The message of this book could be a blessing or a curse, depending on your perspective. There is no hard science, no clearly-defined plan, and no lists of food to have or have not; instead, you'll find simple tricks that boil down to eating carefully prepared seasonal food, exercising more and refusing to think of food as something that inspires guilt. It's both a practical message and far easier said than done in today's "no pain, no gain" culture.
Author Mireille Guiliano is CEO of Veuve Clicquot, and French Women Don't Get Fat offers a concept of sensible pleasures: If you have a chocolate croissant for breakfast, have a vegetable-based lunch--or take an extra walk and pass on the bread basket at dinner. Guiliano's insistence on simple measures slowly creating substantial improvements are reassuring, and her suggestion to ignore the scale and learn to live by the "zipper test" could work wonders for those who get wrapped up in tiny details of diet. She sympathizes that deprivation can lead straight to overindulgence when it comes to favorite foods, but then, in a most French manner, treats them as a pleasure that needs to be sated, rather than a battle to be fought.
A number of recipes are included, from a weight-loss enhancing leek soup to a lush chocolate mousse; they read more like what you'd find in a French cookbook rather than an American diet book. Most appealingly, these are guidelines and tricks that could be easily sustainable over a lifetime. If you agree that food is meant to be appreciated--but no more so than having a trim waist--these charmingly French recommendations could set you on the path to a future filled with both croissants and high fashion. --Jill Lightner
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Stuffed Cornish Hens Serves 4
When I grew up, the holidays always meant lots of visitors and a series of requisite celebratory meals, mostly at lunchtime. This easy dish was always on one of the menus. Mamie was usually busy (what else during late December?) and would make the stuffing in advance so lunch could be ready in less than an hour. The recipe serves a family of four for lunch in style, but double the ingredient portions and obviously you are ready for a full table with guests.
Ingredients: 2 Cornish hens (or poussins) 2 tablespoons butter, melted 3 tablespoons chicken stock Stuffing: 2 cups water 2/3 cup brown rice 1/2 cup mixed nuts (pine nuts, walnut pieces, whole hazelnuts) 2 tablespoons golden raisins 1/3 cup chicken stock 1 tablespoon parsley, freshly minced 1 teaspoon dry herbs (chervil and savory or rosemary and thyme) Salt and freshly ground pepper
1. For stuffing: Bring water to a boil. Add rice and cook for 15 minutes. Drain and mix well with remaining ingredients. Season to taste and refrigerate overnight. 2. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Rinse Cornish hens, dry the inside with paper towels, and season. Add stuffing loosely and truss hens. Reserve remaining stuffing in aluminum foil. 3. Put hens in baking dish and brush them with melted butter and other seasonings. Put in oven and baste 10 minutes later with chicken stock. Continue basting every 10 minutes. After the hens have cooked for 20 minutes reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and put the remaining stuffing in a small ovenproof dish. Roast the hens for another 20 minutes. Serve (half a hen per person) immediately with a tablespoon of stuffing on each side of the hen as garnish. N.B. For a wonderful tête-à-tête romantic dinner, serve one hen each with a vegetable then dessert. I have prepared it successfully to my husband on Valentines Day. While the hens are in the oven, you have time to concoct a little dessert, et voilà, you can pop a cork of bubbly, sit for candlelight dinner and have your husband serve dessert.
Hot Chocolate Soufflé Serves 6
During the season of overindulgencesChristmas, New Year and all the festivities in betweenthere is in our home a succession of store-brought, traditional goodies: Bûche de Noël (yule log), marrons glacés (glazed chestnuts), the 13 desserts of Christmas in Provence. This is not to say that the holidays dont bring out the baker in all of us, but whether it is to give as gifts or to maintain tradition, people do load up with holiday sweets from pastry shops (as I can attest from seeing from the window of our Paris apartment the annual long lines of people outside the pastry shop across the street). When I grew up, however, come New Years Day, and there was a home-cooked chocolate ritual. Our big festive meal was on New Years Eve, which left New Years Day as a quiet, family "recovery" day. (I appreciate some reverse the big meal day or have one both days.) Anyway, for us, breakfast was well late (especially for those of us who went partying after dinner), and limited to a piece of toast and a cup or two of coffee. Lunch was mid afternoon and usually made up of leftovers or an omelet, but the first dinner of the year was marked with a special dessert. The simple meal at the end of a week of overindulgences consisted of a light consommé, some greens, cheese, and the chocolate treat. There were no guests, plenty of time, and Mamie was ready for the flourless soufflé. She is a chocoholic and it would be unthinkable to start the year off without chocolate. So, what better way to end the first day of the New Year than with one of her favorite chocolate desserts as both a reward and Im sure good-luck charm?
Ingredients: 1 cup milk 1 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder 1/3 cup sugar 4 eggs at room temperature 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature Pinch of salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 1-quart soufflé mold by lightly buttering it, dusting the insides with sugar and tapping out the excess. Place mold in refrigerator. 2. Pour the milk, cocoa powder and sugar into a heavy saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over moderate heat while stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and cook while stirring until the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes). Transfer to a bowl and cool slightly. 3. Separate the eggs and stir the egg yolks into the warm chocolate mixture. Stir in the butter. 4. Beat the egg whites until they reach soft peaks. Add the salt and beat until stiff. Whisk half of the egg whites mixture into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining whites gently with a spatula. Pour the mixture in the soufflé mold and smooth the top. 5. Bake in the lower-middle shelf of the oven until puff and brown for about 18 minutes which will give you a soft center. Serve at once with softly whipped cream.
Red Mullet with Spinach en Papillote Serves 4
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons olive oil 8 fillets of red mullet, about 2 ounces each 1 lb. spinach, washed and dried in a salad spinner 4 teaspoons shallots, peeled and sliced 8 slices of lime 4 tablespoons of crème fraîche Salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Cut 4 pieces of parchment paper (or aluminum foil) into squares large enough to cover each fillet and leave a 2-inch border all around. Lightly brush the squares with olive oil. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 2. Put the spinach in the center of each square and top it with a tablespoon of crème fraîche. Top with two fillets and add one teaspoon of shallots, two slices of lime. Season with salt and pepper. 3. Fold up the edges to form packets. Put the papillotes on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve at once by setting each papillote on a plate. N.B. You can use sole or snapper instead of red mullet
Pappardelle with Spring Veggies Serves 4
Ingredients: 12 ounces pappardelle 1 lb. green asparagus 2 cups fresh peas, shelled 2 tablespoons of shallots, peeled and minced 1 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 cup of pine nuts, toasted 1 cup freshly grated parmesan 1 cup roughly chopped parsley Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1. Cut off end of asparagus and blanch in salted water until just tender (about 5 minutes). Blanch peas separately for about 1 minute. 2. In a heavy saucepan, gently sauté the shallots in olive oil until they begin to turn gold. Add peas and asparagus and cook for a few minutes. 3. Cook the pappardelle in boiling water, drain and pour into saucepan. Add pine nuts, parmesan and parsley and season to taste. Serve immediately.
Croque aux Poires Serves 4
Ingredients: 4 slices of brioche 2 ripe pears 2 tablespoons of sliced almonds 2 tablespoons of honey 1 tablespoon butter 1. Peel the pears and cut into small cubes. Melt butter in a saucepan and sauté the pear cubes for 2-3 minutes. 2. Arrange pear cubes on brioche slices. Cover with honey and almonds. Put under broiler for two minutes watching carefully. Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche. A yummy dessert also wonderful for a weekend breakfast or brunch.
I started this book before I went to bed one night (I always have to read something before I go to sleep to unwind, though this one kept me up) and finished it upon waking the next morning. It is not worth the new price tag, but definitely worth the read. It's not much of a recipe book (though I found a few worth trying), but more of a pep talk, and a very good one, too, because I am inspired to cut my portions in half (though sans on the champagne--too expensive, not to mention totally unnecessary, but then I don't like the taste of alcohol anyway), eat more fruit, etc. Though recasting is just another word for fasting, it is something I will do the day before I begin my lifestyle change (to clean out my system so that I may start fresh), but my recasting menu will vary somewhat, maybe include several of those new Sunsweet Ones prunes, some fresh watermelon juice perhaps (oh, wait, it's out of season), etc. It's not that I don't like leeks, I've never had them, but I want to start with more familiar foods, foods I know I'll like, or else it'll feel like a diet.
I was expecting, from some of the reviews I read, that Mrs. Guiliano would come across as a snob, but I actually didn't get that from her. She's just right about the way most Americans are, and it's hard to say how lazy they are without sounding insulting. Hey, I work in a grocery store and some customers will take something out of the freezer, but instead of putting it back if they decide they don't want it, they'll just leave it out. How hard is it to open a door? I am American, and I am disgusted by the fatness, laziness and rudeness (not to mention stupidity, but then, that's just stems from laziness sometimes because they'll ask me where something is when all they have to do is look) of some of the American population; I am even more disgusted when I see an obese child drinking a can of soda in the store and when they pass the doughnuts, ask their parents if they can get some and they say yes. I mean, can't they see how fat their kid(s) is(are)? What kills me is that their parents will say it's hereditary because they're fat, too, but then, they shovel all that junk into their bodies as well. I am not saying genetics don't pre-disposition you to a certain extent, but I believe that much more often than not, it's an excuse, because some people are just lucky and others have to work at it.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I felt like I was taking an imaginary trip to France. I found Mrs. Guiliano's opinion on gyms interesting. I, too, think gyms are a waste of time and money because you can exercise for free and many of those same people who pay for a gym membership are the very ones who drive around for ten minutes trying to squeeze into the closest parking space. I only park close when I'm on a time crunch or if it's late at night and I'm alone. I will admit I'll park close if a slot's available, but, after reading this book, I am going to make more of an effort. I have in the past, I just got lazy.
But, I was thinking about how I dreaded going to the gym because it was so mind-numbingly boring and you have to get dressed, drive there, etc., when I could just jump on the trampoline at home or skip rope or do the hula hoop (which is GREAT for the abs). The Skip-It toy is also fun and really works the calves. If I lived in a two-story house, I would be going up and down the stairs all day (I feel silly on a machine) and if I knew how to ride a bicycle without training wheels, I would ride around the neighborhood (again, it's just not the same in a smelly, stuffy gym as it is outdoors, with the sunshine on my face and the breeze blowing through my hair). I do have a pair of roller-skates though. There's dancing, tennis, water aerobics, etc., etc. There are just so many more fun things to do than work out on a bunch of machines. We do not need special food (i.e. Slimfast, etc.) or fancy, expensive machines to be fit and healthy, not to mention eliminating entire food groups. Eat to live, but live a little. One ounce of real chocolate can provide as much pleasure as a Snickers bar, if we savor it. Just like it's better to consume one tablespoon of real butter than three of the fake stuff. We've become such an artificial society. We're meant to eat fat and work it off, not eat any and be sedentary.
I think it was Mrs. Guiliano's enthusiasm for everything French and her great faith in her Parisian gospel she was sharing that really inspired me. I do, however, still think that for some peoples with slow metabolism, they need to do more than opt to take the stairs or walk across the parking lot whenever possible, even if they are eating French-style.
Though the majority of France is trim, that doesn't necessarily mean they are strong or healthy (I don't know how many of those slender people could run a mile without gasping for breath afterwards), so I take that consideration into account. I am reminded of those women in those Nutra-System (I think those are the ones) commercials who act like the only reason they wanted to lose weight was so they could wear a bikini . I want to be trim not just because I want to look good, but I want to feel good, too.
So...this book was well worth the six bucks (and hardback edition, too) to me, and worth keeping in my library, too, forsaking any trade-in credit I may get back for it. It was an experience.
I loved reading this book. It's not just a diet book, or a weight loss book; it's a healthy lifestyle conversion book. Mireille Guiliano keeps you interested with her humor, personal experiences and tasty recipes. This book is not going to give you a quick fix to your weight issues, but will open your eyes to why you (and the American population) are overweight. It is a source of inspriation and helpful hints to make lifestyle changes. I highly recommend it as a fresh weight loss remedy and cultural read.
