The French Menu Cookbook: The Food and Wine of France - Season by Delicious Season Hardcover – 28 Oct. 2010

The 'Observer Food Monthly' has acclaimed this as the best cookbook ever. That is a matter of opinion, but it is certainly one of the best in my collection. The author, of US origin, spent much of his life in France, latterly in a farmhouse in Provence. His book, published first in 1970, is refreshingly free from glossy photographs and has but a few line illustrations. It is free also from the use of convenience foods and modern kitchen gadgetry. It is written by a food lover for food lovers, both those who will devote time to prepare a meal, and for those guests who are prepared to wait until a dish is ready. It makes excellent reading and even if one does not use the recipes, one can learn a lot from it about techniques and ingredients. The author gives menus, elaborate, informal, and simple, for each of the four seasons, with accompanying recipes. He relies upon ingredients available fresh in Provence but as the book was intended for US readers he gives suggestions for substitutes available there. He gives measures in cups, rather than in metric or imperial measure, but that is a small problem. If one can overlook minor irritations such as typographic errors and some mistakes in the index one has a top rate book for all lovers of traditional French food.

Very interesting to read and see recipes from times last. Rather a lot of ears and tripes for modern tastes, but a valuable addition for the library if you’re a a collector of books on great cuisine.

Very good cook book. I have used this several times and the cooking works out fine.!

The first book by one the 2oth century's great food and wine writers. There may be debate about which is the masterpiece - this or Simple French Food; however there won't be disagreement about the lazy and cost-saving job by Collins on the editorial side (see two reviews below). This classic should have been treated with more respect. And why do Collins still have the rights to French Menu Cookbook? They should have reverted to the author's estate when it last went out of print....

Having another olney book (pure text cookbook) I had great expectations. however this is very putdownable. something with the size/print/format is unweildly. recipes/menus bridge pages badly, (a pain when referencing in the kitchen) so awkward and unfriendly

Superb - a true chef. A very entertaining and easy read. You may not like all the recipes but the techniques are invaluable

Great cookbook, I love the way it's written and am excited to follow the recipes.

The content of this is great - for the serious foodie. It's not an easy 'how to' in the style of current books on food and wine, but if you have an interest in French cooking, it's a wonderful read. But.... it has to be one of the most disappointing publications I've handled. It looks as though the original text has been scanned and not edited subsequently. Anyone who has used OCR software knows that it ain't perfect - you have to go through the text with a fine tooth comb to sort out the words that need correction. It looks here as though the publishers have failed to use a copy editor - and never was one more needed. There are mistakes, often multiple mistakes, on every page. 'I' inevitably appears as the numeral '1', 'oils' as 'ails', 'cover' as 'coyer' and sentences such as "...a heavy saucepan, preferably copper, with a tight-fitting lido..." would be amusing if they weren't frustrating.What an opportunity has been missed by Collins. This book could have been a wonderful experience with a little more care and investment in its production. Shame.