Just released by Collins Design, Specialities de la Maison is a charming facsimile of a 1940 edition of the same name. The book is full of recipes from social, Hollywood, artistic and Broadway royalty collected by the American Friends of France as part of a war relief effort during the early period of WW 2.
This elegant volume (with a forward by Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter) is a kind of time machine for foodies to see what you might have eaten had you dined at the home of Tallulah Bankhead (Southern Fried Chicken), Noel Coward (Filet de Chevreuil-a venison dish), or Salvador Dali ("Neptune Nonsense"-a seafood salad type dish).
Many of the recipes are not terribly familiar to modern tastes like Corn Pudding, and Squab Casserole. Many however, are easy enough to make and unpretentious like Tarragon Chicken and Steak Diane. Lynn in particular was interested in Sweet Sour Fish from the kitchen of Pulitzer Prize winner Pearl S. Buck.
