The Food of France [Paperback]

Underpinning Mr Root's overarching theory is the premise that food and how it is cooked is intimately related to and is influenced by the geography, history, and culture (agri- and otherwise) of its region. As a result, each region develops a food and cooking style unique to itself. He proceeds to illustrate this with erudition, verve, wit and style. Drawing on his knowledge of French geography, history, and culture, as well as what seems to be his vast gastronomic experiences across France, he makes a fine case for how each have been an ingredient in shaping and influencing the development of the food of each region. The Food of France will not only tell you what goes into an omelette provencale, it will tell you why this is different from an omelette a la nomande or an omelette a la nicoise, as well as consider different theories as to how the omelette got its name.

The book comes with a general index, as well as an index of food and dishes. Dishes are described with sufficient particularity that a good cook could reproduce the dish. I should note that as the book was written in 1958, some of his information is a little outdated (his recommendations for good years of wine) or a little late (his urgings to visit Provence before it becomes too touristed). Notwithstanding this, The Food of France is an excellent resource and wonderful read: perhaps there can be no better recommendation than to admit that I enjoyed it so much that I have gone to buy The Food of Italy, also written by Root.

My Personal Rating Scale:
5 stars: Engaging, well-written, highly entertaining or informative, thought provoking, pushes the envelope in one or more ways, a classic.
4 stars: Engaging, well-written, highly entertaining or informative. Book that delivers well in terms of its specific genre or type, but does not do more than that.
3 stars: Competent. Does what it sets out to do competently, either on its own terms on within the genre, but is nothing special. May be clichéd but is still entertaining.

2 stars: Fails to deliver in various respects. Significantly clichéd. Writing is poor or pedestrian. Failed to hold my attention.
1 star: Abysmal. Fails in all respects.

Root divides France into various gastronomic regions, and looks at the foods typical to each of these regions. His theory, that these gastronomic regions can be collated under three different regions - the domains of fat, butter and olive oil - forms the overarching structure of the book. In each region, he describes both its social and cultural history, as well as its geography and agriculture, in order to better explain why the food of that region developed in the way that it has. His riffs move from the origin of the name "Languedoc" (the language where "yes" was "oc" and not "oui") and "Carcassonne" to the reason for large roofs in the Jura region. While some of this information may undoubtedly be out of date (his urgent plea to visit Provence before it becomes too touristetd is definitely 20 years too late by now as are his recommedations of good years for particular wines), most of the information is still pertinent and interesting.

Among all of this, he manages to describe with luscious wit and warmth the food of the region. He will tell you with authority how snails are cooked, which cities have the best type of pastries, and what goes into the preparation of cote de porc a la vosgienne. If you've ever wondered about the difference between an omelette a la savoyarde (and he tells an amusing and fascinating story of how the omelette came to be so named) and an omelette a la lyonnaise, what a pamplemousse is or what goes into a cassoulet (depends on which region the cassoulet is made in), this is the book for you.

It comes with an excellent general index, as well as an index of food and dishes. Cooks out there might be interested to know that he frequently describes dishes with sufficient particularity that a good cook could reproduce some of the dishes so described, even though details as to proportions and cooking techiques are not provided.

I enjoyed this so much that I went off to buy The Food of Italy also by Root and am anticipating reading that with equal relish. There can really be no better recommendation than that.