Provenal Cooking: Savoring the Simple Life in France

When CUNY professor Caws traveled to Provence over 30 years ago, she simply wished to translate the poetry of René Char. Quite soon, however, she came to deeply love the region and in this slow-paced memoir, Caws sings her paean to Provence by praising its food, it markets and its languorous lifestyle, With great humor and gusto, she tells the tale of how she and her husband bought their cabanon , or cottage. Meeting over a glorious lunch with the agent and the seller, the Caws slip the seller an envelope of cash under the table and end up with a dilapidated structure with no electricity or running water. She praises the virtues of community held so dear by her neighbors: “villagers pay great attention to each other and to the timing of things.” The first memoir section of the book simply traces her day-to-day life of cooking, translating poetry, going to market and visiting friends, mostly for long and sumptuous meals. In the second section of her memoir, she includes some of her favorite recipes from her friends in the region that can be prepared quickly and easily. (Nov.)