Pomiane wasn't French. He was Polish. He lived in Paris and was featured quite a lot on radio. The French adopted him because his attitude appealed to them.
This book is about attitude.
It is not very helpful as cook book. It's outdated. It relies heavily on canned ingredients and cooks today strongly prefer fresh ingredients. It is actually antique while the attitude is timeless.
In each recipe he says, come in for lunch and first thing to do is put water on the stove to boil. Because in your fast modern lifestyle you have limited time and you never know what you might need it for.
See? That's an attitude. That appealed to French people in his time.
1% of reviewers on Amazon gave it one star
* I put it in the recycling. Instant everything, canned, dried, etc. Also repetitive.
4% of reviewers on Amazon gave it two stars.
* If you have ever cooked at all, this book is superfluous. Didn't use at all. Donated it to a library.
* If you are a competent cook you wouldn't learn anything from this book - I was very curious about the title of the book so obviously one can't judge a book by its title....
* I bought this after reading a recommended list of "must have cookbooks". This is a little tiny book with equally little information you need. Not worth the purchase price in my opinion.
Well, I cannot dispute that. It's all true. They didn't care for his attitude.
71% of reviewers on Amazon gave the book 5 stars. A sample:
* Nice tips from the days before frozen vegetables. Interesting from a historical perspective and I have used some of the recipes, which have turned out great. His tip to start water boiling the minute you walk in the door is classic - why didn't I think of that! Some things we do not have in 2015 Chicago, like a special shop of preserved meat products or vegetable flour (which I really do not know what he is talking about), but most of the recipes can be made with modern ingredients.
* The style of the author, while informative and useful, is also practical and even funny sometimes. You can imagine how many French dishes can be prepared in that amount of time (HINT: You can usually barely measure the butter out and get it melted by then, which everyone KNOWS is the first step in almost any French recipe! It is a very thin book. ) I had seen the book at a friend's home, and after just a few minutes of reading and enjoying it, knew I wanted to have it myself. Useful as well as fun.
* The style of the author, while informative and useful, is also practical and even funny sometimes. You can imagine how many French dishes can be prepared in that amount of time (HINT: You can usually barely measure the butter out and get it melted by then, which everyone KNOWS is the first step in almost any French recipe! It is a very thin book. ) I had seen the book at a friend's home, and after just a few minutes of reading and enjoying it, knew I wanted to have it myself. Useful as well as fun.
* This is a wonderful little cookbook, plus it's informative and entertaining. One thing I like is that it teaches how to cook, rather than being just a collection of recipes. Having been written long before the ready availability of frozen foods and microwave ovens it's a bit dated, but anyone can easily adapt De Pomiane's principles to them. And yes, you really can cook the dishes in ten minutes.
And so on. You get the idea. American readers like the attitude.
I have this book. I liked it. I bought a second copy to give to a lady.
His menu says omelet, little peas, green salad and frittata. I think.
This is an actor playing the part of Edouard de Pomiane, who by now is apparently dead.
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