Thomas Jefferson's Creme Brulee: How a Founding Father and His Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America

This was an interesting and well researched book that approached Thomas Jefferson from a different angle. It was too bad that this man who was so sensitive to plants and the environment was so insensitive to his fellow human beings. He died too in debt to free his slaves, yet he had over 600 bottles of wine in his cellar. He enslaved even his own children. Really difficult to be as sympathetic to him as this author was. But the book is very informative and fascinating, and I learned a lot about French cooking.

To call this food literature would be a bit of a stretch. It wasn't what I expected--and in fact it read like the author tried to stretch just a few facts about food into a whole book. Nevertheless, I found the book well written, and there was enough history in it to keep it interesting. I like early U.S. history so I wasn't disappointed. If you are looking for a book packed with information about food in the post-Revolutionary era, particular as it existed in the United States, you'll probably be disappointed. However, if you are interested in Thomas Jefferson and to a lesser extent, John Adams, you will find this an interesting take.

Book is in like new condition. I wouldn’t be able to tell this one from a “new” book off the shelf. Very pleased with the book and how fast it got here. We are reading this for a book/dinner club. I’m looking forward to it!

Our book club chose this book on a member's recommendation. Found the book to be informative and entertaining. Not information found in the textbooks. Exposed a different side of one of our founding fathers. Would urge anyone interested in colonial cooking and a touch of history to consider this book. .

While I enjoyed reading this rather brief book, I was also rather disappointed with it. Craughwell writes clearly and engagingly, but all he has done here is compile information and ideas from other sources - there's no new research included here. As a result, the book is a bit flimsy, and often strays from the story into little digressions, that often give the impression of simply trying to add another page or two to the book, to bulk it out into something publishable as a book rather than a magazine article. I was particularly disappointed in the lack of material on James Hemings and Craughwell's failure to add anything new to his story over and above Annette Gordon-Reed's "The Hemingses of Monticello" from 2008. As such, it's a nice and pleasingly-readable compilation of other people's research, but rather insubstantial too. And, as one other reviewer notes, the inclusion of some of Heming's recipes was one of the reasons I bought this, but they're reproduced from the originals in not overly clear scans - couldn't transcripts have been provided at the very least?

It was very interesting getting a glimpse of this founding father. I enjoyed documenting his wine trip and might copy the route myself next time I am there. It was fascinating to understand that the US was just this big forest with Jefferson and friends off in Europe trying to find industry, plants and machines to import to form an infrastructure to evolve into the Capitalist economic dominance we have achieved today. Good, fun, quick read.

A very interesting book. It shows the true roots of French cuisine here in America. It also gives you a glimpse into the differences in American and European society. The book also serves as a grim reminder of slavery in the U.S. I don't know that I'd trust any of the recipes though - they're hard to read and the techniques and tools (i.e., hot shovel) are outdated. I did find the recipes interesting from a historical perspective though.

I read this book and loved it. It is a peek into Jefferson's life in Europe. You understand him better as a human being, an entrepreneur, a politician, and, ahah, as a rascal. I thoroughly enjoyed this book; I've gifted it many times to my friends who love him OR love gourmet food OR love to argue over politics. It is very giftable. All who have read it have raved about it. It can be read in several hours or in one long evening. I highly recommend it, esp if you are interested in knowing about Jefferson -- juicy tidbits or much more about his life and times.

Fascinating

Was very disappointed in this book, thought there would be more recipes in this book the one or two that are you can't read no clear at all. Its about a trip to Europe. not a cook book at all. The author wasted my time. Not at all what I was lead to believe

Let's say 3 1/2 stars. I wonder if this started as Craugwell's PhD thesis because that's how it reads. MASSES of footnotes, which I didn't bother with (although I normally would) because I was reading the Kindle version and just couldn't figure out how to do it efficiently. It's an interesting book about Jefferson; how many of us read anything about early America after we finish school? So the history was useful and Jefferson was interesting - clay feet and all - but as for this purporting to be the history of James Hemings, his inherited-from-his-father-in-law slave (and the father in law's bastard son), well, there was much more surmise than fact. Which, given that Hemings probably didn't keep a diary, nor did anyone think to write anything down about him, makes sense. But the title is somewhat misleading. I had actually thought to make some of the recipes, particularly the creme brulee, but again, given the Kindle version, I couldn't read the photocopies of anything. Worth a read, but only if expectations are managed.

A different perspective of Thomas Jefferson. It details his trip to Europe in the 18th Century with his black chef and the recipes they discovered and subsequently brought back to the US which influenced American cuisine. A gentle read, nothing startling.