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European Peasant Cookery Kindle Edition

by Elisabeth Luard (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 50 ratings
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Recipes reflecting the rich traditions of twenty-five countries, passed down through generations.
 
Peasant cookery offers healthy, real food—and is as relevant now as it was centuries ago. In this remarkable book, Elisabeth Luard sets out to record the principles of European cookery and to rediscover what has been lost in over-refinement. The recipes come from twenty-five countries, ranging from Ireland in the west to Romania in the east, Iceland in the north to Turkey in the south. This enormous compendium covers vegetable dishes; potato dishes; beans, lentils, polenta, and cornmeal; rice, pasta, and noodles; eggs, milk, and cheeses; fish, poultry, small game, pork, shepherd's meats; breads and yeast pastries; sweet dishes; preserves; and more.
 
Filled with an authenticity rooted in Elisabeth Luard’s years of living and cooking in Europe, these recipes are peppered with hundreds of fascinating anecdotes and little known facts about local history and folklore.
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  1. Print length
    841 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Grub Street Cookery
  5. Publication date
    June 20, 2008
  6. File size
    1820 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"finely recommended read as both a historical interest and a fine cookbook"
Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Elisabeth Luard is a British food-writer, journalist and broadcaster specialising in the traditional cooking of Europe and Latin America (though she’ll take a swing round Africa and India if asked), placed in its social, geographical and historical context. The step-daughter of a British diplomat, her early schooling was in Uruguay, Spain, France and Mexico

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004TGI9MM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grub Street Cookery (June 20, 2008)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 20, 2008
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1820 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 841 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 50 ratings

About the author

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Elisabeth Luard

Elisabeth Luard

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I'm a writer, illustrator and broadcaster with some twenty-five books to my name, including a couple of doorstopper novels and four (working on a fifth!) memoirs-with-recipes. Born during the Blitz in central London, I've lived or studied or worked in Latin America, Spain, Italy, France, the Hebrides and Wales (in that order). In the '70's, I brought up my young family (now with grown-up children of their own) in a remote valley in Andalucia, which led to an earlier career as a natural history artist, a couple of shows in London's Tryon Gallery and botanical work for the national archives at Kew. Cookbooks include European Peasant Cookery, The Flavours of Andalucia, Preserving, Pickling and Potting, Sacred Food, and A Cook's Year in a Welsh Farmhouse (serialised in Country Living magazine). Novels (pub. 1980's) are Emerald and Marguerite. Memoirs to date are Family Life, Still life, My Life as A Wife, and Squirrel Pie. After 25 years in the wilds of Wales, I downsized in 2017 from a rambling farmhouse in the foothills of the Cambrians and am now happily home and dry in a one-person studio flat in West London. I've contributed a cookery-column toThe Oldie magazine for about 20 years, did a stint at The Field and Daily Telegraph as cookery writer, and sometimes write on family matters in the Daily Mail. I've just retired after six years as Chair of The Oxford Food Symposium but remain enthusiastically involved. Meanwhile I've just started (January 2023) a newsletter on Substack, Elisabeth Luard's Cookstory, which allows me to combine my work as an artist as well as a writer.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
50 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

C&A, Marland
5.0 out of 5 stars "One Big Belch"
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2016
Verified Purchase
Elizabeth Luard's European Peasant Cookery should be in the kitchen and on the nightstand of everyone interested in old-fashioned comfort food. Just take a look at her recipe and directions for Grape-Picker's Soup. It starts with a lovely description of the scent of the soup "perfuming the soft autumn air in the vineyards" to a delightful description of a French market pottery merchant. Then in the directions she tells you to bring the soup "to the boil, allow it one big belch, and then turn the heat down to a simmer." Isn't that a perfect instruction? I only recently received my used copy and already I am engrossed in the history, and inspired to cook from the intriguingly wide expanse of recipes. In her research, she has found some impressive source materials. Already I have been prompted to track down Ellen Browning's "A Girl's Wanderings in Hungary" which she quotes. Her own anecdotes from her experiences traveling and living in various parts of Europe adds to the charm of this well researched and well written cookbook.
7 people found this helpful
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Pammy C
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting Read!
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2022
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Surprisingly relevant in today’s culinary/dietary repertoire.
One person found this helpful
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Cookiekins
4.0 out of 5 stars Old World for Today's World
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2019
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For years I have sworn I was going to write a peasant food cookbook, after listening to too many celebrity chefs co-opting fine comfort food scripts from long ago, and insisting their way was the only "authentic" way to prepare a dish. We all know these dishes came from Mama, and Mama used what Mama had.
Elisabeth Luard has written my cookbook, and she has done it more eloquently than I ever could have. She even groups recipes around different food groups to make it easy for those of us who produce our own food or participate in CSA's or farm to table programs to use what is in season.
Did you know there is a reason carb heavy root vegetables are prevalent in colder months? That is when your body needs them!
Some of these recipes will not be useful to me, as I do not live near the sea, but as I adapt my family's diet to be more locavore, this book will be a big help.
7 people found this helpful
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Mrs. Aline A. Krauklis
5.0 out of 5 stars EUROPEAN PEASANT COOKERY
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2010
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We saw this book in our local library and we just had to have our own copy.Local resources were expensive and not too eager to help.As a first time Amazon user i found the site easy to access and received our book delivered to our door Great service
2 people found this helpful
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Sandra Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2013
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Excellent. History, culture, fantastic simple and authentic recipes. Great use of humour. Visit any country you like in Europe and experience it by cooking one of these easy recipes. I recommend it very highly.
One person found this helpful
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Joan Wood
5.0 out of 5 stars GOOD RECIPES AND A GOOD READ!
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2013
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I LOVE READING THE TEXT OF THE RECIPES IN THIS ALMOST SCHOLARLY BOOK ABOUT REALLY BASIC COOKING. IT'S FILLED WITH "GRANDMOTHER KNOWLEDGE" AS WELL AS HAVING INTERESTING, EASY RECIPES.
2 people found this helpful
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M. De Klepper
3.0 out of 5 stars word of warning - some errors, and it's not all authentic
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2010
First of all, this book is a nice collection of recipes. However, it is certainly not flawless or great. I'm from the Netherlands, and am pleased that some Dutch/Flemish recipes are included, but many of the Dutch recipes have mistakes. There are some misspellings:
- Waterzootje (p. 29), should be Waterzooi
- Konijn met pruinen (p. 104), should be Konijn met pruimen
- Hutzpot (p. 302), should be Hutspot

Also, the book contains some incorrect remarks. On p. 424 it says that Edam cheese is a typical cheese in Holland for cooking, but that's not the case. Edam cheese is rather uncommon for Dutch people to eat; it's more an export, or tourist cheese. The most common cheese eaten in the Netherlands is Gouda cheese.

Another remark is about the recipes for Spekpannekoek (p. 141) and Bruine Bonen (p. 230). In both these recipes Elisabeth Luard notes that golden syrup or honey should accompany these meals. However, golden syrup is almost never eaten in Netherlands, it is hardly available in supermarkets. Dark syrup, or treacle is the choice of Dutchmen for Spekpannekoeken and Bruine Bonen. Honey is also unusual, though it is in the Dutch-style.

Sure you might thinks "who care about the Dutch recipes anayway". Maybe so, but other recipes may be not so authentic/flawless either.....
36 people found this helpful
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David Hebb
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Very Best
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2008
Not only is Elizabeth Luard a fine cookery writer, one of the very best, she is also an excellent cook (the two talents, perhaps not surprisingly, are rarely found together). Her knowledge of the dishes about which she writes in this book is neither superficial nor derived from seconday sources, but the product of living in Europe and studying, preparing and eating the entrees included in her book. This is more than just a book with a lot of pretty photographs of food presented in unusual and photogenic ways. It is about real food and how it has been prepared traditionally with clear guidance so that you and your family or guests may dine well as ordinary Europeans have for centuries.
8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Gerard Delaney
5.0 out of 5 stars A bib is required :)
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2022
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A fascinating book crammed full of history, facts,curios and recipes. You'll drool so much you'll need a bib :)
Simple foods .....like the Romanian cabbage soup with bacon. Not much different from my mothers soup I recall from 55 years ago. But evocative and nostalgic, as are numerous other recipes. A definate buy for some of my children.
2 people found this helpful
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Ron
5.0 out of 5 stars Great author and books.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2016
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I have read a few of this authors books and have to say I am impressed with them all especially the welsh farmhouse one that for some reason does not seem to be here on amazon. Anyway this one is very good indeed and the recipes seem simple and concise and I have tried a couple and they have been just what I expected. Also the information provided about the regions etc. are very well versed as is the case in all her books. Very highly recommend this book and others from Elisabeth Luard.
One person found this helpful
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Jack
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2019
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A really interesting and well written book. Some of the recipes are things I’d never even have thought of. It’s full of anecdotes that really help you understand the ways people used to eat
2 people found this helpful
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A. I. McCulloch
4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive collection of Western European recipes. Timings, quantities a bit suspect - not one for total novice cooks.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2017
Verified Purchase
I really wanted to like this and to give it five stars. I am of Eastern European extraction (Estonian & Latvian parents) and hoped to find some of the dishes of my childhood here - roosmanna, a semolina and pureed fruit dish or pirukad (perogies/piroshka) which are little bread pasties filled with smoked meat and onions, or savoury cabbage.

Well, the fact that this book was first written in 1986 should have alerted me to the fact that a few recipes from emigres excluded, there are no dishes here from what was behind the Iron Curtain. This is Western European peasant cookery, including the UK and Ireland. That's fair enough, but the title is misleading. Eastern European recipes are now widely available and some could surely have been included here. What is here is very good, there are dozens of recipes for German, French and Italian staples. The recipe for a classic cassoulet takes up over two very closely typed pages on its own.

Another review has criticised recipes for not being accurate, and even on a quick read through I can see how this criticism came about.. A suggestion is to roast onions at 150 degrees Centigrade for two hours in their skins. My efficient fan oven would make them charcoal at this temperature for that length of time, even allowing for dropping to 130 to allow for the efficiency of the fan. All the oven temperatures given are for an old-style non-fan oven and need some adjusting,

On the whole, descriptions are reasonably clear but there are no illustrations and this isn't really a cookbook for novice cooks. Aside from the temperature adjustments needed you need to be aware of how recipes are meant to work, as with the spaetzle recipe which has some weird proportions or the advice to cook sliced raw potatoes in a gratin for just one hour. Two hours is more like it. Personally speaking I used sliced tinned potatoes in any form of gratin to cut down on the cooking time, These recipes are often very energy - hungry, long cooking being required for many of them.

Having made those criticisms, I do still very much like this book and look forward to trying some of the more user friendly ones, adapting where necessary. I won't be sourcing a large earthenware pot to salt-cure an 8lb leg of lamb, but to read about it was fascinating, and the book is packed with fascinating facts. It's a very enjoyable read, just watch your step when following the Western European recipes and all will be well.
16 people found this helpful
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MeganB
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and easy to follow.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2019
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An excellent book with a wide selection of recipes that actually work.
One person found this helpful
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