AROLE MARSH

Bon appetite! 

I have only cried over food three times. 

Each time was in Paris. The first was over a grapefruit sorbet intermezzo in a local restaurant on the Left Bank. The second was over the world's best pasta carbonara in what Americans might call an all-night diner. And the third was in the middle of the night at a hotel restaurant near the Charles de Gaulle airport. Starving and exhausted, I ordered a Caesar Salad. I was so tired that I failed to say, "Hold the anchovies." In what seemed like an hour, an enormous platter was set before me filled with perfectly placed enormous Romaine lettuce leaves-covered with giant white anchovies-egg-based Caesar dressing-and flakes of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and coarse black pepper. It was the best thing that I ever tasted; I wept. I am not French, not a French cook, and yet, food that can make you weep must be shared. This is a short cookbook and a perhaps weird one; I will add to it as I unearth more recipes. Cook, weep, repeat.