Review by Ian Keogh

Having come up with a successful formula for strips published in French newspaper Le Monde, Guillaume Long makes no alterations to the evangelical advice about food and drink. This is very much as we were in Volume 1. The one marked difference is a satirical introductory strip about Long’s luxury lifestyle funded by the success of his strip, after which it’s business as usual.

It’s welcome that the tour sections offer greater variety. A trip to Stockholm is again a sketchy travel diary reducing the insights of the surrounding strips, but does reveal Long’s surprising endorsement of Burger King. Apparently there are differences in quality between the American burger franchises. The other two insert sections are more appealing, illustrating the stages of brewing beer and the experience of a radio interview. The brewery strip is all the more interesting for Long not actually liking beer, and dreading having to taste it, and the radio interview sets up a great joke at the end.

For English language readers into food and drink this will instil a sense of wonder about the sheer variety of what’s available to Long in France. The pages include a recipe for beer-braised rabbit, how to prepare salsify, and uses for black radish and pink peppercorns (actually courtesy of Long’s mother). Read and be very envious. However, Long also includes simple recipes that have perhaps become diminished over time. Want to make a world beating spaghetti carbonara? Look no further than page 81. This reviewer can confirm the butternut squash risotto is a treat as well, although 14oz of rice results in a quantity most would consider far more than two people need, even allowing for the leftovers Long likes.

Long further includes so many great tips in passing, such as the way to avoid red fingers when peeling beetroot, the creation of pickled cherries and there’s the frequent reinforcement that pasta shouldn’t be timed, but tasted. Long does, however, reinforce the chef’s tyranny that it needs to be al dente, when the truth is that however you like it is fine, and there are plenty of restaurants in Italy where the family tradition is to ensure it’s soft.

As seen on the sample art, the featured cooking gadget this time is the boiled egg slicer, reinforcing that the French method of boiling eggs is to add them to already boiling water. The art is sketchy cartooning, but extremely effective in transmitting both anecdotes and recipes, even if Long hates drawing anchovies. Amusingly, he was once told by another cartoonist he needn’t worry about featuring personalities as his drawing is a guarantee of anonymity.

Given greater prominence this time are the surreal fantasies incorporating recipes, such as the US President needing foie gras, but let’s narrow things down to one great feature. How about ‘10 Simple Responses for When Someone Asks You to Clear Your Plate’? They’re entirely appropriate, if unlikely to reach the children they’re aimed at.

So another great collection. Bring on Volume 3.