| Elizabeth David Classics: "Mediterranean Food", "French Country Cooking" and "Summer Cooking" | 
 enlarge | Author: Elizabeth David
Brand: Books
Category: Book
List Price: £16.99
Buy Used: £7.30
You Save: £9.69 (57%)
New (22) from £9.64
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 3669
Media: Hardcover
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 672
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.7
ISBN: 1902304276
Dewey Decimal Number: 641
EAN: 9781902304274
ASIN: 1902304276
Publication Date: October 31, 1999
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Amazon.co.uk subsidiary with same five star customer service and 30 day returns policy. Large cut on front. Large wrinkle or bend on front. Never read copy.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
This volume contains three of Elizabeth David's most popular cookery books: "Mediterranean Food", "French Country Cooking" and "Summer Cooking".
Amazon.co.uk Review
Publishers Grub Street are to be congratulated on re-issuing this single volume collection of Elizabeth David's first three books (A Book of Mediterranean Food, French Country Cooking and Summer Cooking), which have too long been out of print in hardback. The paperbacks are useful but tend to fall to pieces with repeated use. Moreover, even at full price this represents something of a bargain. The charm of the originals, with the evocative drawings by John Minton and Adrian Daintrey, remains intact. Grub Street have discreetly changed page numbers in references and that appears to be about it. The lobster on the cover is as forbidding and jealous of its dignity as Mrs David, famously, was wont to be. (The changing cover illustrations of ED reprints over the years might make an interesting study. The 70s paperback of Mediterranean Food features a spectacularly boring photograph of a corner of a French market-meaningless, until you spot in the foreground a big bunch of garlic, a symbol even then of everything Mediterranean. As for the books, what is there to say? They are what they are. Everybody knows about them. The fumes of historical myth ("grey post-war Britain ... sudden blaze of southern sunshine") rises from them like incense. It's difficult to recapture the effect they must have had in the 50s, and perhaps it's scarcely worth the effort. One returns to them periodically, wearied of the exertions of the gastro-pornographers, to refresh oneself at the spring of Elizabeth David's perfect taste. Or so the theory goes. However, it's important to remember, what seems in danger of being forgotten, that despite the telegraphic concision of some of the recipes, these are practical books, intended to be used over and over in the kitchen. Elizabeth David regarded herself first and foremost not as a writer but as a cook. These little volumes really are indispensable, imperishable classics of the kitchen. --Robin Davidson
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| Customer Reviews:
the tv chefs secret weapon October 26, 2002
65 out of 72 found this review helpful
elizabeth david comes from another era. In the post war period food was for eating, there was no celebrity cooking, however the drought of rationing had been lifted,and she helped those who were interested discover fabulous ingredients from the meditteranean. This book along with An omlette and a glass of Wine will give anyone who wants to cook competently and honestly, a great grounding in good food, fairly easy techniques, the use of fresh ingredients and spectacular results,with amusing anecdotes to accompany the receipes, I wouldn't be without her in my kitchen, and having used everyone from Micheal Smith and The Galloping gourmet to jamie oliver, gorden ramsey and paul rankin, I still find myself cooking with elizabeth at least once a week. This is a wonderful version of her work I thoroughly recommend it and please remember you have to eat everyday to be healthy, so you might as well do it well and have some fun.
a classic every serious cook should have. December 12, 2001
66 out of 83 found this review helpful
I am very fortunate to own one or two original books by this most famous of cooks.
Elizbeth David was the Delia of her day, and her recipes reflect an in-depth knowledge of food.
As a historian, she writes from her own research.
Elizabeth David's Classics first appeared in 1950 when almost every essential ingredient of good cooking was either rationed or unobtainable; to cook the simplest of meals required devotion and ingenuity.
Revised only a few years later, after rationing, and on the brink of a new renaissance of cookery in Britain, Elizabeth David's book of Mediterranean Food, French Country Cooking, and Summer Cooking was a best seller.
Ingredients such as Calamata olives, Tahina paste, Olive oil, stuffed vine leaves, and other Mediterranean delicacies made their way into the Delicatessens of Soho and Tottenham Court Road, much as Chorizo Sausage was in every branch of Sainsbury's after Delia Smith introduced it in her now famous "Basque Chicken" recipe.
Written a half centaury ago, this book was ahead of its time, we have only now begun to discover the exotic flavours of oil, saffron, olives, garlic, wild marjoram and basil, pungent pimentos, aubergines, figs and limes.
Top Chefs use Elizabeth David's work as their bible, their inspiration, and their teacher, she was unique among woman, and her work will live on in history.
In 1976 Elizabeth David was awarded the O.B.E. in 1977 she was made a chevalier of the French Ordre du Merite Agricole and in 1979 an honorary doctor of the University of Essex. In 1986 she was awarded a C.B.E.
Elizabeth died in 1992.
Wonderful! January 17, 2001
37 out of 48 found this review helpful
One book containing 3 of the most essential cookery books available today. Elizabeth David does not just deal out recipes, but information and tips as well. A God send for anybody wishing to improve their cooking.
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