A Taste of Provence: Classic Recipes from the South of France
Cookbooks Food & Drink Regional Cuisine French Cuisine Healthy Cooking Mediterranean Cooking 1980s Culinary Classics Travel & Food Writing
First-edition hardcover of A Taste of Provence: Classic Recipes from the South of France (1987, Leslie Forbes) – a 160-page, fully-illustrated love letter to Provençal cooking that is becoming harder to find in clean, unmarked condition. Forbes, the award-winning food-and-travel writer, spent months in village markets, family kitchens and Michelin-starred restaurants to gather the dishes that define the region: bouillabaisse, tapenade, pissaladière, herbed goat-cheese tarts, apricot clafoutis and the simple tomato-garlic sauté that tastes like sunshine. Every recipe is tested for a modern 1980s (and still relevant today) kitchen, with American and metric measures, step-by-step instructions and menu suggestions so you can recreate an authentic Provençal table at home.
What makes this copy special is its pristine state: tight binding, no previous-owner handwriting, no dog-eared corners, no smoke or kitchen odours—just crisp, glossy pages and the original dust jacket protected since 1987. The book is lavishly photographed by Forbes herself, showing lavender fields, olive groves and rustic table settings that transport you straight to southern France while you cook. Because it was never reprinted in this exact oversized hardcover format, collectors and cooks alike now hunt the first printing; very good copies are scarce and prices are creeping upward.
Ideal for the Francophile cook, the collector of 1980s culinary classics, or anyone who wants healthy, vegetable-forward Mediterranean food that relies on herbs, olive oil and seasonal produce rather than cream and butter. Gift-quality condition means it is ready to wrap for a birthday, wedding or house-warming, and the timeless recipes work for week-night dinners as well as celebratory feasts. Secure this copy now while it is still affordably priced; demand for vintage regional cookbooks—especially hardcover, jacketed and illustrated—continues to climb.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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