OP: The Old World Kitchen
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Bantam Books, New York, 1987. Hardcover. Near Fine. First US printing.
Originally published as European Peasant Cookery (1984) in the UK, Elisabeth Luard’s first book is an immersive well of rural European cuisine, centered around seasonal availability, economy, and resourcefulness. Her coverage is hearty with over 500 recipes drawn from 25 countries, but the headnotes, and occasional comments within the recipes, are thoughtful and contextualizing, even when brief and to the point.
Fans of Patience Gray’s Honey From a Weed, published in the same year as this US edition, will find a kindred spirit in Luard whose writing is less free-flowing memoir, instead leaving the recipes to stand as the focal point. Among them you’ll find:
- Bavarian bitter herb soup for Easter penitence
- Danish lobscouse—stewed beef and potatoes, often repurposed leftovers
- Basque piperade—sauteed onions, peppers, garlic, and tomatoes, thickened with scrambled eggs
- Greek kotopoulo yemisto—roast chicken stuffed with rice, pine nuts, currants, and raisins
- Turkish lamb kabobs, which might be accompanied by pita, for which a recipe is also provided
- Welsh pitchy bread—yeasted pancakes
- Romanian plum brandy
Remarkable breadth and approachability.
Our copy is Near Fine, totally clean and unmarked. The fore corners have suffered a very light bumping, resulting in barely-there bending to the book block. The jacket is unclipped and lightly shelfworn. First US printing, retitled The Old World Kitchen.
