Either they over-complicate the composition of the dish, or they attach only minor importance to it, reserving their talents for the meal itself, and so it frequently happens that the soup does not correspond in quality to the rest of the dishes; nevertheless, the quality of the soup should foretell that of the entire meal.’ Madame Seignobos, who wrote these words some fifty years ago in a book called Comment on Forme une Cuisinière, was probably referring to trained cooks, and does not mention those other happy-go-lucky ones who tell you, not without pride, ‘of course I never follow a recipe, I just improvise as I go along. A little bit of this, a spoonful of that . . . it’s much more fun really.’ Well, it may be more fun for the cook, but is seldom so diverting for the people who have to eat his products, because those people who have a sure enough touch to invent successfully in the kitchen without years of experience behind them are very rare indeed. The fortunate ones gifted with that touch are those who will also probably have the restraint to leave well alone when they have hit on something good; the ones who can’t resist a different little piece of embroidery every time they cook a dish will end by inducing a mood of gloomy apprehension in their families and guests.
What do You think about French Provincial Cooking?
