Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Karen Blixen, author of the acclaimed memoir Out of Africa, was also a master of the short story form: her tales offer luminous meditations on rebirth and redemption, on the mystery and unexpectedness of human behaviour. Alongside 'Babette's Feast', this selection also includes 'Sorrow-Acre', often thought to be one of her finest stories. 'Tales as delicate as Venetian glass', The New York Times
These five rich, witty and magical stories from the author of Out of Africa include one of her most well known tales, ‘Babette’s Feast’, which was made into the classic film. It tells the story of a French cook working in a puritanical Norwegian community, who treats her employers to the decadent feast of a lifetime. There is also a real-life Prospero and his Ariel in ‘Tempests’, a mysterious pearl-fisher in ‘The Diver’ and a brief, tragic encounter in ‘The Ring’. All the stories have a mystic, fairy-tale quality, linked by themes of angels, the sea, dreams and fate. They were among the last to be written by Isak Dinesen, and show her as a master of short fiction.
On the face of it, Gabriel Axel's Babette's Feast (1989) is a film in which the eyes – and mouths – of religious zealots are opened to the glories of the sensual world. It is a critique of what Nietzsche called life-denying religion in favour of life-affirming sensuality. But to view the film in that way is to get it profoundly wrong. In his study of the film, Julian Baggini argues that Babette's Feast is not about the battle between religiosity and secularity but a deep examination of how the two can come together. Baggini's analysis focuses on themes of love, pleasure, artisty and grace, to provide a rich philosophical reading of this most sensual of films.
A set of 50 fascinating, disturbing, moving or funny short books published in an appealing new format to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Penguin Modern Classics
French cuisine is such a staple in our understanding of fine food that we forget the accidents of history that led to its creation. Accounting for Taste brings these "accidents" to the surface, illuminating the magic of French cuisine and the mystery behind its historical development. Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson explains how the food of France became French cuisine. This momentous culinary journey begins with Ancien Régime cookbooks and ends with twenty-first-century cooking programs. It takes us from Carême, the "inventor" of modern French cuisine in the early nineteenth century, to top chefs today, such as Daniel Boulud and Jacques Pépin. Not a history of French cuisine, Accounting for Taste focuses on the people, places, and institutions that have made this cuisine what it is today: a privileged vehicle for national identity, a model of cultural ascendancy, and a pivotal site where practice and performance intersect. With sources as various as the novels of Balzac and Proust, interviews with contemporary chefs such as David Bouley and Charlie Trotter, and the film Babette's Feast, Ferguson maps the cultural field that structures culinary affairs in France and then exports its crucial ingredients. What's more, well beyond food, the intricate connections between cuisine and country, between local practice and national identity, illuminate the concept of culture itself. To Brillat-Savarin's famous dictum—"Animals fill themselves, people eat, intelligent people alone know how to eat"—Priscilla Ferguson adds, and Accounting for Taste shows, how the truly intelligent also know why they eat the way they do. “Parkhurst Ferguson has her nose in the right place, and an infectious lust for her subject that makes this trawl through the history and cultural significance of French food—from French Revolution to Babette’s Feast via Balzac’s suppers and Proust’s madeleines—a satisfying meal of varied courses.”—Ian Kelly, Times (UK)
In the classic “Babette’s Feast,” a mysterious Frenchwoman prepares sumptuous feast for a gathering of religious ascetics and, in doing so, introduces them to the true essence of grace. In “The Immortal Story,” a miserly old tea-trader living in Canton wishes for power and finds redemption as he turns an oft-told sailors’ tale into reality for a young man and woman. And in the magnificent novella Ehrengard, Dinesen tells of the powerful yet restrained rapport between a noble Wagnerian beauty and rakish artist. Hauntingly evoked and sensuously realized, the five stories read and novella collected here and have the hold of “fairy stories read in childhood . . . of dreams . . . and of our life as dreams.” (The New York Times)
Katie Chin's Global Family Cookbook lets you travel the world from your kitchen! Professional chef, TV personality and working mom of three kids, Katie Chin shows you how easy it is to prepare new and exciting meals from many cultures. Discover comfort food from around the world, and add some international flair to your dinner table. In addition to providing simple recipes for every meal and occasion, Katie includes sidebars explaining how her recipes can be adapted for vegetarians, vegans and those with food allergies--and how to add fresh new flavors to kids' lunches. From "meatless Mondays" to "taco Tuesdays," the recipes in this book include something for everyone! Bring the unforgettable flavors of the world to your table through 170 recipes including: Seven Global Go-To Sauces Mexican Chimichurri Chicken Burgers Thai Curry Meatball Subs Cuban Fish Tacos with Citrus Mango Slaw Easy Pad Thai Noodles Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza Crispy Korean Chicken Sliders And so much more! This cookbook also provides great ideas for celebrating cultures through food: Chinese New Year's Dinner--featuring TV personality Jeannie Mai (The Real) and with recipes provided by her mom, Mama Mai Greek Easter Dinner--with recipes provided by TV personality and lifestyle expert Debbie Matenopoulos (The Home & Family Show) Cinco de Mayo Celebrations--with recipes provided by cookbook author and celebrity chef Jeffrey Saad Hanukkah Dinner--with recipes provided by Faye Levy, a prolific cookbook author and lead cooking columnist for the Jerusalem Post Katie learned to cook alongside her mother, and it's now an experience she loves to share with her daughter. She hopes to inspire other families to have fun in the kitchen together with these recipes everyone will love!
Last Tales is a collection of twelve of the last tales that Isak Dinesen wrote before her death in 1962. They include seven tales from Albondocani, a projected novel that was never completed; "The Caryatids," an unfinished Gothic tale of a couple bedeviled by an old letter and a gypsy's spell; and three tales of winter, including "Converse at Night in Copenhagen," a drunken, all-night conversation between a boy-king, a prostitute, and a poor young poet.
