It's okay. I'm glad that I didn't spend money on it.

I wasn't sure if I would like this book at first. Ogden Pieter Van Stael aka Peter Van starts off the book as a dull version of Bertie Wooster. But after he's Shanghied and stranded in Lennox the book progresses and he's allowed to grow as a character. Although he seems like a dimwit in the first fifty pages, it's later revealed that he isn't. He just doesn't appreciate at first the practical skills and knowledge that he has. The plot itself is fairly predictable but the ins and outs of how Peter Van makes a real name for himself and builds a company from a single moving van to an entire enterprise is interesting enough to be a page turner. ( )

Some of this I really liked, some of it lost something in translation. There are some great authentic recipes in here, there are also some I'm pretty sure aren't going to work as written. Some of the names of ingredients are just not translated right. Still its very pretty and there were several delicious things. Worth looking it over to decide if would fit in your cookbook library I think. ( )

A heavy tome of cooking goodness. ( )

This book stays on my coffee table for inspirational ideas at dinner. An easily-understood European instruction for the American palate. ( )