Hesser recounts her year as a cook in a Burgundy château and her friendship with its crusty old gardener. Over 240 recipes, "have a simplicity derived directly from the freshness and flavor of their ingredients."
"The ancient link between the gardener and the cook is at the heart of this remarkably evocative cookbook, in which Amanda Hesser relates the story of a year she spent as cook in a seventeenth-century château in Burgundy. Before long, her culinary life becomes inextricably bound to the seasons of the Yonne River Valley and to Monsieur Milbert, the seemingly impervious, charmingly sly peasant caretaker of the château's kitchen garden. The aging Milbert, as much a part of the château as its gnarled pear tree and dilapidated pigeon house, reluctantly opens up to Hesser, sharing his gardening knowledge and lore, from the timing of plantings tied to saint's days to highly effective rodent-eradication programs to the secrets of making apple brandy. Laced with insights into human nature as well as into nature itself, 'The Cook and the Gardner' is a rare culinary and literary experience that cooks and gardeners alike will embrace. Ultimately, though, 'The Cook and the Gardener' is a cookbook, and Hesser brings a sure hand and a keen eye to more than 240 recipes that will inspire cooks in every season. The seasonality of the recipes reflects a time when our meals were more closely tied to the garden's freshest produce and the root cellar's well-hoarded treasures. By bringing the garden closer to the kitchen, Hesser gives cooks new ways to prepare the fruits and vegetables they have on hand, whether from the supermarket, the farmer's market, or their own gardens. Along with recipes comes a wealth of practical advice on everything from storing potatoes to beginning sour-dough starter to masking cassis. Essays celebrate the seasons of the château kitchen garden and relate the growing friendship between the old gardener and the young cook. As Milbert opens up to Hesser, the reader glimpses the quirky customs and sensible wisdom of a vanishing way of life in provincial France."-- taken from book jacket flaps.
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