Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Another Fine French Cookbook Giveaway!

Two of my old food-industry pals, Laurent Gras and Mitchell Davis, have just released an interactive digital cookbook called Laurent Gras: My Provence. It includes more than 40 dishes from Gras’ early years, growing up in Antibes and working for top chefs on the Côte d’Azur. The new digital publisher Alta Editions, released the book last month and they’ve offered me two copies to give away to my readers.

The book contains hundreds of gorgeous high-resolution color photos, instructional videos, loads of chef tips and Laurent’s personal stories. It also gives readers who prepare the dishes the opportunity to share their own stories and photos directly inside the book. 

Known for his innovative cuisine, Laurent has received three Michelin stars for his cooking at three different restaurants over the past 20 years. But rather than focusing on his restaurant cuisine, the new book finds him returning to the flavors and memories of his youth. Readers can enjoy: 

*Classic Provençal recipes such as Ratatouille and Clams Marinière. 

*Creative preparations, such as Burrata Ravioli with Orange and Sage, made with time-saving wonton wrappers instead of fresh pasta. 

*A Pork Chop en Papillote made with with juniper berries, which Laurent used to collect on his family’s property in France and which are often used to flavor meat and game. 

*The Garlic-Roasted Côte de Boeuf Laurent learned as a cook at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo. 

*Laurent’s  grandmother’s Gateau de Galette, a gorgeous coffee-infused cake made with LU Petit Beurre cookies, chocolate and buttercream--like a French tiramisù. 

With step-by-step photos and videos, the book requires no downloads or software; readers who purchase (or win) it access it by logging onto the Alta Editions site. It’s browser-based HTML5 e-book optimized for the  iPad that can also be viewed on any laptop or desktop. You can watch a brief video introduction to the book here. 

Alors! To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below, under ‘’comments.’’ The more creative, the better of course. Make sure to provide your email address or we won’t be able to reach you; logging in with your Google name is not enough. If you’d like go ahead and just purchase the e-book, it’s $9.99 and you can do that here. 

Here’s a bit more about Laurent. He was born into what he calls ‘’a family and culture focused on food.’’ Early in his career he worked with a remarkable group of chefs including Jacques Maximin, Guy Savoy, Alain Ducasse and Alain Senderens. After attaining three Michelin stars as chef de cuisine at Ducasse’s restaurants in Monaco and Paris, Gras moved to the U.S. where he received widespread acclaim for his cuisine, first at Peacock Alley in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (NYC) and later at the Fifth Floor restaurant in San Francisco. With well known Chicago restaurateur Richard Melman, Laurent opened L2O in Chicago in 2008. It was named ‘’Best New Restaurant’’ by Esquire that same year. Gras left in late 2010, the same month that Michelin bestowed three stars upon the restaurant, its highest rating. 

Laurent’s co-author, Mitchell Davis, knows a thing or two about the kitchen as well. He’s a cookbook author, food journalist and the executive vp of the James Beard Foundation (NYC), with a Ph.D. in Food Studies from New York University. In addition to three previous cookbooks, Mitchell has written extensively for GQ, Food & Wine, The Art of Eating, Saveur and Gastronomica. Mitchell also co-authored the book Foie Gras ... A Passion, which won the International Cookbook Review’s ''Best International Cookbook of the Year.'' Mitchell is a frequent guest lecturer and panelist on a variety of food-related topics, and has taught food and theory classes at New York University and Cornell University. You can follow him on Twitter here and read his blog here

So leave a comment below to enter the contest, the more creative the better. Winners will be picked next week. Bon Chance et Bon Appetit!

29 comments:

  1. Looks like a great book. I like the idea of it being an "e-version"! I think my favorite flavors are from Provence...hope to win! girlcookinparis@gmail.com

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  2. Wow! Mouth watering stuff! Take me to the kitchen and with this book let me loose. Yummy!
    Paul.

    theoatway@gmail.com

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  3. Well, Julie.....First of all, allow me to disqualify myself for the drawing for two reasons. I've already won one give-away at your blog (the surprisingly really-fine Amelie mustard). Additionally, an e-cookbook (no matter how beautiful and informative) would be of minimal use to me, since my kitchen is nine fairly large rooms and two staircases away from my computer. Just for the record?...I seem to be the only person-under-80 who doesn't have a cell-phone, laptop, or any sort of portable/personal "device" other than the electric toothbrush forced on me by my dentist this past year.

    It does occur to me an e-cookbook would, actually, be of some practical use to me if I wanted to lose weight....trotting back and forth while I followed the recipe.

    In any case...what a beautiful cookbook (and I think that you, yourself, win something this time around......the 2012 Award for Demure-Understatement-of-the-Year. I liked your restrained line about Mitchell Davis's knowing "a thing or two about the kitchen".).

    I'll be ordering this book for several friends who live in dauntingly small, urban apartments. One of them (she's just moved to NYC from her former house in Nashville) was only recently bewailing the forced-"moving sale" of most of her cookbooks. As you'll know, there simply isn't any ROOM for more-cookbooks in a small, Manhattan apartment (which, ironically enough, costs more per month than her mortgage previously did). She does, however, have a Kindle and a laptop (presumably, she can get one of those into her new kitchen, which I gather is about the same space as that alloted to coach-class passengers on American Airlines)....so, she could use this book.

    That said?.....at only $9.99, this book is a complete and surprising bargain.

    As I've written previously, I HATE shopping. I'm lucky, though, to have discovered your blog; it's one of the three on which I regularly find ideas-for-gifts. You do, indeed, have good taste and a good eye.

    Thanks as ever (I mean that sincerely; left to my own devices, I'd just flail around in overwhelmingly-stuffed department stores, wondering what I can give to a friend or family member for his/her birthday and/or Christmas),

    David Terry
    www.davidterryart.com

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  4. Julie, can hardly wait! Love this stuff. Please cpunt me in. Maya
    nnedkov@yahoo.com

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  5. Thanks for offering this up! One of my favourite culinary regions, and in a format I'd actually use (my laptop sits on the kitchen counter as I cook). Keeping fingers and toes crossed... :-) PS: your comment form is not offering an email address field and I don't want to leave it in the comment itself for fear of spammers picking it up. Hoping if I win you can contact me through facebook? Merci bien!

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  6. Laurent Gras won plaudits from Ruth Reichl
    Dr. Davis’ TEDx seminar explored Taste memory cycles
    Flavors and Memories of Youth
    Treasured recipes delight and soothe
    From an iPad comes Provence archetypal

    jjurado@sbcbeer.com !

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  7. I love all things Provence, especially the food. This eBook would be invaluable to use on my iPad when I'm on holiday instead of the usual photocopied recipes.
    Jenny

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  8. I love the traditional Provence dishes...like mother made...these will be great to try. Now that I have a Kindle and an iPad, an e-book edition would be convenient.

    memdesmond@gmail.com

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  9. Do you mean that Ratatouille is not just a Disney movie? And I can get wontons outside of the chinese take out in town? I REALLY need a cookbook. Not just any cookbook, but THIS cookbook. I owe it to everyone I prepare food for. Please help us. My family would love me to have a recipe for ravioli that isn't open can, heat, serve. Merci!
    Michael
    mramella41@gmail.com

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  10. Do you mean that Ratatouille is not just a Disney movie my kids love? And I can get wontons outside of the take out resaturant in town? I REALLY need this cookbook. My family REALLY needs me to have this cookbook. They're tired of the ravioli recipe passed down to me through the years.... Open can, heat, serve. Please help us with the gift of a fantastic cookbook that is completely user friendly in my kitchen!
    Merci!
    Michael
    mramella41@gmail.com

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  11. I spent a glorious vacation in Provence, in a lovely mas in Senas (Mas D'Henriette aka Les Platanes) in mid-August, and I just can't stop thinking about it. I'd been to Provence once before, but it didn't capture me then the way it has now. One of our favorite days was the day we hired a chef to give us a cooking lesson and cook dinner for a group of 11 of us for my husband's birthday. We shopped at the food market in Aix-en-Provence, and I fell in love with all things Provencal cuisine. I'd love to win the book to try and recapture here at home in NJ some of the essence of beautiful Provence.

    Jean

    jeannie2nyc@yahoo.com

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  12. Julie..
    My cookbook collection is threatening to take over my kitchen! And I am on a strict diet of no more cookbooks..
    but how can that include a beautiful and well crafted e-book?
    Arnelle Kase

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  13. Julie..
    My cookbook collection is threatening to take over my kitchen! And I am on a strict diet of no more cookbooks..
    but how can that include a beautiful and well crafted e-book?
    Arnelle Kase

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  14. Wow looks like a fantastic book. I know it would help me with my creative juices for dinner meals.

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  15. I love colors of Provence, scents of Provence, people of Provence and, of course .... dishes of Provence! Thanks great giveaway!

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  16. Hello Dear One~ ~ ~
    Three Michelin stars, Three times I am so wanting to study this book and enjoy my time in the kitchen cooking for friends.
    I am intrigued by the e cookbook concept and the interplay of allowing us to post pictures of our dishes as well as comments. Please put my name in the hat for this wonderful giveaway. Thank you.
    ~ ~Ahrisha~ ~
    ahrishal@epix(dot)net

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  17. Julie,
    Ah, aside from my love of all things French, my dear Soul Sister has an even BIGGER crush on France/Food/Cuisine/Provence. I would LOVE to win this for her! She has a birthday coming up. It would be such a nice surprise!
    me: indigomoone@gmail.com
    her: kreu@me.com
    Merci!

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  18. thanks for this giveaway!
    gkuroda at hawaii dot edu

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  19. Will be in Provence for 3 weeks in November. I can't really carry a cookbook with me. but an e-book would be wonderful! I love all things Provence... especially the food and cooking it. Please enter me in this drawing.
    Gerry Ventura
    gerrybonj@aol.com

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  20. oh, to believe I can recreate soupe au pistou with all-American ingredients? I can dream, and with your help . . . Hope springs eternal. J

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  21. You had me at Pork Chops en Papillote...
    I love e-books because no one can tell I'm adding to my cookbook collection! Please enter me.

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  22. I just found your blog and can't wait to become a faithful follower. I love to read cookbooks cover to cover - just like a novel. If I win this cookbook, it'd be like watching a movie! : )
    Can you believe that I do not own a single French cookbook? (And I'm 50 something?) I love the cuisine and I love to cook, but I feel intimidated when it comes to preparing French food. My dining experience in Paris and in Cannes years ago is still fresh in my mind.
    With this cookbook in view- I will be equipped in becoming quite the French chef! I see a romantic date night in my future with my sweetie of over 31 years!

    mwosteen@gmail.com

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  23. We'll be visiting Avignon in October and can't wait to taste in Provence.

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  24. We will be enjoying the food of Provence this October.
    Can't wait

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  25. This book seems amazing plus whats not to love about provence. I always love how the french cuisine started and having a copy of this ebook with all the instructional videos and tips it would really help me to get to know the cuisine more and make me a better culinarian.

    michellekatherinetan@gmail.com

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  26. Looks like a gorgeous book-- I almost find looking at the pictures of the meals in cookbooks to be more satisfying than making the food sometimes!

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  27. Fabulous looking book. Well worth having in the libary of cook-books.

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  28. I liked the cookbook idea for giveaway. Your giving so many recipes!

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  29. Just in the nick of time. Many thanks.

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