Gold & Fizdale Cookbook

Arthur Gold (1917 - 1990) and Robert Fizdale (1920 - 1995) were an American two-piano ensemble; they were also authors and television cooking show hosts. Gold and Fizdale met during their student years at the Juilliard School. They formed a lifelong partnership based around their common interests of music (forming one of the most important piano duos of the 20th century), travel and cooking. They could, as the New Yorker wrote, "cook formidably". In fact, for ten years they delighted the readers of Vogue with articles on food. At last they produced a cookbook, and it is a joy to read as well as to use. In their introduction, they explain that their "cooking is international, unpretentious cuisine bourgeoise". The more than 300 recipes here are their brilliant versions of dishes drawn from the cuisines of France, Italy, Russia, Morocco, the Middle East and many regions of the United States. There is, for example, a gala French lobster stew well worth its rather elaborate preparation, and there are simple, unexpected, imaginative suggestions for meatballs and meatloaf that transform these mundane standbys into memorable eating experiences. There is the recipe for their famous praline birthday cake, with which they annually honored special friends. Famous hosts, Gold and Fizdale also offer advice on planning menus and preparing parts of a meal in advance. And because this book is a memento of "the good food we have eaten and the good friends we have shared it with", there are culinary reminiscences - "Cooking with Balanchine", a description of a long visit with the close friend George Balanchine during which he demonstrated a talent for cooking that almost matched his gifts as a choreographer (recipes included); an account of making omelets with Paul Bocuse, with a special omelet recipe for each of the four seasons; and the story of serving a North African dinner (which reader can duplicate) to Julia child, which led her to suggest that they write a cookbook.