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From Absinthe to Zest:

An Alphabet for Food Lovers

Alexandre DUMAS

33 pages

Published in 2011 by Penguin Classics
From work originally published in 1873

This book counts for the following Reading Challenges:

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

The publication last year of The Black Count reacquainted with the fabulous author of The Count of Monte Cristo. What was then my surprise and joy when stumbling on this little book by Alexandre Dumas: From Absinthe To Zest. I had no idea he had ever published un grand dictionnaire de cuisine. As I can’t have access to it here, it was delightful to read at least some samples of it in this short volume.

As you can see through the few excerpts I list here below, it is a real gem, combining recipes of the time with great humor and little anecdotes related to the ingredient Dumas describes. Good food and good writing, what else would you want?

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

As well as being the author of The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas was also an enthusiastic gourmand and expert cook. His Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, published in 1873, is an encyclopedic collection of ingredients, recipes and anecdotes, from Absinthe to Zest via cake, frogs’ legs, oysters, Roquefort and vanilla. Included here are recipes for bamboo pickle and strawberry omelette, advice on cooking all manner of beast from bear to kangaroo, all brought together in a witty and gloriously eccentric culinary compendium.This edition is part of the Great Food series designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. [Goodreads]

EXCERPTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexandre Dumas, père (French for “father”, akin to Senior in English), (July 24, 1802 – December 5, 1870) born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. Many of his novels, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne were serialized. Dumas also wrote plays and magazine articles, and was a prolific correspondent. [Goodreads]
Here is a great website with tons of things on him, both in French and English.

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK?
DO YOU KNOW OF A SIMILAR BOOK?

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS IN A COMMENT PLEASE

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16 thoughts on “From Absinthe to Zest: Book review. I love France #59”

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I never knew that Dumas wrote about food! What a find! I am off to find out more about this (and possibly get ABSINTHE TO ZEST for myself). Thanks for sharing!

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WordsAndPeace on July 27, 2013 at 7:27 pm said:

well, me neither before this book – it’s very tiny. I wish I could see his full dictionary!

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I never saw a picture of Dumas before…not how I pictured him somehow.

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WordsAndPeace on July 27, 2013 at 7:21 pm said:

well, when you read about his cuisine dictionary, you understand why his waistline is rather on a broad side, lol

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Who knew Dumas was a gourmand; how interesting.

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WordsAndPeace on July 27, 2013 at 11:35 pm said:

or rather a gourmet! maybe seeing his picture can give a hint, lol

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I’ve always meant to read this! One of these days …

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WordsAndPeace on July 28, 2013 at 9:50 pm said:

I see you are a real foodie reader as you seem to be the only one who had known about this book, congratulations! You know, this is a very short sampler, easy to fit between 2 other books. I would LOVE to see the large dictionary itself, but I don’t think I can find it around Chicago

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How I love those Penguin Classics covers! This looks like such a fun book… guess we should have guessed Dumas had a particular passion for food 😉

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WordsAndPeace on July 28, 2013 at 9:48 pm said:

lol! A real Frenchman eh.

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Wow, I had no idea that Dumas was such a foodie! This would be worth checking out for sure!

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WordsAndPeace on July 28, 2013 at 9:44 pm said:

yep, looks like it’s a revelation for everyone, including me when I discovered that book, and of course I forgot how and where

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Fun! I had no idea Dumas wrote about food.

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WordsAndPeace on July 28, 2013 at 9:42 pm said:

me neither. I wish I could see the whole big dictionary, not just this little sampler

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