[.ca] Clementine in the Kitchen (ISBN 0375756647)

From Amazon.com:
For more than a dozen years before World War II, the Chamberlain family lived and learned to eat in the tiny cathedral town of Senlis, France. Their Burgundian cook, Clémentine, presided over their kitchen in France, and later in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The alert, good-natured cuisinère is the heroine of Clémentine in the Kitchen, first published in 1943 and happily reissued in the Modern Library Food series. The book is a gem: part gastronomic diary and part cookbook (over 170 recipes are included), it also evokes, perhaps most interestingly, Clémentine's affect on a small town in pre-"gourmet" America, and its influence on her. From the moment of Clémentine's Senlis arrival with her eloquent notebooks (containing lists of superb everyday dishes such as omelette aux fines herbs and blanquette de veau), to her preparation of extraordinary family meals, to her struggle and then triumph with American ingredients and kitchen ways, the book details the deeply shared gastronomic life led by the tiny, resourceful cook. It's a life defined by dishes, and the book includes recipes for many of Clémentine's best, including Coquilles St. Jacques au Gratin (gratinéed scallops), Escargots de Bourgogne (snails in garlic butter), Poisson à la Niçoise (fish baked with tomatoes and olive oil), and Crème Renversée (caramel custard). The recipes have been adapted for modern use by Narcisse Chamberlain, the author's daughter. Illustrated with dry points, etchings, and drawings, readers will delight in this wry yet charming tale and enjoy poring over the authentic mid-20th-century French recipes. --Arthur Boehm

Entertaining:
Excellent entertainment, but you can easily read it in one sitting! More a recipe book than a memoir. Great traditional french recipes.

Your Own Private Cordon Bleu Cook:
This delightful part-memoir, part-cookbook is a poignant tale of times past, probably never to be recaptured. The author and family lived for a decade in France where they enjoyed the services of their excellent cook, Clementine. When war clouds broke over Europe, they were somehow able to convince this estimable lady to cross the ocean with them and settle in Marblehead Massachusetts. Clementine braved the culture shocks of 1940 USA very well to hear Mr. Chamberlain tell it. The mighty American supermarkets, the excesses of packaging, and the difficulties of a one-language nation left her unfazed and French to the core. Unfortunately for her, the one language was not French. I suspect Clementine was not as innocent and circumspect as the author believed, and I am sure at times was very lonely. The occasional recipes in the memoir section of the book can be daunting to the American cook who is used to exact measures. Mr. Chamberlain rather grumpily hints we should use our imagination. I think I can handle "butter the size of an egg," but confess "a handful of flour" makes me uneasy. The recipes are not exceedingly difficult, though many are painstaking, and all will make a cholesterol counter wince. The recipe for Coquille St. Jacques (scallops) is a marvel of simplicity and excellence. The latter half of the book contains recipes with measurements translated by Mr. Chamberlain's wife and daughter. Somehow, these lack the charm of Clementine's unexpurgated notes. The book is lavishly illustrated with the author's charcoal and line drawings expertly done. This is a fun book to own for anyone with a taste for provincial French cooking and warm-hearted memoirs.

This is a Happy Book!:
If you've been reading heavy, deep, take-themselves-way-too-seriously type books lately this might be just the ticket if you want to take a break. It's a fast read and if you enjoy reading recipes/cookbooks then you'll love this. The entire second half of the book is a cookbook and every recipe looks great! I can't wait to try a few. My only complaint is the use of French was a little tough for a non-French speaking person. I don't mind a word here and there but there were whole sentences and/or paragraphs occasionally. There was no translation so at times I felt a little left out. I completely understand why the author did this and since I like to also read books that use lots of Spanish (a language I do speak a bit of) I know if you speak French you'll love the book all the more for it. If you love cooking, eating and want to read about some really lovely people then don't let the French thing stop you. Just don't be surprised.

Clementine in the Kitchen:
The gastronomic diary of an American family in France, and of their most treasured possession, Clementine, their extraordinary cook who accompanies them to Marblehead, Massachusetts on the eve of World War II where she struggles with the American way of cooking while managing to retain her very French sensibilities

A literary and culinary delight:
You'll love Clementine,and if you aren't american,and live in the U.S.,you'll relate to Clementine's disorientation in some things (complete meals in a box???,big supermarkets,no separate stores for the meat,the bread,the vegetables??). The recipes are delightful,but,if you are watching how much fat goes in your diet,then don't buy this book to relay on daily basis,there is a lot of bacon,butter and cream in this book!!!.