Acquire Today White Truffles In Winter: A Novel Articulated By N.M. Kelby Readily Available As Digital Paper

and sensual, I truly let go of any expectation of historical accuracy and read this merely as a love letter to food and a fragmentary glimpse of one man's loves and life.
The descriptions in this book were lush and playful, The descriptions of food and cooking were especially well done, I think that Kelby captured the right balance of the sensual and cerebral that is at the heart of a lot of fine cuisine.
Yet somehow, after all of those dazzling moments, I was not completely satisfied, I've thought about that and I've decided that that feeling is actually a credit to the novel.


Part of my problem is due to a personal sensitivity, I almost cannot bear stories of infidelityeven emotionally

complex ones like this one, I also have little patience with characters like Bernhardtthose untouchable, doomed, selfconsciously eccentric, and capricious creatures of isolated privilege.
She is a more palatable version to be sure, Maybe it was the characterization as a whole that gave me trouble, I found myself immediately fixing on Delphine, but the novel never let me get that close to her.
Or to anyone, really. What I wanted, I suppose, was the story of their marriage, Why did he choose her What were they thinking We get a sense in general but I wanted a fuller explorationdetails, details, details.


But that would be whatlike a fast food meal Superficially good because it relied on too much sugar, too much fat, and too much salt to mask its lack of substance What this is closer to is a gourmet mealcomplexity of flavors and ingredients, doled out in small portions.
Enough to tantalize but not to fill, Sweet, salt, and fat balanced with bitter, acid, andah, yes, . . deliciousness.

I'm not saying that this is the most brilliant novel I've read, Far from it. But I give it credit for not taking the easy way out even if that is what I wanted it to do.
It is pleasurable and interesting, It is like the veal stock that is described in the book itself, It is substantive in a way that isn't flashy, I would give this one,if I could. Too much time is spent on cooking and not enough on character development, This book was delicious. I can't believe it was recommended by my friend, the vegetarian but it was very openminded of her to suffer through all the descriptions of foie gras and the drowning of langostinos in champagne as a part of the preparation, not to mention the rich aristocrats in Paris eating the zoo animals during the Siege of Paris by the Prussian army.


The story is basically the life of the famous chef Escoffier, whom the book credits for inventing the "new" French cuisine which relied basically on the reduction of natural flavors to pair with dishes instead of the more unnatural concoctions which preceded him.
He is also credited with serving dishes in courses and hot out of the kitchen, Previous banquets had consisted of food prepared days in advance to make a giant display of wealth and bounty rather than food that was actually freshly cooked.
Throughout his life, if this book is to be believed, he had a longstanding affair with Sarah Bernhardt who was a fascinating creature.
I hesitate to say the story was wellwritten because it seemed stilted and overly dramatic but I enjoyed every minute of it, especially the descriptions of the food.
Wonderful! “When we cook we know perfection: we can touch it we can create it, We are like gods. ” I enjoyed Kelbys sumptuous fictional biography of French chef Auguste Escoffier, the founder of the dining rooms at the Savoy and the Ritz Carlton and developer of menus for, among other famous ventures, the Titanic.


As the novel opens he and his wife, poet Delphine Daffis, are in their eighties, living out their penurious senescence in Monte Carlo, Monaco, with a rotating cast of children and grandchildren and a cook of dubious skill, the feisty redheaded Sabine, who bears a curious similarity to Sarah Bernhardt, Escoffiers longtime lover.
Escoffier has created so many named dishes over the years acts of homage to Sarah and to other celebrated individuals and now it is Delphines last wish to have Escoffier create a last dish in her honor, before it is too late.
“Words are clumsy and limited by nature, Escoffier said, Only food can speak what the heart feels, ”

The narrative flashes back to highlights from Escoffiers cooking career in London and Paris, through thirdperson sections as well as through firstperson chapters of memoirs with recipes in Escoffiers own words.
“Cooking is the marriage of science and poetry, . . Luck has no place in the kitchen, Science. It is always science,” he insists, “If a menu is not poetry, what is it, then”

Kelby might not be the best at moving a plot along in an interesting manner, but she does write mouthwatering descriptions of feasts with preposterously rich dishes: Escoffiers favourite ingredients included truffles, foie gras, caviar and lobsters.
Despite their shared culinary subject matter, I can hardly imagine a novel more different to sitelinkNora Ephrons Heartburn but both are delightful in their own way.
Interesting fictional story about French Chef Auguste Escoffier, his marriage to poet Delphine, his lifelong extramarital affair with the actress Sarah Bernhardt, as well as other women, and his love affair with food.
Story kept my attention although long on the dreary meat and seafood recipes, ugh This book was the selection for a book club I was asked to join, Most of the people in it are great cooks and several grow their own food, I was a little intimindated to join since I do not like to cook and I was not sure if the book was going to be too abstract for me.

I am ashamed to admit I did not even realize Escoffier was a real person until more than halfway through the book.

This book was something I never would have picked myself but that is the beauty of a book club reading outside my comfort zone and finding something interesting and enjoyable.
I had to frequent Google as I looked up the time frame and some of the historical references that I was not familiar with.
I was never sure what was fact and what was embelished for the story,
Although it may have made it a bit hard to follow, I enjoyed the fact that the narrative jumped between time frames and points of view.
The descriptions of some of the culinary delights, the preparation, and presentation were downright poetic, However it just confirmed the fact that cooking is an anxiety producing effort for me,
I know most of the women in the group could not get past Escoffoers infidelity and they did not care for him as a character.
In fact he had several unscrupulous practices that were romanticised, While he was not a likeable character I do appreciate his passion for his artand it truly was an art to him, even if he had to embellish the truth to give the illusion of what would please the aristocrats that he often served.

There was something I found hopelessly romantic about his return to his wife at the end of his career, and the way they were able to reconnect on a primal levelover food of course.

I dont know if I would recommend this book to anyone I know but I did enjoy it and some of the quotes that stuck with me.


Perhaps love is the worst addiction of all,

describing Barnum
He was an unparalleled promoter, unrepentant liar and public dreamera man with a chefs heart.


Happiness is our best revenge,

“I love you Madame Escoffier, ”
“There were times when you had forgotten this, ”
He said nothing. It ws true and they both knew it,
“To be forgotten is the saddest thing of all,” she said, .