This is the most spectacular cook book I have ever seen, splashed with the colours of Monet's house and gardens, garnished with photos of the foods served therein. I wish I had his kitchen stove - it looks as though it provides 24 square feet of cooking surface. Biographical notes put it all into historical and human perspective; and to top it all off ... the recipes. Ah, the recipes, all placed before us in modern terms that make these wondrous foods perfectly doable. After reading 'Monet's Table' and trying out the mussels in herbs, I bought three more copies to send to my closest foodie friends.

This is one of my favorite books in the whole world, not because of any one thing, but because of how its different parts hinge together to stand you right in the middle of a completely creative spirit. You can get lost in the pages and sense Monet's life. His gardens, the notes on food, the kitchen. It is a large book, perfect for a lap. Sit with it and list-making tools. Think of a kitchen in another time, when food was beautiful and flavors strong and true. I have made the green cake (vert-vert) and it was pretty good, amazingly pretty. The recipes chew at the back of your mind and then you find yourself making something from it on a rainy day when you have also bought flowers at the grocery. If you get this book you will probably buy flowers at the grocery from then on, and that will make you happy.

As a lover of the Impressionist movement, I felt compelled to make the pilgrimage to the house of Claude Monet located a few miles north of Paris in the small town of Giverny, Normandy. Monet's refuge is a shrine of the art world renowned for its beautiful and expansive garden filled with flowers, trees, a lake and its famous bridge.

When I entered Monet's home, the dining room made a strong impression upon me: large, very inviting and splashed in yellow as if Monet had tried to capture the strong summer sun to overcome the cloudy winter days of Normandy. The table for twelve was tastefully set with blue and white china with a centerpiece of dazzling fresh flowers, as if beckoning its guests to prepare for a savory adventure to be accompanied by lively discussion. As I passed through the dining room into the kitchen, I noticed that the old, black oven fitted with brass trim and graced with copper pots and pans was still capable of generating warmth, even if the fire went out of it long ago. It was at that moment that I decided to purchase "Monet's Table: The Cooking Journals of Claude Monet", and I have reaped far more from this book than the French francs I had traded in return.

In an interview published on November 26, 1900, in "Le Temps", Claude Monet declared "I am a Parisian of Paris. I was born there in 1840, ... I was born incapable of being disciplined. No one was ever able to make me stick to the rules, not even in my youngest days." Despite this boastful protestation, I am of the personal opinion after having studied his art, visited his home and read books and journals about the artist, that he was, if not disciplined, then certainly dedicated and devoted to the creation of the sensory arts of painting and fine dining in their truest form. These qualities are beautifully illustrated in this beautiful cookbook featuring 160 recipes of Monet's best-loved dishes such as Cezanne's bouillabaisse, Coquilles Saint-Jacques a la Florentine, Lobster Newburg, duck pate', chestnut soufflé, crepes made with Cognac, orange and almond cake and even banana ice cream. The book is comfortably divided into sections including soups, egg dishes, entrees, poultry, meat, game, seafood, desserts and conserves. I personally appreciate the range of simplicity to complexity offered by these recipes that enable me to select from those that are easy and fast to prepare and those that require more time and ingredients, depending upon the time I wish to allot. What I most enjoy sharing with my family and friends is the old world taste and richness of the dishes offered by this book that you do not readily find in most cookbooks. As an added and unexpected bonus, I am transported to a beautiful part of our world, rich in its history and creative in its many art forms that live on in my memory through this book.

The Preface was written in the form of a dedication to Claude Monet in May 1989 by Joel Robuchon, the Jamin Restaurant Chef de Cuisine. He researched the notebook of recipes kept and used by the Monet family for their family meals as well as those prepared for such noteworthy guests as Clemenceau, Renoir, Pissaro, Durand-Ruel and others. Mr. Robuchon adapted these turn of the 19th century recipes to accommodate modern day kitchen equipment that was unavailable at that time. His Preface ends with his grateful appreciation to Mr. Monet for all of his discovery, his generosity, his artistically beautiful and excellent tasting recipes which were a testament to authentic cuisine of the period, and lastly, for Mr. Monet's legacy to us of living art of every day life. The photography by Jean-Bernard Naudin is excellent. He was assisted by the stylist Nanou Billault in recreating the meals served at Monet's home; however, the subjects of his photography in this book exceed the replication of beautiful recipes such as foie gras truffe' en croute (foie gras encased in a crust) and oignons blancs farcis de Charlotte Lyses (stuffed white onions incorporating Gruyere cheese, fresh herbs, and roast pork or chicken). There are photographs of hand-written recipes on paper yellowed with age, framed by broken edges and stained by life's usage; "la sorbietiere" or the "ice pail" to make the traditional banana ice cream on Christmas Day; Monet's famed kitchen, dining room and studio; baskets filled with wild mushrooms; a picnic table on the grass under an apple tree; and, of course, photos of many of Monet's paintings, such as Le Petit Dejeuner painted in 1868, Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe painted in 1865, and Les Galettes. For devotees of the artist as well as history buffs, there are also some wonderful original photographs of Monet, including photos of the painter in his car leaving for his weekly trip to the market, in his garden with family members as they greeted the first American painters to his home, and in the company of Georges Clemenceau, former French prime minister, mayor of Mont Martre, author and teacher, in June 1921 on the Japanese bridge surrounded by wisteria.

The photography of Monet's garden is nothing short of breathtaking. I found myself lulled into daydreaming especially while browsing through the photos of the winter scenes of Monet's garden. One picture displaying the hues of green, blue and icy gray features Monet's lake surrounded by trees, bushes and tall blades of grass laced with frost. By the landing, there is a lonely rowboat on this mirrored lake with two paddles beckoning you as a passerby to come closer and fill the emptiness created by the chill of winter. As you turn the page to another beautiful winter scene, you can see the renown pink and white house with its vine-covered trellis in the background, and the forefront dominated by the landscaping filled with trees and their green leaves, shrubs, arches and even pink roses, all of which seem to be completely taken by surprise with the early frost clinging to the pink flowers and green leaves as though they were dusted with sugar crystals. I treasure this book as much for the memories of my visit to Monet's house and garden as for its insight into the realm of Monet including his time honored recipes.

I asked for this book for Christmas after glancing through it at the Bostom Museum of Fine Arts. Monet's one of my favorites, and the biographical stuff (about a third of the book) is fine.

But the recipes are remarkable! Monet was a fanatic in the kitchen, swiping recipes from everybody he knew -- there are reproductions of some of his notebook pages, and they're interesting even if your French (like mine) is weak.

I've done six of the recipes, pork and fish and potatoes and what-all -- and every one was remarkable. This was a period in French cooking where haute cuisine was starting to materialize out of the various regional traditions, and Monet was a careful and discriminating observer of the process.

If you love painting and eating, you have to have this book!

Overall, this is a nice book to add to a collection and a great gift. For those interested in art, particulalry Impressionism, it's a unique look at the everyday life of Claude Monet. There are some great pictures of Giverney, as well. As an "everyday" french cookbook, it has a very limited, but interesting selection of dishes. It's old style french country cooking (heavy on the butter and duck fat) that has some very easy selections (Chicken in White Wine Sauce) and some that require some real effort and time. You might think of it as a book you'd reference when you had some time to prepare something different for a Sunday dinner.

If you purely want a french cookbook, buy something else. For those that want something unique and broader in terms of French culture/history, this might be a good choice.