To Drink and to Eat
Treats and Tribulations from a French Kitchen
Intelligent and humorous, To Drink and to Eat covers Guillaume Long’s delightful culinary adventures.
Long doesn’t claim to be a food critic, but his work with Le Monde, and his previous volumes of To Drink and to Eat, established his reputation as a writer who appreciates good food. In this edition, he travels to Spain and regions of France, attentive to the preparation and enjoyment of local fare.
Here, a cartoon version of hard-rocker Lemmy Kilmister instructs on the preparation of a leek appetizer, and highbrow lines like “This hot chocolate is as dense as a James Joyce novel” stand alongside Long’s simple but maddening quest for a Burger King. Pages of tips include advice on making a successful tart crust and picking a perfect lobster, along with more pedestrian tasks like reheating cold pasta and using plastic wrap.
Step-by-step illustrations make the process of cooking easier and more fun to follow, showing details that a typical cookbook might describe in its text or ignore altogether: a recipe for sardine butter contrasts the consistency of “good” and “not good” mixtures via side-by-side visuals.
The content is varied, featuring culinary travelogues and recipes, mixed with standalone comic strips, recollections of great (and not-so-great food experiences, and information about a great variety of foods. An illustrated guide to spices and herbs is included—a valuable kitchen reference.
To Drink and to Eat is as delicious a treat as the foods showcased within it.
Reviewed by
Peter Dabbene
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
