The Canio's Books Blog

It’s not that I’ve had a lot of experience whipping up a delicate sauce mousseline sabayon. It was Marcella Hazan who taught me most of whatever it is  I know about cooking. (It was,  historically speaking, the Italians who taught the French about cooking, but never mind.) When reporter Stephanie Clifford called from the New York Times, I thought for a moment of that slightly similar scene in Julie and Julia.  Ms. Clifford, however, wanted to know how sales of Mastering the Art of French Cooking were going what with all the movie buzz.  (See immediately, The New York Times, Monday, August 24, front page! ) Great!  I’d just seen the movie, loved it, and wasn’t much at all bothered by the Julie Powell character.    It was a thrill to be mentioned in the same article with booksellers from Elliot Bay Books in Seattle, Barbara’s Bookstore in Chicago, and the venerable Powell’s in Portland. And even more so, to be linked in some vague and general way with the Master Chef herself. Best of all was to hear from old friends and former students, far flung and who’d just happened to see the paper that day. So inspired, I went home  and whipped up an airy sponge cake to bring to a dinner party, just for fun. And yes, the books are  flying off the shelves.  Sometimes they leap out all on their own…kind of like that lobster jumping out of the steaming pot.  Bon Appetit! ~ MC