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Finalist for ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award in the Cooking category.
French cuisine is considered among the world's best, but its traditional ingredients like butter and cream aren't always appropriate for today's heart-healthy diets. New World Provence, by the proprietor-chefs of the esteemed restaurants Provence Mediterranean Grill and Provence Marinaside in Vancouver, is a new-style French cookbook designed for contemporary North American audiences, featuring healthy, easy-to-find ingredients prepared using traditional French techniques tweaked with the home cook in mind.
The book includes beautiful yet simple recipes which take advantage of meats, seafood, and vegetables abundant in Canadian markets across the country; in keeping with their contemporary flair, pan-cultural influences abound, yet all the while the recipes remain faithful to French traditions.
The recipes not only reflect North American sensibilities, but familial ones as well; authors Jean-Francis and Alessandra Quaglia are the parents of two young sons, and Jean-Francis's mother is a renowned chef in France who comes to Vancouver frequently to cook at her son's restaurants. These relationships pervade the book, which reveals how a common love and respect for food can be passed on from generation to generation, from the old world to the new.
The book features 32 sumptuous full-color photographs and over 120 recipes.
Recipes include: Prawns with Chickpea Socca Gallette; Whole Barbecued Rabbit; Coco Bean and Wild Mushroom Ragout; Roasted Dungeness Crab; Roasted Vegetable Tartelettes; and Bouillabaisse.
Now in its 2nd printing!
This is a cookbook that takes old world Provence-style cooking and retools it for North American markets and sensibilities: that is to say, the fare is lighter and more health-conscious than the traditional versions might be, yet without loss of substance or flavour.... Everything we tried was a success.
-January Magazine
Keep it simple, or try something that requires a little extra effort. Either way, you'll find these recipes worth it.
-North Shore News
The married authors, both chefs, are proprietors of two Vancouver restaurants. They've taken traditional French (and some Mediterranean) dishes and techniques and adapted them. Among the 120-plus recipes are Lemon Tart with a Hazelnut Brittle Garnish and Nectarine & Basil Crostada.
-The Globe and Mail
In New World Provence, owner-chefs Alessandra and Jean-Francis Quaglia share just about all of their mainstay recipes in a well laid-out and easy-to-follow format.
-Vancouver Courier
Open and joyous about their story, the Quaglias absorb you into their family as they reveal what's behind their ratatouille, cannellini beans with sauteed calamari, and that intense lemon tart.
-Georgia Straight
The cookbook's stunning colours and photographs merit a place on the coffee table, but the delicious, healthful recipes mean it should stay in the kitchen.... [This book] inspires you to feed yourself as thoughtfully as the authors do, with fresh foods, simply and lovingly prepared, enjoyed in good company.
-Hour (Montreal)
It sounds a little corny, but what comes through in anything Alessandra and Jean-Francis Quaglia do is the love they put into things..... Their book is a toothsome collection of fine French country recipes that are mostly simple to make yet hugely flavorful.
-The Province (Vancouver)
This new generation of French cuisine is aboiut simple, casual, robust flavours.
-Vancouver Sun
Graced with beautiful full-color photography, New World Provence is an elegant and enthusiastic addition to personal, family, and community library cookbook collections.
-Midwest Book Review
One of the best cookbooks of 2007: I adore this book; there is a bright effortlessness about it. Page after page, the ideas, combinations, French influence, and lack of airs just scream, 'Cook me'!
-Epicurean Classic Blog
The recipes are terrific and so easy to make that we have been on a whirlwind tour trying them. So far, every recipe has turned out to be stellar.... The flavours are awesome, and the ingredients most of us have in our kitchens and the instructions are easy to follow. Savvy Insider
The recipes are easy to assemble, the ingredients readily accessible, and the book is well illustrated with many photographs.... A good book for people who love to entertain in the kitchen.
-Edmonton Journal