Superb food, fine wine and the perfect blending of both into a series of menus for memorable lunches and dinners, together with the unique French Alpine recipes that build each meal these are the ingredients of this remarkable book.
In the high Alpine valley of La Grande Chartreuse (known for the hermetic monastery that produces Chartreuse), near the sleepy little village of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse that seems not yet to have entered the twentieth century, Roy Andries de Groot discovered by accident a charming and unpretentious little inn, L’Auberge de l’Atre Fleuri. He became friends with the owners, two extraordinary Freachwomen who seemed to devote them­selves to perpetuating the tradition of supreme country dining. Using as their prin­cipal cooking instrument a great open, wood-burning hearth, they devised simple preparations, of local seasonal ingredients, proving that the historic provincial cuisine of France was as modern as the hour.
After only a day or two at the Auberge, Mr. de Groot was convinced that these superb dishes, assembled into magnificent menus, demanded to be recorded for the future, in English, in a book. The two ladies les Mesdemoiselles Artaud and Girard promised their full cooperation an essen­tial element, since none of the recipes had ever been written down. Mr. de Groot returned again and again to the Auberge, tasting every tarte and terrine, savoring every soufflé and soup, following the se­quence of the seasons, with the Spring lamb and the tiny white mushrooms, the Summer souffles of fresh fruits, the Fall game meats, the Winter pies of local cheeses melted in hot and flaky crusts—recording every detail of each recipe, every secret trick of the highly skilled techniques of these extraor­dinary women.

Mr. de Groot went shopping with Mademoiselle Vivette. He explored her relatively small and unpretentious, yet most carefully chosen, wine cellar and tasted many of its best bottles. He recorded her simple rules for the perfect marriage of wine with food. He listened to her theories on building a cellar for a millionaire on an income of less than a fortune. He spent a great deal of time with Mademoiselle Ray in her efficient and well-ordered kitchen. He listened to her advice on the balancing of the seasonal foods and her antipathies to the freezing and processing that provide tasteless frozen strawberries in January and mushy canned asparagus in November.
The result is this book, which combines the writing of Roy Andries De Groot with superb recipes and the ladies’ entertaining and wise conversations about fine food, good wine and the art of enjoying them together. The recipes are irresistibly simple and excitingly subtle at the same time. They are clear, detailed and easy to follow, even for an inexperienced cook. Yet the results will surprise and satisfy even a sophisticated connoisseur. Here are natural country soups, hearty Winter stews, roasted and rotissed meats with unusual garnishes and stuffings, fruity and spiritous desserts, patés and terrines of rare aromatic brilliance some of the best of French cooking.
The advice of these two talented women translates as usefully and vividly as their recipes. It is as relevant to fine cooking and superb dining in America as it is in France. Their words are the distillation of centuries of wisdom. Their art is the natural exten­sion of the historic genius that is La Cuisine Française.

ROY ANDRIES DE GROOT was born in London in 1912 and was educated in St. Paul’s school there and at Oxford University. During the thirties he worked as a news and feature writer as well as a film writer and di­rector. After working as a journalist, a film writer, and director, he joined the British Ministry of Information in 1939 and in the London blitz suf­fered eye injuries that resulted twenty years later in total blindness. Mr. de Groot came to this country in 1941. He worked for Time, Inc., the State Department, and The New York Times, and lived in New York, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, and New Or­leans. He became a United States citizen in 1948. He served president of the Inter­national Gourmet Society. The picture below was taken in a store in the Greek section of Manhattan where Mr. de Groot shopped with his Seeing Eye guide dog Nusta.
His first book, The Rockefeller Diet, was published in 1956, and in 1966 his highly successful Feasts for all Seasons appeared. In addition to Auberge he wrote The Wines of California, The Pacific Northwest, and New York and Esquire Handbook for Hosts. A collection of his best food writing selected by Lorna Sass, In Search Of The Perfect Meal, was published posthumously.

TRY (A selection from the 100 recipes in the book): The Great Terrine of Duck in Honor of Mademoiselle Vivette's Grandmother, Cushion-Terrine of Pheasant, Flaming Canapes of Mountain Ham, Leeks in Tomato Sauce in the Style of Meyargues, Aromatic Eggs Stuffed into Mushrooms, Omelette in the Style of Savoy, Omelette of Creamed Fresh Sourgrass, Crepes filled with Goat Cheese and Red Caviar, Roquefort Cheese Flaky Pastry Pie, The Black Pate of Provence, Country Soup of Bread and Garlic with French Alpine Gruyere, The Magnificent Mussel Soup of Jean and Pierre Troisgros, Fall Soup of the Hunter with Pheasant and Cream of Lentils, Classic Gratin of Crayfish or Shrimp Tails, The Epicure's Supreme Shellfish Casserole of Curnonsky The Prince of Gourmets, Sauteed Frog Legs in Cream and White Wine Sauce, Lake Pike in Champagne, Barbecued Beef in a Provencal Blanket, Pot Roast in the Style of Mademoiselle Vivette's Family, Young Spring Kid Stewed with Wild Mushrooms, Whole Country or Smithfield Ham Baked with Madeira, Savory Meatballs of the Valley, Duckling Garnished with Fresh Peaches and Flamed with Armagnac, Mademoiselle Ray's Homemade Egg Noodles, Salad of Green Beans with Raw Mushrooms, Tot-Fait Baked Custard with the Glazed Cherries of Allevard, Cherry Batter Pie Limousin Style, Mocha Parfait with Martinique Rum, Walnut Wholemeal Bread, Madame Ray's Infusion of Mint Tea, etc.