A Bruno dinner

28/9/2017

This week I was sent a link to Diane'sCookbooks, a website in which the (I presume) eponymous Diane has put together a Bruno feast using the recipes on this site and taken from the Bruno novels.

She has done an absolutely wonderful job putting the meal together, and I thought I would share it with you in lieu of an English language cookbook (which we are still trying to make happen!).

To see the post in its entirety, please click here.

30 Comments

David Seaman link

28/9/2017 09:43:26 pm

We love mysteries related to the terroir. We have explored the American southwest with Tony Hillerman and others at hand. Now Bruno is our guide to the Périgord. We would love to meet Martin Walker during our October 10 to 18, 2017 visit in the region. I'l bring some of my calamondin marmalade to share.

Martin link

29/9/2017 12:47:10 am

Thank you for your kind remarks and I recall a grand family holiday following the steps of Tony Hillerman around the Dine country. But I fear I shall have to forego the marmalade -- I am on book tour in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy for the whole of October.

Monique

5/10/2017 12:13:49 am

Hi. I was wondering if Bruno's Cookbook has been published in English yet, and if so, where can we buy it.

Many thanks

Martin link

5/10/2017 03:37:26 am

I'm afraid not - it's an ongoing battle with rights.

Monique

5/10/2017 03:41:07 am

Thank you. Hope you get it sorted soon.

DONNA CARTER

14/12/2017 10:56:41 am

So enjoy the World of Bruno. Look forward to each new book. Will Bruno ever figure out that Florence is perfect for him?

Martin link

15/12/2017 12:07:59 am

Is any man every so wise?

Valerie Williams

19/10/2017 10:50:04 am

Bonjour M.Walker,
My name is Valerie Wiliams, and I live in Carpintereia, CA, a little community a few miles south of Santa Barbara. Given Bruno's popularity and fondness for the good foods and wines of the Perigord, I and a wine purveyor are planning a fund raising dinner for a local non-profit, and would like to make Bruno, his compatriots in the novels, and some of his favorite dishes the theme for the evening. If doing this infringes on copy write issues please advise. Thanks for these wonderful novels. I have learned a great deal about many things and enjoyed every word.
Sincerely,
Valerie Williams

Martin link

19/10/2017 01:51:27 pm

No worries about copyright -- but I will be in California on book tour after June 12 when my new book comes out. I know I'm in San Francisco on June 20.

Maybe we can combine things -- I've asked my daughter to send you an email contact for the book tour...

Bob Jackson

30/5/2020 05:47:55 pm

Based on our love of the Bruno books, we traveled to the Dordogne in September, 2018 and stayed in Beynac et Cazenac. We visited the markets in Sarlat, Domme, St Cypriens; caught the spectacular heritage night in Sarlat. Went to Tremolat and Limieul ( the castle); Castlenaud, Les Eyzies, Montignac and the caves; and ended our trip drinking Monbazillac in Monbazillac. Thank you for your stories, the villages, the people, the food, the wine. We loved every minute of every mile.

kip

30/11/2017 08:09:02 am

So, ther' din. In Minnnesooota, we look forward to a little dinner.

And Bruno's Cookbook, because it isn't all white, bland food, may just be better than a white Christmas. Please let me know by return email when, where, how and why it will be out. This is like following a twisty plot that only the chef in blue could reduce.

Martin link

30/11/2017 04:56:43 pm

I'm afraid there's still no news on the English cookbook, either good or bad.

Richard Lane

13/12/2017 04:30:25 am

Hi Martin - nearly through Bruno book 1 on audio (I am blind), what a treat. Currently resident in the Perigord (until summer 2018) so am relishing familiar descriptions of the area. Am passionate about Bergerac wine and have recently met Count de St Exupery at Ch Tiregande. Would love to meet you sometime, especially as I am writing a journal about our year in the purple Perigord through the eyes of my semi-retired guide dog, black lab Topper. Keen to know more about WW2 resistance which I think is one of your specialised subjects. Based in rural location between Beaumont and st Avit. Hope to hear from you, and best wishes for Christmas.

Martin link

13/12/2017 08:57:15 am

Thank you for your note and I'm delighted to learn that you enjoy the Bruno books.

I'm about to leave for the UK for Christmas and then i shall be in the US until the second half of March, next year. Perhaps we could meet then.

I know your area since every Monday evening in summer I attend the marche nocturne in Beaumont and there is a fine restaurant in St Avit.
My wife thinks the quincaillerie in Beaumont is one of her favourite shops in the world.

Best regards, Martin

Richard Lane

14/12/2017 09:22:03 am

Thanks Martin and wishing you good travels. Would love to meet up when you are back in the Perigord. Apparently our cottage nr St Avit (once part of a larger farm complex up to the late 1960s) was a nerve centre for WW2 resistance activity, being obscure/high up on a hill. We too love La Table de Leo in St Avit (our best meal here to date) and the infamous quincaillerie - where we are very well known. Best wishes, Richard

Sophie

16/5/2018 12:44:24 pm

Hi Richard, the two best books about the war and resistance in the Dordogne that I’ve read are Martin Walker’s The Caves of Perigord (sadly out of print and perhaps not an audio book but i wonder if Martin can send it to you electronically). It’s both a great story set in 3 times zones (prehistoric, w w 2 and 1980s) and fantastic feel for time and place including resistance internal politics). Also Max Hastings Das Reich which I guess will be on audio. A fairly short read but a brilliant detailed account of the movement of German troupes through the dordogne northwards around D day (and resistance attempts to hold them back). Both superb reads especially for anyone who knows the Dordogne. Sophie
(PS loved your recent interview on Radio 4 In Touch. Great positive advice to anyone touched by disability)

Dennis Walby link

5/1/2018 08:04:14 am

This week Deux Sevres weather seems a long way from sunny Perigord. Having only recently discovered the mixture of fine food and detecting in your novels, it isa wonderful way to enjoy two aspects of French life that draws so many Brits across the channel. (Reading a good book and dining). At the end of June the tiny villages of Voulmentin ( St Clementin and Voultegon as was) will be holding a festival of literature, art and food. The festival is funded with European money and having recently discovered your works, I would like to introduce them to a local audience. Are there any coptwrite restrictions in presenting extracts to a small workshop?

Martin link

11/1/2018 04:21:38 am

Absolutely no objection at all! Let me know if you'd like me to arrange for some copies for sale in either English or French. Thank you for thinking of me!

Eveline Boegborn

6/1/2018 06:17:09 am

I have a house on the Charente-Dordogne border and love your descriptions of the region. I learned more on French recent history from your Bruno books than I ever did in school! Why is the English cookbook a problem, but Amazon sells a German translation?

Martin link

11/1/2018 04:23:53 am

Sadly it's all down to licensing -- the German publishers commissioned the cookbook, and none of my English language publishers think there's a big enough market for the cookbook in English, despite the clamour for it I see on this website. We've been trying to find a way to put it out in English for several years now, but it's proving tricky thanks to the cost of image rights and so on.

Jane Byerley

14/12/2018 08:10:58 am

Was delighted to see Bruno's cookbook come up at Amazon--perfect Christmas gift for me and for my brother in law. Then hopes dashed when it appears not to be in a language I know. Sigh. Please send this entire string to your publishers who must not know how many cook-book reading foodie followers you have!
Found the Dordogne through Magnen. Enjoying it anew through Bruno.
The news round up in DC is poorer without you and Dianne. Grieving the loss--and now no English cookbook!
Alas.
Hoping for quick turnaround on publisher viewpoint.
Best to you and Bruno,
Jane

Jane Rubin-Kurtzman

17/1/2018 02:03:01 pm

I submitted a comment yesterday and am somewhat unclear how to access the reply, whenever it may appear.

Martin link

18/1/2018 05:50:27 am

I'm afraid something seems to have gone wrong, as I don't have a record of another recent comment from you... What was it you wanted to know?

Jane Rubin-Kurtzman

18/1/2018 11:51:21 am

Good morning Martin,

Thanks so much for following up. My previous comment seems to have gone astray.

I was writing to tell you how much I continue to enjoy the Inspector Bruno series, and, in particular, The Templars’ Last Secret. I believe we are kindred spirits in a way. My husband and I are occasional expats (from Santa Monica, California) who, for the last thirty years, have lived in Cabris, a small medieval village in the arrière-pays of the Alpes Maritimes. (The village was wiped out by the plague in the 9th century and reinhabited in the 11th.) We, too, are passionate about the history, culture, sights and sounds, foods, wines, and markets of our region. We, too, have many dear French friends, around whose tables we have spent long hours discussing the state of the world, the fresh tomatoes and eggplants growing in the garden, the virtues (or not) of Provence wines, and the upcoming concerts in the local churches. We have visited the Dordogne many times, and, in fact, will be there again in April, this time following your crumbs about prehistoric sites, villages, wineries, restaurants and markets we may not know. Of course, we are very hopeful that will will bump into the good Inspector B and Balzac at Café Fauquet. So, in advance, thanks so much for many enjoyable and informative hours of reading. I eagerly await the next installment.
Très amicalement, Jane

Martin link

22/1/2018 05:08:27 am

It certainly sounds as though you've found a similar idyllic life in France to the one that I enjoy, barring regional differences, of course. But there's something about the campagne that really speaks to the soul -- the sense of community, the sharing of food, the carrying on of old traditions... La belle France lives on in some way.

If you do find yourself in Bruno territory, Fauquet has changed its name to Cauet, but the croissants remain top notch. You can spot the inspiration for Bruno keeping watch on the market...

Jeanne Eichelsdoerfer

15/2/2018 05:49:30 am

Bruno books have given me so much enjoyment.and I am eager to have an English version of his cookbook. These books always sell well in this country...please don't abandon the tiresome job of publishing one.

Martin link

18/2/2018 11:05:05 pm

I'm still working on it -- we have recipes for a second cookbook ready to go, but we're still battling over image rights from the first one. In the meantime, however, there will still be a new Bruno out every year, and I shall be putting some more recipes up on this site over the course of 2018. It's not much, but at least it's something.

Diane Darrow link

25/7/2018 06:38:00 am

Dear Martin Walker,

I’m the “eponymous Diane” whose blog post about a Bruno dinner you featured here. (Thank you for that, by the way.) I thought you’d like to know that I’ve just published a post about making the entire dinner that Bruno gave Amélie, Annette, and Yveline in The Templars’ Last Secret.

You can see it here: https://dianescookbooks.wordpress.com/2018/07/25/dinner-chez-bruno-chef-de-police-and-chef-de-cuisine/

Richard Judy link

11/3/2019 09:43:15 am

Hello, Martin: From 28 September to 12 October of this year, some friends and we (wife, Jane & I) will inhabit a villa in the Dordogne near your home there. All of us are Bruno fans. Several of us have long experience in the former USSR and now Russia. One of us established Microsoft USSR just before the latter's collapse. I am are alumnus of Moscow State University and have headed up research centers focused on Eurasia. We'd love to meet you and even invite you for a dinner (one of our number is a Seattle chef) at our villa. Would such a meeting be of interest to you?

Judge Gary J. Krump

17/1/2022 12:24:35 pm

Has the Bruno cookbook been published in English yet? If so, where can I get a copy? Thanks.

A Bruno dinner

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