
EAN: 9780756763541
ASIN: 0756763541
Publication Date: January 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW HARDBACK, DISPATCHED FROM ENGLAND, USUALLY JUST 4-5 DAYS FOR DELIVERY.
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Peter Mayle, author of the bestselling A Year in Provence has done it again--but differently. Travelling this time beyond his adopted Provence throughout France, the food and travel writer has produced Bon Appetit!, a celebration of many of the country's gastronomic joys. Whether pursuing La Foire de Fromages, the annual cheese fair at Livarot; a Burgundian marathon offering runners Medoc refreshment; or a village truffle mass that concludes with a heady degustation of the newly blessed tuber, Mayle takes his readers in hand and shows all. Wide-eyed yet knowing, ever affable but with a touch of mischief, he's an ideal companion, the best possible narrator of his lively food adventures. Mayle's gastronomic baptism occurs when, as a 19-year-old, he dines for the first time in France. "At the first mouthful of French bread and French butter," he writes, "my taste buds, dormant until then, went into spasm." The paroxysm leads to serious food-and-wine perambulations--and, finally, to chapters including "The Thigh-Taster of Vitel" (a frog-eating fete), "Slow Food" (snail love in Martigny les Bains) and "The Guided Stomach" (an investigation of the Michelin Guide restaurant inspection) among others. Readers are also present for a debate on the secret of the perfect omelette, a search for the best possible chicken in Bourg-en-Bresse and a visit to a St Tropez restaurant notable for its scantily clad habitues. Those familiar with Mayle's work, and those yet to discover it, are in for a treat. --Arthur Boehm
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| Customer Reviews:
More Cheese, Vicar ? July 23, 2008
Peter Mayle is probably best known for his two travelogues set in Provence - "A Year in Provence" and "Toujours Provence". While "Bon Appetit" is also set in France, it isn't restricted to Provence - it follows Peter's (fairly random) travels throughout the country - basically going wherever his belly leads him.
While British chefs are probably known better for the swearing than their food, their French counterparts are widely viewed as artists. Having spent his early years in post-war England, Peter had come to view food solely as fuel - and certainly not as something you could seriously enjoy. It was a business trip to France, guarding the managerial briefcase, that opened his eyes - a trip that is recalled in the book's opening chapter. His boss, Mr Jenkins, proves to be the stereotypical Englishman - he doesn't have a good word to say about the French, makes no attempt to speak "their lingo" and advises young Peter that, should any further explanations be required, shouting is the best course of action. While there are some who relate very well to Mr Jenkins, Peter isn't one of them : he credits that trip with the loss of his gastronomic virginity, and - if this book in anything to go by - it became the launchpad to a love affair with French cooking.
Peter travels the length and breadth of the country, but doesn't restrict himself to the cafes and restaurants. By the looks of it, there must be any number of food-related festivals. There's a trip to Richerenches for the `Messe des Truffes' - which goes to show you, I guess, just how religious some people are about what they eat. Interestingly, Richerenches started life as a fort built by the Knights Templar. (Doubtless, truffles have something to do with the Holy Grail, the Sacred Feminine and Leonardo da Vinci's entire back catalogue - however, Peter thankfully sticks to the food and avoids the conspiracy theories). He caters for the famous French foods - he attends a Festival of Frogs Legs in Vittel, while he discovers the art of eating snails at a festival in Martigny-les-Bains. Here, he meets the enticing Mlle Coquille, and his education includes a talk on the dangers posed by Chinese counterfeiters. (They're even - oh the horrors - apparently making foie gras). He also attends a cheese fair in Livarot, home to one of the most (reputedly) pungent cheeses in the world. The festivities include the induction of several Chevaliers de Fromage and a cheese eating competition.
Two of the country's most famous wine regions are also visited. The Bordeaux region must be home to the world's most enjoyable marathon. The Marathon du Medoc, run through Bordeaux 's famous vineyards, had nineteen thousand applicants the year Peter visited, of which eight thousand were selected to run. Six thousand of these runners arrived in fancy dress - with France's national champion among the remaining two thousand. (He possibly felt it was worth taking seriously, since the winner apparently gets his weight in wine). For the remaining runners, however, this marathon is all about pleasure. There are over twenty different refreshment stalls along the course...each, as you might expect, offers high energy snacks and mineral water. However, oysters, steak, cheese and a variety of the most appropriate wines are also on the menu - and nobody is out to set a personal best time-wise. "Nowhere", comments Peter, could he "see any sign of the traditional loneliness of the long-distance runner. It wasn't that kind of race."
The trip taken to Beaune, in Burgundy, is for the world's greatest wine auction. Here, Mayle gets to sample the "kind of wine Alexandre Dumas said should be drunk kneeling, with the head bared." I've always loved France myself, but my admiration for some of the region's pharmacies just cannot be put into words. (They actually recommend different wines as cures for various ailments. What a country.)
Even the French take on a spa treatment goes above and beyond what you could ever have dared hope for. Michel Guerard's establishment at Eugenie-les-Bains - an establishment, lets not forget, designed to help people lose weight - has three Michelin stars. Chilled bottles of white Bordeaux, foie-gras, a variety of cheeses, slim, attractive and friendly young ladies who will quite happily power-hose you as part of the treatment...are health clubs seriously supposed to be this enjoyable ?
A very easily read, enjoyable, funny and - at times - informative book. Based on what I've read, there are now several places I've decided to visit...not least a certain restaurant in St Tropez. Absolutely recommended.
GASTRO GALLIC HUMOUR January 27, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is the book to read if you want to know about, or perhaps visit, all those food fairs and festivals celebrated by our French neighbours across the Channel. They have whole weekends devoted to the truffle, the humble snail, a special cheese... And as ever with Peter Mayle, the French participants are full of Gallic charm and unconsciously entertaining to us over here. Peter tours around the country visiting many towns and villages, and gives a helpful resume of festivals at the end for anyone keen to retrace his steps. Great fun!
A Feast Of Foody Anecdotes June 27, 2002
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
After a brief detour into the realm of fiction Peter Mayle here returns to what he does best: selling the French and their many humorous mannerisms to us Francophobic Brits! Bon Appetit acts as a tour guide to the regional culinary peculiarities that is France; from the annual truffle Mass at Richerenches near Orange to the ultimate in detoxes at Michel Guerard's spa at Eugenie-les-Bains this is a book which should not be read with an empty stomach. Mayle's histrionic prose is liberally seasoned with descriptions of frog's leg and Bresse chicken, truffle omelette and Burgundian bender - this being a festival known as "les Trois Glorieuses" and a cutely French excuse for grown men to dress up in robes and hats and drink copiously for three days. In England we would call it a lads' weekend in Blackpool!
Bon Appetit does not pretend to be an exhaustive guide to all things French and food-oriented but it does present us with a candid snapshot of a nation enjoying its culinary riches; in every chapter there seem to be colourful locals who are prepared to humour this naive Englishman and explain in painstaking detail why it is not recommended to eat wild snails or how to be a champion cheese eater. Mayle, like Paul Theroux, seems to attach himself magnetically to these characters and, at times, it becomes a little tiresome, cliched almost when another friendly local clears his throat in an attempt to educate our author. That said, Bon Appetit is a slickly written and informative introduction to the pros and cons of French cuisine. It will make you laugh, it will make you salivate and it will make you look twice at those little shelled molluscs that seem intent on devouring your entire garden every night. Good eating!
A light hearted look at the French passion for food. March 7, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Taking a break from Provence Peter Mayle takes us on a gastronomic tour of France and visits places that celebrate such items as frogs legs, snails, cheese and of course, wine. Although I was a bit apprehensive about buying this book as it seemed to be a change of direction for Peter, and I really loved his books on Provence, I can say that it is very entertaining as well as educational. If you are looking for a light read and still need that bit of escapism then this book is recommended. Its a fun read eventhough the particular culinary delights of various towns may not be to everyones taste!
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