My Paris Kitchen - Review

My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz

Rating: 4 Stars

Description:  Ten years ago American chef David Lebovitz moved to Paris and began to study French food as it is eaten by the average French person.  This book tells the tale in both stories and recipes.

Genre: Cookbook/Food Memoir

My Impression:  I loved this book and actually more for the stories than the recipes themselves.  His basic philosophy of food which basically boils down to quality ingredients and simple methods definitely inspires my thinking while cooking.  I loved his story about a French journalist condescendingly explaining the different kinds of lettuce incorrectly.  His detailed explanation about the tools he uses and why would be helpful to any cook just starting out.  I found the look inside how regular French people eat fascinating.  I also had no idea that the French were so territorial when it came to food - who knew that Parisians didn't like food from Provence?  Many of the stories made me chuckle a bit - all were interesting. The main negative for me was that many of the recipes require a stand mixer which is not something I own and therefore makes a number of the recipes useless to me.  I was also somewhat surprised to see a decent number of Middle Eastern recipes mixed in.  He did explain the availability and popularity of certain Middle Eastern ingredients which was interesting but I was more interested in French food than food from other regions.  While some of the recipes involve ingredients that I'd either have to order or hunt for many were simple.  All of the desserts were drool worthy and I'm looking forward to trying several of them.  If you're interested in food in general, French food or French culture this is definitely a book worth reading and cooking from.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Yes