Ici La Press Cookbook By Michel Bras Wins Top French Prize

Michel Bras, the three-star Michelin chef and owner of the acclaimed restaurant and inn Relais & Chateaux in the Aubrac region of southwestern France, has been named recipient of the 2002 Prix La Mazille, the prestigious award presented annually to recognize the best cookbook of the year in French.

Bras, known for the masterful and original culinary creations introduced at his restaurant near the village of Laguiole, was chosen by the Salon International du Livre Gourmand of Perigueux to receive the 2002 Prix La Mazille for his work, "Laguiole, Aubrac, France." Bras's cookbook was published simultaneously this year in French by Editions du Rouergue and in English under the title "Essential Cuisine" (March 2002, 272 pages) by ici la press, a publishing company based in Woodbury, Connecticut.

Ici la press is committed to bringing the works of the world's finest chefs and culinary authors to the American cookbook lover. Ici la press is also publisher of "The Notebooks of Michel Bras: Desserts" (Nov. 2001, 204 pages), the first of the Bras notebook series available in English translation. He becomes the second author published by ici la press to win the Prix La Mazille: Regis Marcon, recipient of the coveted award in 2001, joins the ici la press list of books this autumn with release of the English-language edition of "Marvelous Recipes from the French Heartland" (Nov. 2002, 304 pages).

"Essential Cuisine" features more than 80 of Bras's best-loved recipes, spanning soups, appetizers, fish and meat entrees, and desserts. To make Bras's culinary masterworks more readily accessible to American chefs and home cooks, "Essential Cuisine" presents each recipe with standard American kitchen measurements as well as the metric equivalents used in French cooking. The cookbook complements these recipes with elegant photographic presentations, as well as a penetrating introduction to the life and cuisine of Michel Bras and commentaries by Bras himself throughout the book on his culinary philosophy and inspirations.

One of the most original chefs in France and the world today, Bras continues to revolutionize the culinary landscape with his inventive use of ingredients and impeccable attention to technique. Drawing on childhood memories and a consuming love for his native land, Bras has created his own signature cuisine celebrating the essentials of life -- visionary but not flamboyant, elegant but not elitist, inventive but still practical. A firm believer that the cornerstone of good cooking is to use the best available ingredients, he urges readers to use the recipes as a source of inspiration and challenges them to unleash their own creativity to make new and exciting dishes of their own.

"Essential Cuisine" also highlights Bras's deep connection to the land and his insightful artistry. A lifelong resident of the area in and around the village of Laguiole, his restaurant is located in an area of France with a long history of dedication to preserving the land and the indigenous vegetables, fruits and animals that have sustained inhabitants of the region for centuries. Aubrac is home to its own breed of cattle, its own cheese, its own sausage, and its world-famous knives. Bras was born and reared here, and he is consumed by its offerings and passionate in his respect for preservation of its natural resources.

"Essential Cuisine" offers a rare window on Bras's creative process, as in his creation in 1981 of the now-ubiquitous dessert, the coulant -- a work inspired by a family cross-country skiing trip. "The fever that led to its creation kept us in suspense for more than two years," he writes. "We cannot express the emotion, the enthusiasm we felt when the recipe was finalized. No one can take these memories from us, which is precisely why I do not feel overly irritated by the n