Savoir-Faire: A History of Food in France

Savoir-Faire

A History of Food in France

Maryann Tebben

Savoir-Faire is a superbly researched and extremely comprehensive history of the complex food of France. Maryann Tebben's exhaustive documentation takes us from the salted pork of the Gauls to the bread of the middle ages, the 19th-century opulence of Carème’s buffet to the cuisine bourgeoise and les méres de Lyon. An all-encompassing work for anyone interested in the importance of cuisine in French culture.

— Chef Jacques Pépin

This is a comprehensive account of France’s rich culinary history, not only full of tales of haute cuisine, but seasoned with myths and stories from a wide variety of times and places; from snail hunting in Burgundy to female chefs in Lyon, and from cheese appreciation in Roman Gaul to bread debates from the Middle Ages to the present. It examines the use of less-familiar ingredients such as chestnuts, couscous and oysters, French food in literature and film, and the influence of France’s overseas territories on the shape of French cuisine today. It also includes historical recipes for readers to try at home.

Maryann Tebben is Professor of French and head of the Center for Food Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Massachusetts. She is the author of Sauces: A Global History (Reaktion, 2014).

foods and nations August 2020 • Food and Drink isbn 978 1 78914 332 4 234 × 156 mm • 344 pp 98 illustrations, 72 in colour Hardback • £25/$39 eBook 978 1 78914 331 7 World Rights: Reaktion