This book is intended for those of us who love to cook - we amateurs. Directly related is that of receiving guests, preparing for a family visit, or a tete-a-tete. Clearly the cook's job is quite different in each case. The elements of a meal depend not only on the number of persons to be served, but also on the products available at each season of the year, the contents of the freezer and, finally, the family budget. If your guests' individual tastes are known, they should of course be carefully considered.
The available time for shopping, preparation and eating are also important - as is the preparation. Is the meal to be in the form of a buffet, as appropriate for a large number of guests, a formal, multicourse affair "a la francaise", or a simple casserole - one dish meal? This questions is fundamental when the choice is made of the dishes to be prepared. Perhaps these chapters will help to resolve some problems in the construction of a menu and will complement the traditional cookbooks. Above all it is hoped that this book might be a source of inspiration to the imaginative amateur in the kitchen.