How To Cook a Rogue Elephant Cookbook

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Description: From the horse-and-hound country of Virginia to the rugged backwoods of northern Canada, from Morocco to upper New York State, Peter Van Rensselaer Livingston has energetically pursued the good life -- garnering a hoard of exotic experiences, each intimately and unforgettably connected with delicious food. How to Cook a Rogue Elephant represents the fruit of his travels: a banquet of more than 350 recipes collected over the years, now gathered into this challenging and instructive and highly entertaining autobiographical cookbook.  

Ranging from the simple to the elaborate, from the esoteric to the widely known, these recipes are presented for the most part as components of complete regional menus, lovingly re-created for the reader along with "that particular chapter of the author's life in which their personal meaning and happy use first arose." 

Here are Basque dishes, from Ouliat (a traditional soup of the region) to Basque Cake with Plum Fool, adapted from a cookbook compiled by Les Amis de la Liberation Basque. Heavenly spaghetti recipes are included in memory of a World War I Atlantic crossing in an Italian refugee ship; and there are recipes from the very different northern Italian cuisine that the author came to know after World War II. Crab Imperial Baltimore comes from the Maryland Jockey Club, and Seafood Crepes, Boeuf au Poivre, and Peaches, Meuse River were inspired by the Cordon Bleu-trained chef (and proprietor) of a country restaurant in Belgium around 1950. 

Livingston has explored the philosophies and the techniques behind dozens of schools of cookery -- among them, Creole, Maryland, Virginian and New England; Mexican and British; several kinds of French and Italian; Flemish, German, Swiss, and Spanish; Levantine, North African, and Russian. His gustatorial curiosity and sheer enthusiasm, always guided by sound sense and infallible good taste, govern the selection and treatment of each individual dish. 

To aid the practical cook there are two indexes: a comprehensive index covering everything from Charles de Gaulle to Daube de Boeuf; and a stripped-down index of recipes listed alphabetically by course to aid in the selection of an unusual hors d'oeuvre, a classic soup, an impressive entree or main dish, or a super-delicious dessert. 

This extraordinary cookbook combines delightful reading with the pleasure of creative cooking. How to Cook a Rogue Elephant is meant to be browsed in, to educate and amuse, to encourage experimentation, to broaden the horizons of the cook who already commands an average repertoire, and to offer provocative ideas for new approaches to familiar fare. 

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Condition: Good condition. Small spot on back side of dust jacket.