Publisher's Synopsis
This text provides a celebration of regional French food through the palettes of the Impressionist painters, with 100 classic regional dishes. Many Impressionist paintings celebrate the conviviality of good food - of tables set out of doors - or vast picnics spread beneath the dappled shade of hospitable trees. The pictures by Monet, Manet, Berthe Morisot and Renoir exude the kind of relaxation and contentment that came from satiety. There is a beguiling serenity to be found in the charmingly laid, untenanted table in Monet's "The Luncheon", while there is a more boisterous appeal to the crowded scene at riverside Restaurant Fournaise immortalised in Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party". The work follows the painters through five regions of France, exploring the different landscapes and celebrating the distinctive cuisines they would have sampled. Among the 100 recipes are dishes such as chicken Valle d'Auge, duckling with turnips, skate with black butter sauce, peas with bacon and lettuce, tarte tatin, red mullet with pistou and Swiss chard tourte.
