Wonderful. This should be in every kitchen. It is meant for the single person who wishes to eat well, "artists, poets, lazy people, secretaries," but who do not wish to be burdened with long preparations for a brief, good meal. All these recipes can be cooked in ten minutes, though the preparation for some of them may take a bit longer. All the dishes are good, a far cry from anything you can obtain in a fast food restaurant, and a good deal cheaper. Pomiane understands the chemistry of cooking. In the "Scampi American Style," a greatly abbreviated version of the famous recipes, "a 1' Americaine," he replaces the long simmering fumet by the use of Madeira. It works. The soups call for "a few small pieces of crust from stale bread," rather than croutons. This is not three-star cooking, but it is light, excellent, and very rewarding for the cook who wishes to spend as much time enjoying a meal as preparing it. The modern introduction is uneven; the suggestions for wine for cooking are good. The understanding of the stove is rather dim. The book was first published in 1930. We are lucky to have it again. It is a boon to all tired, untried, amateur, and real cooks.