The beautiful winter books

Self-taught, instinctive, imaginative, Olympe Versini was, in 1981, the youngest starred chef. A pioneer of bistronomy and a lot of other stuff, this star cook of the 1980s, a true artist all azimuts, was well worth this beautiful work by Anne Etorre. The author spent long periods with the chef of the Restaurant d'Olympe, her first establishment opened in 1973. Between archival photos, dishes and paintings painted by his mother or Olympus herself, the promenade in the land of the one that was adurated by Bocuse, Loiseau or Maximin is tasty. From the first tomato sauce recipe of this « Queen of Paris » to its ice cream with fig leaf passing through its dove with honey, its grouper with two fennels or its ginger paste with turmeric, one (re)discovers this cook who had three Toques in four years at the Gault & Millau, a show on France Inter, a chronicle in Le Figaro... One of his books, published in 1982 and exhausted after fifteen days, was entitled: « A large, simple kitchen ».
Quite well seen.

He was an Alsatian of heart, born in the Territory of Belfort, Olivier Nasti discovered in this region the beauty of hunting through the diversity of a fauna that he tamed, learned to know. This book is first and foremost a magnificent album of photos, homage to this wild land and its game, with hairs or feathers. So first we enjoy the pupils with his images of deer, deer, deer, wild boar, chamois, hare, mallard, sarcelle, pheasant, partridge, quail, woodcock... The chef MOF and doubly starred Chambard, in Kayserberg (High Rhine), paints the portrait of each of these animals and delivers its recipes, very elaborate, deer carpaccio, smoky mayonnaise; deer, vegetables and horseradish pottery; gentian chamois fillet, asparagus or sheepwellington.
Of the beautiful work.

It is an ode to the iconic French cake in all its variations. A pastry that requires enormous know-how, perfect technicality. Know-how that the pastry chef of Fontainebleau has mastered for three decades. After a little history of the saint-honoré, Frédéric Cassel delivers the basic recipes, pastries, cabbage paste, caramel, pastry cream, chantilly and then about twenty recipes of variants, vanilla, hazelnuts, calissons, Jivara chocolate, strawberries, raspberries and kirsch, grapefruit and jasmine, quince and apples, pears and nuts, chestnuts, truffles. Many of these recipes are those of his friends, all renowned pastry chefs, Vincent Guerlais, Thierry Bridron, Christine Ferber, Pierre Hermé... The beauty of the dressages and the gourmetness of the achievements are enjoyed on each page. Thank you Frédéric Cassel for this high-tech honor.

Abats, absinthe, garlic, Alléno, Alsace, etouille, Anton, art de vivre or Angelina...: the only entries of the letter A give a beautiful and just glimpse of the diversity of the gourmet, gourmet and scholarly comments of this dictionary. Jean-Claude Ribault, a gourmet journalist with Le Monde for many years, knows a lot about everything that is eaten, produced and eaten, and about everyone who makes and cooks them. The great institutions, the top chefs or the best products of our gastronomy are all entitled to their history and anecdotes. We pick with jubilation in these very instructive and beautifully tied texts by this real feather. The gastronomic journey of an enthusiastic gourmet, connoisseur and passionate.