SOUTH WIND THROUGH THE KITCHEN The Best of Elizabeth David

This delectable anthology of David's most scintillating culinary writing spans her food and travel explorations from the 1950s to the 1990s. Her 1950 volume on Mediterranean cuisine was ahead of its time, lauding the tastes and smells of sunnier climes—olive oil, lemons, fresh herbs, juicy tomatoes, pungent cheeses, crusty bread, fresh fish, and a glass of wine—as the ideal meal. Melissa Hughes deliciously enunciates each enticing description, pronouncing the French and Italian ingredients to perfection. David was a forerunner of the notion of the simple, fresh, and local as a more healthful and nutritionally balanced way to eat. Here she extols the glories of antiquated and primitive cookery methods, the uses of every herb and spice imaginable, and the unique specialties of many French country villages. This audiobook's only lack is the absence of the print volume's 200 recipes. A.W. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2010]