Monday, August 22, 2005

French Women Don't Get Fat

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One of our guests brought us the book French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano, who sings the praises of food and wine, and how to enjoy them without putting on weight. It is a lifestyle book, different from any other in that it is Catholic in its tone of celebration, so unlike the puritanical guidelines that come from America about how all the good things you have enjoyed in life are bad, because they contain butter, or germs (very bad!!), or whatever else is fashionably contemptible.
Many years ago I became interested in cooking meals without meat or fish, and got a vegetarian cookbook from my dear mother in law. It was all about “healthy” and “good for you” and unfortunately extremely boring. I shamefully admit I never used it once. Shortly after that P brought me a Moosewood Cookbook from the US (Yes, it is possible!) that was oozing with enjoyment of food, with excitement about how this ingredient would enhance the taste even more: a celebration of eating. It was only after a while that I realized that this was a vegetarian cookbook. I’ve been hooked on it ever since!

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