NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Adrienne Zausner was the American doyenne of French cuisine from the Seventies to the Nineties - Cooking with Adrienne is a memoir and cookbook about this remarkable woman. Adrienne honed her palate on the food coming out of the kitchens of Alain Chapel, Frédy Girardet, Michel Guérard, Jean and Pierre Troisgros, Roger Vergé and others who were creating the New French Cuisine. She became an accomplished cook and helped to pave the way for these chefs to bring the New Cuisine to America.
She spent three months in Paris in the early Seventies taking cooking lessons from Simone (Simca) Beck co-author, along with Julia Child, of Mastering the Art of French Cuisine. Jean Troisgros, then chef at Les Freres Troisgros in Roanne, France, stayed with Adrienne and her husband for a month at a villa they rented in Mougin. Recovering from a kidney stone operation and too weak to cook, he was happy to instruct Adrienne in everything from Sorrel Sauce to roasting a baron of lamb.
"Few people, if any, knew the intimate details of some of the most
famous restaurants in France and Switzerland the way Adrienne did. This
collection of recipes provides unique insight into culinary history.
Adrienne documented every meal, knew each of these chefs personally and
cooked these recipes at home. Cooking with Adrienne provides
enthusiastic cooks with a rare look at the fine points of understanding,
appreciating and replicating the cuisine of these masters. Their legacy
has a direct link to contemporary cooking around the world.”
--
Michael Anthony, Executive Chef, Gramercy Tavern
“Adrienne’s passion for cooking comes through so powerfully in this
book. I loved seeing the menus she hand-wrote for special dinners, many
recorded here, and I'm amused and moved remembering the adventures with
Jean Troisgros in Napa Valley.”
-- Gael Greene,
InsatiableCritic.com
“The book pays tribute to Adrienne’s passion and amazing personality.”
--
Pierre & Marie-Thérèse Wynants, Comme Chez Soi, Brussels
The book reveals the mysteries of making a sauce, from a simple jus to beurre blanc and hollandaise, as well as the basics of stock and vinaigrette. The recipes run the gamut from Raymond Thuilier’s Gratin Dauphinoise, Auberge de Noves’ Caneton en Papillotte, Adrienne’s own Pigeonneaux aux Morilles, Frédy Girardet’s Passion Fruit Soufflé to the simpler, but no less delicious, Tomate Provençal, Pasta with Pesto and Scallops, Lemon Chicken and Potatoes, and Moussaka. They reflect Adrienne’s belief that all food is good food if prepared properly.
The author, Joan M. Harper, began travelling and cooking with Adrienne and her husband more than 25 years ago. They spent almost every weekend cooking together. Joan shares with us Adrienne’s favorite recipes from some of the greatest chefs of the twentieth century, as well as her own original dishes, carefully explained with the French terms and fancy kitchen jargon laid bare. Alongside the recipes are the equally delicious stories from Adrienne’s culinary travels: telling a three-star chef his published recipe didn’t work, then being invited into his kitchen to learn the true recipe; cooking dinner in France for Jean Troisgros and a few ‘friends’ with a total of 11 Michelin stars seated at the table; sitting down next to Julia Child and her husband in Michel Guérard’s Paris restaurant, Pot au Feu, and many, many more.
When Adrienne developed a form of dementia, Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) or Pick’s disease, which would rob her of the ability to speak, read or cook, Ms. Harper began compiling all the recipes they had made together along with the stories from her life and travels. The resulting book captures the camaraderie of these two women, separated by a 25-year age difference but united in their love of cooking and eating the best food possible. A portion of the proceeds from Cooking with Adrienne will be donated to finding a cure for PPA. Find out more about PPA.
Ms. Harper was a financial communications and market research executive before writing Cooking with Adrienne. She is a native of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, spent 20 years in Port Washington, NY raising her children, David and Morgan, and currently lives in Gloucestershire, England with her husband. This is the first in a series of books based on cooking and travelling with Adrienne.
The book is currently available exclusively on Amazon. Join the Cooking with Adrienne conversation, view photos and the authors’ bio at www.cookingwithadrienne.com and follow the Cooking with Adrienne adventure on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram