Celebrating the Impressionist Table - Hardcover

Todd, Pamela; Pickford, Louise; Evans, Laurie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 155670481X ISBN 13: 9781556704819

Publisher: Stewart Tabori & Chang, 1997

Synopsis

The Impressionists were, for the most part, a gregarious crowd whose work bears witness to their insatiable and infectious appetite for life, food and friendship.
Celebrating the Impressionist Table celebrates the travels, fetes and relationships of these friends against the backdrops of Normandy, Paris, the Seine, Brittany and Provence. Luminous canvases record the minutiae of domestic life - from exquisite still-lifes, to an idyllic picnic scene, or a beguiling table set for an open-air lunch - and provide an inspiring complement to one hundred beloved recipes. This timeless fare reflects regional specialties with a touch of the 19th century.
This combination of text and recipes, illustrated by a feast of evocative paintings and specially commissioned photographs, adds up to a mouthwatering celebration of French regional cooking.

About this title

Review

Given that so much has been written on the Impressionists and their era, this charming volume takes a different approach and explores simultaneously the art and food of 19th-century France. As an inspired culinary and cultural account of the Impressionist era, this fun and fascinating tour through Normandy, Brittany, Provence, Fontainebleau, and Paris features an entertaining text on the artworks and lifestyles of its most famous painters--Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Morisot, Cézanne, Manet, Guaguin, and Degas, among many others. There are also 100 recipes for regional fare, emphasizing the notion that great art, like great food, should be savored. The delectable combination of food and art stimulates the senses in a surprising way, more genuinely evoking what it was like to be alive at the time of the Impressionists than any critical study I've read.

From Booklist

Journalist Todd scrutinizes the art and fares of the impressionists, from Brazille to Sisley. Here, the human (and occasionally, humane) side of these masters stands out; for instance, Monet was an inveterate gadget guru who owned a state-of-the-art, hand-cranked ice cream machine. Gauguin was an admirable cook, though his fight with van Gogh precipitated the infamous left ear mutilation. And Renoir preferred brie only from Paris. Not as worthwhile (but nonetheless instructive) are the 100 accompanying recipes, all in the classic French tradition of high-fat cooking with butter, cream, flour, and sugar; few are streamlined for today's kitchens or stomachs. Besides, who would dare drip a spoonful of aioli on Monet's The Picnic? Barbara Jacobs

About this edition

• Publisher: Stewart Tabori & Chang
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 155670481X
• ISBN 13: 9781556704819
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192