With Bold Knife and Fork

by M. F. K. Fisher

1979

Publication

Perigee Trade (1979), Paperback, 318 pages

Collection

Food and Gardens

Status

Available

Description

In one of her most celebrated books, the doyenne of food writers offers us more than 140 of her favourite and most famous recipes. Here are dishes for every course of every meal - from 'Teasers and Titbits', through 'Some Seeds of this Planet' to 'A Plethora of Puddings'. Whether simple or esoteric, all are served with an inimitable mixture of wit, anecdote and practicality.

User reviews

LibraryThing member SeriousGrace

Fisher is one of the best known and well loved food writers of the last century. When I told someone I was reading With Bold Knife and Fork her immediate reaction was a one word exclamation, "love!" And speaking of love, I loved, loved, loved some of the snarky phrases Fisher used. Here are a few,

"...floating dunghill of lassitude, corruption, dirt, and whatever evil I have ever recognized as such" (p 171), "Stuffed with prejudices" (p 287) and "culinary monkey" (p 291). But, back to the "plot" of With Bold Knife and Fork. Fisher will walk you down a myriad of memory lanes with food and how it related to her childhood or the social norms of the day. It was amusing to think of a very young M.F.K. Fisher as a child hearing the siren's song and feeling the pull towards decadent food. There is a definite humor to her storytelling. I had to laugh when she talked about a pressure cooker and how "it should never be used by a person taking tranquilizers or alcohol for his own reasons, or one with a fever or the deep blues" (p 164). There is also a didactic nature to Fisher. I appreciated learning the difference between preserves, conserves, jellies, jams, honeys, and marmalades.

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