Musical Manna

By Warren Rojas

Courtesy of Menus and Music

If gourmet cooking is all about the sights, flavors and textures of a culinary exchange, musician and epicure Sharon O’Connor wants to add a soundtrack to the intercourse of fine-dining.

Through her Menus and Music collection, O’Connor has amassed more than a dozen thematic cookbook bundles featuring recipes from select restaurants, historical asides about the food/region being explored and a companion CD scored as an audio complement to the overall dining experience.

Her “Bistro” package, for example, provides important background distinctions about various French dining institutions, including bistros (comfort food depots), brasseries (traditional brew houses) and cafes (leisurely coffeehouses). She also provides sightseeing tips (“Neighborhood Walk” pointers) for those who wish to wander about for a post-dining spell and attempts to differentiate between haute cuisine and everyday French cooking. (“In France, bistro cuisine is often called cuisine de grand-mere. The simple salads and steaks, braised stews and meats, and comforting, homespun desserts served in most bistros are the dishes you would expect to be served by a French grandmother.”)

Select bistro recipes include: traditional coq au vin, duck with new turnips, rabbit with mustard sauce, Swiss chard and fingerling potato quiche, cod steaks in creamy garlic sauce, soft-boiled eggs with morels, skate with crunchy cabbage, pastry with Armagnac-soaked prunes and caramelized rice pudding.

O’Connor’s other cookbook compilations range from Spanish-style cuisine to wine-centric resorts (including Charlottesville’s famous Clifton Inn) to “rock and roll” diners.

“Bistro.” Sharon O’Connor, assisted by Sarah Creider. Menus and Music productions, 248 pgs. $34. The “Bistro” bundle is available through www.quelobjet.com. To view O’Connor’s full line of multimedia cookbooks, visit: www.menusandmusic.com.

(April 2008)

Tags: Chew on this, recipe central