Reflexions-Richard Olney

Book excerpt: •“The best is the best and we must take it on the rare occasions that we find it.” –Jim Harrison, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant News •“Delicious Reading” -Patrick Kuh, San Francisco Chronicle •“Funny” –Gourmet Magazine •“Awe-Inspiring” -Tara Q. Thomas, Wine & Spirits •“... downright brilliant..” –Mark Bittman, New York Times Book Review •“Mr. Olney’s influence in the culinary profession was profound....” -R.W. Apple Jr., New York Times •“...an unparalleled view of French food and wine.” -William Rice, Chicago Tribune •“Richard Olney, one of the most influential cookbook writers of his generation....” -Russ Parsons, Los Angeles Times •“Olney was well ahead of his time. He was without doubt, one of the most influential of modern writers about food. He has a very strong claim to be considered the best.” -Times, London •“Richard Olney’s writings may come to share the position bestowed upon A. Escoffier’s 1903 Guide Culinaire as the international authoritative culinary text of the 20th century. A pair well-matched, Escoffier preached “Faites simple” and devoted his career to eradicating the excessive culinary follies invented by his predecessors.” -Nora Carey, Independent, London •“Although he was an American, Richard Olney...was one of the foremost writers on French food and wine.... He was admired and respected by the French gastronomic community....” -Jill Norman, Guardian, Manchester •“He was not as famous as Julia Child...but he was in many ways just as influential...the expatriot theorist who revolutionized the way the best American chefs think about food.” -Donald Kaul, Des Moines Register The book begins in New York in 1951 where Olney, a struggling artist, waited tables in Greenwich Village, then moves to Paris and weaves a magical description of food that becomes so real–as if you were actually there with Olney: “My first meal in Paris was in a glum little dining room for boarders, in the Hôtel de l’Académie, at the corner of rue de l’Université and the rue des Saints-Pères. The plat du jour was ‘gibelotte, pommes mousseline’- rabbit and white wine fricassee with mashed potatoes. The gibelotte was all right, the mashed potatoes the best I had ever eaten, pushed through a sieve, buttered and moistened with enough of their hot cooking water to bring them to a supple, not quite pourable consistency­–no milk, no cream, no beating. I had never dreamt of mashing potatoes without milk and, in Iowa, everyone believed that, the more you beat them, the better they were.” This book is a long-awaited story of the man who brought the simplicity of French cooking to the United States, and a statement about one of the finest and most important food professionals in the world. Richard Olney, one of the first food writers to introduce the simple joys of French cooking to American readers was an American who lived in Europe for almost 50 years. He died unexpectedly July 31, 1999. Author of more than 35 titles and inspiration to hundreds more his works include French Menu Cookbook, the seminal Simple French Food, The Good Cook, Yquem, Ten Vineyard Lunches, Romanée-Conti, Provence the Beautiful, Lulu’s Provençal Table, Good Cook’s Encyclopedia, and French Wine and Food. A resident of Solliès-Toucas, France, Olney was close to his art and family and friends.