French Vegetarian Cooking

This stunning book is a collection of over 200 tasty recipes featuring the marvelously varied vegetarian cuisine of France. Represented within are French provincial, regional and local specialties from Flanders to Provence that showcase the vast range of flavors to be found in French cuisine. Vegetarian food is nothing new to France where vegetables have always been treated with great respect. In the Middle Ages, after France suffered many famines; cereals, dried beans, roots, and herbs formed the basis of the peasant diet. French cooking as we know it today did not evolve until after Catherine de Medici married the Dauphin and brought her Italian chefs to France. This book is a personal collection of regional vegetarian dishes from all over France; their influences range from Flemish and German cuisine in the north to Spanish and Italian in the south. Within you will find gratins from Savoie, lentil dishes from Languedoc, wine-based dishes from Burgundy and ratatouille from Provence.