Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$12.99

Available instantly

Hardcover
$18.32

$18.32 with 48 percent savings

List Price: $35.00

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 2 hrs 50 mins

Select delivery location

In Stock

$$18.32 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$11.87

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

Item is in acceptable condition. Expect heavy wear on the cover and the inside of the book. The text is perfectly readable and usable. Text may contain highlighting and or handwriting. Item is in acceptable condition. Expect heavy wear on the cover and the inside of the book. The text is perfectly readable and usable. Text may contain highlighting and or handwriting. See less

FREE delivery Wednesday, May 15 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$18.32 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by Murfbooks and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (164) from $3.52 + $3.99 shipping

Follow the authors

The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution: A Cookbook Hardcover – October 2, 2007

by Alice Waters (Author), Patricia Curtan (Author, Illustrator), Kelsie Kerr (Author),

4.7 837 ratings

See all formats and editions

Save 50% on 1 when you buy 2 Shop items

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$18.32","priceAmount":18.32,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"18","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"32","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"3%2BZWkeHtc4llMSlglGSMQB7622NJ3P%2BYEgOrzZFv%2FPO%2BnWiKBIJVBBFqEJyDA55mKxGcSc2bF%2BQtZSM4f6GBmnehgKK1bN%2BHkaug2wDRjeWEXVRIv8Sbacvk7D2Is7m%2FGJJMHcKTcZ0%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$11.87","priceAmount":11.87,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"11","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"87","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"3%2BZWkeHtc4llMSlglGSMQB7622NJ3P%2BYy8oMyz8t3VPlAK2%2FVCbLKhsttI5bLzmuGETmWNjsoD2Yw5h0RH3FVnGkNFXkooF7EE%2B99WyMuS5wNebOq1%2BjRmYtU4%2BNuyh%2FJFW61HlL2E%2FChmfOLhvECa9cqdI8BHuJVSNoQx514TCDuSj8REuq%2FC6MVJprklEI","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

An indispensable resource for home cooks from the woman who changed the way Americans think about food.

Perhaps more responsible than anyone for the revolution in the way we eat, cook, and think about food, Alice Waters has “single-handedly chang[ed] the American palate” according to the New York Times. Her simple but inventive dishes focus on a passion for flavor and a reverence for locally produced, seasonal foods.

With an essential repertoire of timeless, approachable recipes chosen to enhance and showcase great ingredients, The Art of Simple Food isan indispensable resource for home cooks. Here you will find Alice’s philosophy on everything from stocking your kitchen, to mastering fundamentals and preparing delicious, seasonal inspired meals all year long. Always true to her philosophy that a perfect meal is one that’s balanced in texture, color, and flavor, Waters helps us embrace the seasons’ bounty and make the best choices when selecting ingredients. Fill your market basket with pristine produce, healthful grains, and responsibly raised meat, poultry, and seafood, then embark on a voyage of culinary rediscovery that reminds us that the most gratifying dish is often the least complex.

Frequently bought together

The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution: A Cookbook

$18.32

Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

The Art of Simple Food II: Recipes, Flavor, and Inspiration from the New Kitchen Garden: A Cookbook

$21.99

Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 15

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own: A Cookbook

$19.36

Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by Books4theLOW and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Alice L. Waters
229
Hardcover
114 offers from $4.42
Alice L. Waters
253
Hardcover
119 offers from $2.44
Alice Waters
226
Hardcover
104 offers from $4.46
Alice Waters
359
Hardcover
84 offers from $3.51
Alice Waters
125
Paperback
59 offers from $1.90
Joshua McFadden
2,869
Hardcover
82 offers from $15.69

Popular Highlights in this book

What are popular highlights?

Start by pouring the vinegar into a bowl. Dissolve a pinch of salt in it and taste for balance. The salt has a real relationship with the vinegar. When you add just enough salt, it subdues the acid of the vinegar and brings it into a wonderful balance.
Highlighted by 106 Kindle readers
Any sign of green skin on potatoes indicates the presence of a toxin and is a sign not to buy them—or to throw them away.
Highlighted by 105 Kindle readers
Other staple spices to keep on hand are bay leaves, cumin seed, fennel seed, aniseed, dried chiles, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and ground ginger.
Highlighted by 94 Kindle readers

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Do we really need more recipes for beef stew, polenta, and ratatouille? If they're the work of famed restaurateur and "food activist" Alice Waters, undoubtedly. In The Art of Simple Food, Waters offers 200-plus recipes for these and other simple but savory dishes, like Spicy Cauliflower Soup, Fava Bean Purée, and Braised Chicken Legs, as well as dessert formulas for the likes of Nectarine and Blueberry Crisp and Tangerine Ice. In addition, readers learn (or become reacquainted with) the Waters mantra: eat locally and sustainably; eat seasonally; shop at farmers markets. These are the rules by which she approaches food and cooking, and hopes we will too. Organized largely by techniques, the book is a kind of primer, designed to free readers from recipe reliance.

Some readers may look askance at advice that they search out sources for locally produced food, for example, given the everyday exigencies of shopping and getting meals on the table. Yet it is precisely the need to "remake" our relationship to food that, Waters contends, determines the ultimate success of all our cooking and dining, not to mention our health and that of the planet. This relatively small book has a large message, and good everyday recipes to back it up. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The delicious dishes described in the latest cookbook from Chez Panisse founder Waters, such as a four-ingredient Soda Bread and Cauliflower Salad with Olives and Capers, are simple indeed, though the book's structure is complex, if intuitive. After a useful discussion of ingredients and equipment come chapters on techniques, such as making broth and soup. Each of these includes three or four recipes that rely on the technique described, which can lead to repetition (still preferable to a lack of guidance): a chapter on roasting contains two pages of instructions on roasting a chicken (including a hint to salt it a day in advance for juicy results), followed by a recipe for Roast Chicken that is simply an abbreviated version of those two pages. The final third of the book divides many more recipes traditionally into salads, pasta and so forth. Waters taps an almost endless supply of ideas for appealing and fresh yet low-stress dishes: Zucchini Ragout with Bacon and Tomato, Onion Custard Pie, Chocolate Crackle Cookies with almonds and a little brandy. Whether explaining why salting food properly is key or describing the steps to creating the ideal Grilled Cheese Sandwich, she continues to prove herself one of our best modern-day food writers. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Clarkson Potter (October 2, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 405 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0307336794
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0307336798
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.38 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.46 x 7.6 x 1.34 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #22,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #22 in Organic Cooking
- #31 in Seasonal Cooking (Books)
- #50 in Natural Food Cooking

Customer Reviews:
4.7 837 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Patricia Curtan
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Alice Waters
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Alice Waters is the visionary chef and owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. She is the author of four cookbooks, including Chez Panisse Vegetables and Fanny at Chez Panisse. In 1994 she founded the Edible schoolyard at Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, a model curriculum that integrates organic gardening into academic classes and into the life of the school; it will soon incorporate a school lunch program in which students will prepare, serve, and share food they grow themselves, augmented by organic dairy products, grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish - all locally and sustainably produced.
Photo by usbotschaftberlin [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
See more on the author's page
Kelsie Kerr
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Fritz Streiff
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

837 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Geoff Puterbaugh

Much more than I expected!

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2008

Verified Purchase

To begin with, I live in Thailand, and so almost all of the "seasonal" advice in this book is useless --- except for the general idea, which is all-important: buy high-quality ingredients when they are in season. In Thailand, that would translate to "wait for the hot season before gorging yourself on mangoes, or mango-with-sticky-rice." Most Thai fruits have seasons when they are at their best, so pay attention.

This includes the basic idea of "don't just go to the market and buy an onion." Some folks see an onion and grab it instantly, checking off that chore. Others inspect the onions carefully, waiting until they see a really gorgeous (and delicious-looking) batch. If all the onions look like junk, it might be time to put off onion soup to another day!

I have tried just one recipe so far: Braised Chicken Legs. It was very good, and I already know how to make it better next time. Talk about simple! Four chicken legs run about $2 over here, and then add garlic, onion, tomato, some chicken stock, plus a bay leaf and a pinch of rosemary. You're probably looking at a total cost of $3-$4, and this recipe fed three people! Next up is probably the Chard Fritatta, which will become a Spinach Frittata over here.

My biggest surprise: I think I have actually found a replacement for my venerable "James Beard Cookbook." This book is better, and it's just jammed with recipes. I also think that it dusts "How To Cook Everything."

Of course, on nights when I'm cooking Thai food, this book is pretty much useless, except for the general advice noted above.

----- REVIEW UPDATE -----

The "Spinach Frittata" was devoured instantly, and very yummy. I made the "Braised Chicken Legs" with my changes: first, throw in some cayenne or hot pepper (NOT A LOT, just a hint!). Second, add some chopped potatoes and turnips to the final braise. Third, put in some salt and pepper before it goes for its 45-minute final cooking. Results: everyone loved it! This may be the best chicken I have ever cooked in my life, or at least tied with that lovely Persian dish, "Fesanjan." (Walnuts and pomegranate juice, oh yum!)

This book is a real winner!!!

Highest recommendation!

----- ANOTHER UPDATE!----------

By the way, Alice Waters agrees about the salt. For most meat, if you intend to salt it, you might as well salt it when you bring it home. This will accomplish two things: first, it will retard spoilage, but more important, it will make the meat taste "seasoned" rather than "salty."

So, for "steak au poivre," buy some yummy steaks, salt them when you get home, put them in the fridge, and then take them out 2-3 hours before cooking and rub ground pepper into them. The 2-3 hours will ensure that the meat is not chilly when it goes into the pan, and will enable the pepper to get into the meat and flavor it.

46 people found this helpful

Helpful

B. Marold

Superb Tutorial on Home Cooking Techniques. Buy It!

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2007

Verified Purchase

`The Art of Simple Food' by the one and only Alice Waters is a rare treat for foodie readers, and an even rarer treat for those who wish to master the craft of cooking effortlessly. I can think of very, very few cookbooks which succeed as well as this one at teaching good, creative cooking at home. Those very few are the last two books by Jacques Pepin, `Chez Jacques' and `Fast Food, My Way', a few of Nigel Slater's books, especially `The Kitchen Diaries', and Waters' mentor's book, Richard Olney's `Simple French Food'.
As with Pepin's works, my initial reaction to any important culinary figure's producing a `fast' or `easy' cookbook is suspicion that they are trying to cash in on the popularity of Rachael Ray's 30 minute meal mantra or Sandra Lee's `semi-homemade' fast and easy rubrics. And, like Pepin's books, this book is the real deal, giving superb, original insights on SIMPLE cooking at home. One of the very first things to realize, as Olney stated it in his book, `simple' is not the same as `fast' or `easy'. The notion of `simple' food is itself complicated enough to require seven pages in his introduction to thoroughly explain. In a nutshell, it excludes complicated menus, elaborate plating, and fancy sauces. It does include baking bread, making our own pastry, making our own homemade pasta, and making our own stocks and broths. Each of these activities can easily take several hours.
We cook simply not to save time or effort, but to avoid masking the great qualities of our ingredients. So, simplicity in cooking has a symbiotic relation to Ms. Waters' most famous doctrines, of using fresh, organically grown local ingredients, when they are in season. And, if there were anything at all with which to find fault in this book, it is the constant preaching on that topic. This is not entirely Miss Alice's fault, as reading this book is much like reading `Hamlet'. So many lines sound like clichés, not because Shakespeare was a hack, but because `Hamlet' is easily the most often quoted play in the English language.
This book fits exactly into my perennial analogy between learning cooking and learning chess. The rules of chess are quite simple, and yet it is almost impossible to summarize the principles of good chess strategy. So, learning the deeper lessons of chess involves simply replaying the games of the great chess masters, and appreciating how they saw their moves. Similarly, almost everything written about how to cook involves simply reciting recipes. And yet, the very best writing on cooking rises above simply following recipes and reaches that way of thinking one achieves when they are finally able to cook without a book. Paradoxically, Waters begins with some of the very strictest recommendations on how to successfully follow a particular recipe, going far beyond the simple suggestions of reading through it and gathering all your ingredients together. But, like the famous little book on chess by Emanuel Lasker, `Common Sense in Chess', one achieves independent thinking by experiencing the patterns from great games. With Olney and Waters, the great exemplar is the very best home cooking.
The subtitle of the book, `Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution' may have been just a bit more accurate if it had emphasized the `lessons', since these are the soul of the book. Almost half the book is filled with 17 chapters on important cooking techniques that every home cook should really know by heart. These are `Four Essential Sauces', `Salads', `Bread', `Broth and Soup', `Beans, Dried and Fresh', `Pasta and Polenta', `Rice', `Into the Oven (Roasting)', `Out of the Frying Pan', `Slow Cooking', `Simmering', `Over the Coals' (grilling), Omelets and Souffles', `Tarts, Savory and Sweet', `Fruit Desserts', `Custard and Ice Cream', and `Cookies and Cake'. In a very gentle, very motherly way, Miss Alice communicates something like `master recipes', however, they are generally simpler than the famous `Master Recipe' template used so successfully by Julia Child. But then, Alice and Julia are really not doing quite the same thing. The lessons in the first half of the book are so well presented, I would easily recommend this as a superb textbook for a course on home cooking. And, in spite of having read over 400 cookbooks, I still found new insights in this book.
The second half of the book is comprised of recipes which emulate the model Alice creates in the first half of the book. The selection of recipes reminds me of Ted Allen's book title, `The Food You Want to Eat', in that we have great simple recipes for lots of everyone's favorite dishes. The `Salads' chapter, in its 27 recipes, includes `Hearts of Romaine with Creamy Dressing', `Caesar Salad', `Chicken Salad', `Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad', `Nicoise Salad', `Coleslaw', `Potato Salad', `Carrot Salad', and `Greek Salad'. Most recipes have multiple variations, except for the real `standards' such as Caesar's salad.
The first chapter on `Getting Started' is as good as or better than most I've seen on basic equipment and techniques. In this area, Ms. Waters really does well as a model for the home cook, as she describes herself as a minimalist, and prefers to work with as few tools as possible. Her lessons here on knife skills are not as complete as Pepin's `Complete Techniques', but that is not what this book is about. It's about common sense cooking at home. The second chapter, `What to Cook' is another lesson in simplicity, with some inspired suggestions on how to get the most out of novel eating venues.
The writing flows so smoothly, I'm surprised at how fast I get through its impressive 405 pages. I'm even more impressed by the fact that it seems Ms. Waters probably contributed more herself to this book than many others where she is listed as the author. Thus, this is a classic foodie treasure, in that reading it gives as much pleasure as cooking from it.

154 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Legally Bored

Best cookbook I’ve ever owned

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 22, 2021

Verified Purchase

I’m using this book as a cooking course to improve my skills as a home cook. It’s so useful. The first several chapters take you through the basic principles and techniques to do different kinds of basic home cookery and I’m learning a lot. Especially useful if you didn’t grow up with a parent who did much home cooking (and definitely didn’t teach you anything!)
The recipes aren’t complicated, and you learn how delicious simple food is, prepared well.

Tim and Deb

Love this book!

Reviewed in Canada on July 13, 2019

Verified Purchase

Love this book. It teaches all the basics which I need and builds on that. Recipes are good! A little too much oil sometimes though!

One person found this helpful

Wei Zhao

I love this book!!

Reviewed in Germany on February 6, 2013

Verified Purchase

One can learn everything about making tasty food from this book. It is not the recipes that make this book special. It is the tips, the explanation and the passion from the author that make this book very special. I had a heard copy and used it a lot. I now buy the kindel version so that I can easily having it with me wherever I travel to.

Andrew

This is one of those must have books for any ...

Reviewed in Canada on April 19, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is one of those must have books for any serious cooks. Second only to Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking.

2 people found this helpful

Maggie D

A book I turn to regularly

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2013

Verified Purchase

I am an avid cook, with well over 35 years of experience of cooking every day. I have masses of cookery books, many of which are rarely looked at. But THIS one is a 'go to' regular, as I can never remember pie-crust proportions, and welcome inspiration on what to do with, say, duck legs (braise them, and serve with peas). It is honest, clear, in impeccable taste. Like Alice herself! A cherished memory is of eating in Chez Panisse 15 years ago, and using this book brings back some of the magic. I am so excited that she is bringing out another volume in October this year (2013). You won't regret buying this if you want to read, dream and cook. If you want glossy pictures and lots of modern quirky recipes that are new just for the sake of it, look elsewhere. If you want reliability, great taste, and a gentle, authoritative friend in the kitchen, then go ahead and buy!

10 people found this helpful

See more reviews

Return this item for free

Return this item for free

Follow the authors

Image Unavailable