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The Cook and the Gardener is Amanda Hesser's first book. From the opening lines of its introduction, her literary gifts are as evident as her passion for good food. Since this work combines recipes with her essays about Monsieur Milbert (the gardener at the Chateau du Fey in Burgundy, where Hesser worked as the cook), readers get to enjoy both of her talents.
Hesser worked hard to get M. Milbert to talk with her. She shares the careful, deliberate way she wooed him, sometimes by bringing freshly baked bread to his less mobile wife, sometimes by holding back questions she wanted to ask, just to win his tolerance of her presence. Crusty, surly, and tradition-bound, he is the quintessential French peasant. Fortunately, Hesser--who is respectful and patient even when M. Milbert's stubborn ways exasperated her--knows he is an almost-vanished breed. None of his children, or anyone else, is likely to work as he has, continuing to live mainly off the land for nearly 60 years.
Each chapter covers a month, starting with March, when the nearly 400-year-old walled garden comes to life. Hesser talks about the garden, how she used the bounty gathered by M. Milbert, and muses on life in and around Burgundy. In September, "the rains seemed to clean off and illuminate the plants' colors ... everything seemed to wake up, as after a hot, cranky nap." The final tomatoes are harvested, as are the green and butter beans, with Milbert sneakily keeping the best for himself. Hesser visits a neighbor's Portuguese-style garden, as exuberant and vivid as Milbert's is restrained and disciplined. She cooks sautéed red snapper with tomatoes, fennel, and vermouth; makes a profound Tomato Consommé; and slow roasts tomatoes into meltingly tender mounds.
Sepia drawings by Kate Gridley add to the low-key charm of this information-packed work. (It even includes a history of purslane going back to the Middle Ages.)
The knowledge and maturity of this work belie Hesser's youth. Not yet 30 at the time of writing, she's a wise cook worth following. --Dana Jacobi
From Publishers Weekly
Readers who have been pining for a new literary cookbook need look no further. The cook of the title is the author, a staff reporter for the "Dining In/Dining Out" section of the New York Times. The gardener is a crusty, irascible French country gardener of considerable age and vast experience. Hesser met M. Milbert when she began cooking for Anne Willan, founder of the cooking school La Varenne, at Willan's estate in Burgundy, France, where Milbert and his wife were caretakers, a job they took on after selling their small farm. With respect and grace, Hesser describes her encounters with Milbert in his domain, the estate's one-acre garden, tracing four seasons' worth of interwoven gardening and cooking. Beginning in spring, Hesser makes use of what's freshest in such recipes as Early Carrots with Tarragon Beurre Blanc, Warm Roasted Shallots with Balsamic Vinegar and Braised Lamb with Garlic, Asparagus and Peas. Summer recipes range from Sauteed Duck with Artichokes to Zucchini-Lemon Soup, Striped Bass and Fennel and Seared Tomatoes with Olive Oil and Sage. In similar fashion, recipes for the fall and winter months make use of the seasons' offerings: Red Beets with Shallots and Sage, Pear-and-Almond Tart and White Sausages with Turnips and Butternut Squash. Like Milbert's approach to growing herbs, fruits and vegetables, Hesser's recipes follow the traditional French country techniques and are neither fussy nor marked by shortcuts. Seamlessly including basics?e.g., pastry doughs, stocks (one for each season), preserves and mayonnaises?in the introductions to the seasons, Hesser delivers a solid grounding for beginning cooks as well; or at least for those whose interest is in preparing food with fresh ingredients (and who don't need to learn how to cook broccoli, which apparently Milbert didn't grow). Hesser's voice, as she carefully earns Milbert's trust, becoming finally in his words, la petite jardiniere, is as sure and convincing as is her hand in the kitchen. Cooks who pick from Hesser's 200 month-by-month recipes will easily imagine themselves at least momentarily transported to the French countryside.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
