Savoir-Faire

“So much has been said–and written–on the subject of French food that the author wisely does not set out to accomplish such an impossible task. Instead, she gives the reader a guided tour to select highlights. The journey begins with the remote and quasi mythical, culinary habits of Gaul at the time of the Franks (and Romans), and ends with the soul-searching of a twenty-first century that questions the definition/nature of an ever-evolving ‘French’ cuisine. Both producers and consumers–in Metropolitan France as well as in the far-flung colonies–hold center stage in an unfolding story told with verve. And, throughout this narrative, emerges the centuries-long ability of French culture to write about and represent food, turning it into one of the most easily recognized cuisines in the world.”–Allen J. Grieco, Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Florence (emeritus), coeditor in chief of Food & History (IEHCA) “The book is admirably ambitious, crisply written, and lively… . It brims with an abundance of varied information… . A very readable, wide-ranging, and original synthesis on the subject.”–Michael D. Garval, North Carolina State University “Savoir-Faire is a superbly researched and extremely comprehensive history of the complex food of France. Tebben’s exhaustive documentation takes us from the salted pork of the Gauls to the bread of the middle ages, the nineteenth-century opulence of Careme’s buffet to the cuisine bourgeoise and les meres de Lyon. An all-encompassing work for anyone interested in the importance of cuisine in French culture.”–Chef Jacques Pepin

Maryann Tebben is Professor of French and head of the Center for Food Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Massachusetts. She is the author of Sauces: A Global History (Reaktion, 2014).