Madeleine Cooks: A Wonderful Teacher Reveals the Secrets of Cooking Great Food Every Day

Rating:
Summary: An interesting cookbook but not for hard-core foodies
Review: Madeleine Cooks, based in part on her PBS TV series, is a compendium of very modern adaptations of traditional French ideas, and stylish recipes based on American ingredients and tastes. This is the least interesting of all her books, as it lacks the encyclopedic and technical scope of her other works. The rather hard-nosed author of The Making of a Cook and In Madeleine's Kitchen is absent here, and instead we have a more conventional book of recipes only with glossy pictures. The book will be useful for those who want to do good-quality frenchified American food, but not for those looking for the kind of technical and historical information she loves to provide in her other books. However, duck-lovers will be happy to find that this is one of the few books around with an entire chapter devoted to that bird, including a modern confit and a duck-skin omelette. Slightly trendy, but not overboard or gimmicky like many other modern cookbooks. Novice cooks looking to upgrad! ! e their skills will find this a useful guide for making modernized dishes that are still respectful of tastes and traditions.