Grandmère's Awesome Family Cookbook
by Pierrette Lili Camps-Komarek & Family
You would think that the one thing the world
doesn’t need is another cookbook. Surely, every imaginable cuisine,
from traditional to trendy to dietary, has been covered ad nauseam in
text, pictures, recipes and reference tables. So, you can understand my
reluctance when yet another cookbook, this one entitled Grandmère’s
Awesome Cookbook, by Pierette Lili Camps, flew onto my desk. Frankly,
it was the book’s charming front cover illustration that seduced me
into parting the cover from its pages, thus saving it from certain
obscurity. Thank goodness for that—and I mean that literally!—because
Madame Camps’ bouquet of culinary delights is not only a treasure, but
quite a unique one.
Forget designer cuisine and trendy art cooking
that should be photographed rather than eaten—this is a
first-generation virtual bible of authentic, cross-cultural, home
cooking recipes, authored by a seasoned world traveler, her
multi-nationally rooted, cottage-spun creations as tantalizingly tasty
and palate-pleasing as they are satisfying. From hearty, unpretentious,
hungry-tummy dishes, to piquant, aromatic, exotic yet simple, delights,
your dinner guests will be so enchanted by the diverse, albeit
synergistic, textures, flavors and scents, that they will most likely
keep you hostage in the kitchen for a long time to cook more and more
of where that came from…
No, the world did not need another cookbook—except
for this one (a MUST-get)! If you’re not a cook, this book will make
you into one (while amused by Madame Camps’ delightful stories and
anecdotes). And if you are one, it will make you an even better one.
So, get your copy, turn on the stove, call everyone to the table, then
enjoy the journey!
Happy cooking and bon appétit!
—Mark
Wirtz, former food critic for Connect Magazine