2007-06-09 L'air du temps ...

It is always a sheer pleasure to read his books. But this one stands out: it starts off with his diary, and gradually shows you traditional French cuisine (and a few exotic dishes French people eat). The book itself has a calm and nostalgic tone in the background (one pity is not all recipes have a picture of the finished dish. So unless you have seen the programme, it is difficult to see if you got it right)

I do know that some poeple were a little puzzled / annoyed, and I did feel the same when, in this programme, he highly praised French cuisine and by contrast slugged off Britain and its food culture a little ... specially this programme was made right after his "Food Heroes in Britain" where he had praised British produce and producers.

However, in real life, we appreciate both French and traditional British cuisine at the same time, don't we? You really cannot say which is better as they both have its own charm. What could possibly be better than having a wonderful British Pub lunch on a sunny Sunday afternoon that is followed by a strong French coffee in a cafe with Sunday paper? We mix the very best of theses two different cuisines to enjoy life.
Apart from referring to the recipes, I sometimes read this book when I want to forget all the troubles and feel better about things. It is nice to know there are places where the time passes at a different pace from where you are.

The reason why I love his books and his TV programmes is you can sense his passions for food, and his enthusiasm to share them with you. I specially love when he appears on telly when he is a bit tipsy - he looks more relaxed and gets even more passionate about food! What a great man he is.

But there is one HUGE disappointment. The TV programme was so very well made, and was unforgettably stunning. But, oh why, is it NOT available on DVD?

(PS: DVD will be available on the 1st of October 2007. Hurray!! Now what I hope is BBC publish 'Mediterranean Escapes' and 'Rick Stein and the Japanese Ambassador' on DVD soon!! 7/Sept 07)