Cuisine Grand-Mere by Marie-Pierre Moine

This is a book to roam through at leisure, soaking up the glories and traditions of French home cooking. Marie-Pierre Moine, who has received much acclaim for her writing in House & Garden amongst other things, turns her hand to the cooking of her homeland. She was brought up in the Loire Valley and her memories of family meals are as vivid today as if they happened yesterday. Not many adults can look back on their childhood and remember these occasions. A cook can receive no greater accolade than when a child declares you a good cook. Adults roll over, the children are the ones us cooks want to impress. They are our future and the ones we will rely on to cook the dishes we once loved and to share them with their friends.

This is what Marie-Pierre has set out to achieve in Cuisine Grand-Mère. The book includes many classic recipes and some new ones too, inspired by her holiday home near St. Malo. Readers will be relieved to hear that the use of cream is toned down to suit our health conscious age. Marie-Pierre learnt how to cook from her grandmother, a tradition that hopefully still carries on today. The book is richly illustrated with labels and food illustrations from the past and it is a delight to read.

GWG favourites include onion purée, a simple dish of sautéed onions, raisins soaked in tea and wine, an excellent accompaniment to sausages on a winter's evening. Truite aux pignons (trout with pinenuts) is a modern adaptation of truite aux amandes, the pinenuts adding a contemporary twist to this classic dish.

The puddings are Marie-Pierre's favourites, good French dishes. Compote d' abricots et de fraises, apricot and strawberry compote, is a particularly delicious combination, especially at this time of year and if you can use fraises de bois so much the better.
Our one and only criticism of Cuisine Grand-Mère is that it should have been published in hardback. This is definitely one for your classics shelf.

Publication details
160 pp.
Published by Ebury Press. £14.99
ISBN 009187890X
2001

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