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Nancy Harmon Jenkins's avatar

I agree with Angela, below. I was pleased to see so many old favorites in your list, David, including especially the oft overlooked Mireille Johnston, ultra-scrupulous Madeleine Kamman, and delightful Lydia Marshall, all three, if I'm not mistaken, born, raised and schooled in French culture and cuisine, unlike many of the others on your list. But the omission of Elizabeth David is indeed surprising. She introduced me to the food of all of France and her French Provincial Cooking was a landmark--and to just for me--Alice Waters has frequently talked about what an important influence it was for her.

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Angela's avatar

I have quite a few of the books you listed, but was surprised not to see a mention of Elizabeth David. She changed the course of cooking in Britain after the 2nd world war with her books French Country cooking and later French Provincial Cooking. She was a huge influence on chefs and writers around the world. Her books are all still in print, and are a joy to read, as much for her writing as the recipes themselves. My favourite recent book on provencal cooking, is called Sardine, written by Alex Jackson, who had a restaurant in London of the same name, until covid hit and he was forced to close its doors.

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