The Art of Simple Food

by Alice Waters

Original publisher: Clarkson Potter

Date of publication: 2007

ISBN: 0307336794

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Recommended by

Ben Starr

Blogger

3 decades ago, Alice Waters pioneered the farm-to-table trend that only now is a buzzword that is widely familiar. She revealed a great secret to Americans - you can't make truly amazing food without truly amazing ingredients, and chefs and cooks often get in the way of those ingredients with their techniques. Her legendary restaurant, Chez Panisse, is still one of the world's greatest restaurants, simply because they maintain close relationships with their farmers so they have the finest of ingredients, prepared lovingly and simply, so that they truly shine. This cookbook series teaches you to back off and let the ingredients be the star, rather than you.

Eleanor Maidment

Food writer

This and its sequel, The Art of Simple Food II, are a pair of extraordinary books from seminal US chef Alice Waters, offering advice on technique as well as simple, seasonal recipes. It’s rare that I love a cookery book with no photography, but these are both exceptional.

Jeff Stutsman

Director of Operations, Momofuku Culinary Lab

The finesse Waters cooks with and her passion for local foods are contagious. She provides such great insight into how to have a healthy relationship both with food and your community.