Coquilles, Calva, and Crème: Exploring France's Culinary Heritage: A Love Affair with Real French Food
“Reading this book is like lunching with Gerry Dryansky: from coquilles to Calva, with crème in between, it is seasoned with wit and charm. Rich with food-lover wisdom, it captures what France does best.” (Mort Rosenblum, Editor of Dispatches, winner of the Overseas Press Club, Mencken, Harry Chapin and James Beard Awards)“I have had the incredible good luck to have eaten dozens and dozens of French meals with Gerry Dryansky, and he was never wrong. I mean, never. We would travel down some little street, to some little restaurant, and then: delight, pure pleasure. There’s nobody I know, in Paris or New York, who understands French food the way Gerry does. And surely nobody who writes about it as well as he does.” (Alan Furst, author of Mission to Paris and the bestselling Spies in the Balkans)“A delicious and delightful read, especially for those who think they might know this country. When you sit down to a meal with Dryansky, you taste the very soul of France.” (Eleanor Beardsley, France Correspondent, National Public Radio)“ A gastronomical memoir of French cuisine that combines historical facts and traditions with today's best dishes. The Dryanskys' remembrances include the joys of eating ortolans, and drinking an 1874 Mouton Bordeaux at Chateau Mouton Rothschild with Philippe Rothschild and a Japanese ambassador.  The authors write of eating leg of lamb with Coco Chanel in the flat  above her couture house and pieds de cochon, breaded and  fire-roasted pigs' feet, at a brasserie surrounded by local Parisians.  The couple has traveled among farms, vineyards and restaurants across  the country, and they recall with great love their adventures and meals.  They move from the decadent, overblown, gourmet dishes of the past to  the simplicity of the terroir movement, "the unique savor of  things that are what they are because of where they are."The prose is  as rich and delicious as the highlighted meals, and the authors also  include some of the chefs' recipes for confident or adventurous home  cooks to try. A journey that will delight the palette and nourish the soul.  ” (Kirkus Reviews)“An appetizing, evocative, eccentric paean to Gallic gastronomy.  A richly textured memoir.” (Colman Andrews - The Wall Street Journal)“Find an escape to a better world inCoquilles, Calva & Creme. A book to dream over.” (Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize Winner - The Washington Post)“Tuck this delicious tome in your hamper between Proust’s madeleines and the champagne—then feast your soul. The Dryanskys remind us that in France – at least sometimes and in some places – authenticity still rhymes with simplicity, and great writing makes a fine relish.” (David Downie, author of Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Lights and the Terroir food series)“French food and travel with a dash of history—what a treat it is to sit at the table with this smart, engaging writer. A delicious read from start to finish.” (Barbara Fairchild, winner of the James Beard Award, bestselling food writer and longtime editor of Bon Apétit)“Has France lost its culinary edge? After decades living and chronicling the good life in Paris and overseas, Gerry and Joanne Dryansky lead us to unsung chefs still championing the country's gourmand heritage.” (Gael Greene, bestselling author of Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess and winner of the James Beard Award)“G. Y. Dryansky is the greatest gourmand in American letters today, the most gourmet of inquisitive journalists, the most French of foreign correspondents in Paris. When he recounts his exciting adventures in France, we're amused as much as we salivate. Delicious and savory!” (Gilles Pudlowski, France's foremost food critic)“Congratulations to Dryansky.  It was a great pleasure to read his text, both so well documented and free of polemics. ” (Christian Millau, co-founder of Le Guide GaultMillau, herald and godfather of “La Nouvelle Cuisine”)“Coquilles, Calva, and Cremevividly brings back my years of working in Paris in the 1950s. When I contemplate my cooking journey of the last half century, from classic to nouvelle, from fusion to modern American to molecular, the only reminiscences I have is of food that touches my soul or makes me salivate. Gerry Dryansky writes honestly and eloquently about these simple, honest, essential dishes in his engaging, compelling, and delicious memoir.” (Jacques Pépin, winner of the James Beard Award)“Part memoir, part travelogue,Coquilles, Calva & Cremeis a hymn to French food and wine and the joy of wining and dining in France with "convivialité" - which for the French is key.  Dryansky has many a story to tell about the past (lunching with the likes of Coco and Yves) but in this present tour de France he greets each dining experience, each new chef, each new winemaker, and each new region, from Alsace to Le Massif Central, with genuine curiosity, an open mind, and a discerning first rate palate.  This entertaining, erudite, and elegant book is a must for Francophiles and food lovers everywhere.” (Harriet Welty Rochefort, bestselling author of French Toast, French Fried and the forthcoming Joie de Vivre)“Gerry and Joanne Dryansky's book is a lovely ramble through a lifetime of experiences in France's high spots and some low ones too. Reading it brings as many delights as a marvelous long meal.” (Patricia Wells, food author and winner of the James Beard Award)