Jim Chevallier

Biography

Jim Chevallier is a food historian who has been cited in "The New Yorker", "The Smithsonian" and the French newspapers "Liberation" and "Le Figaro", among other publications. CHOICE has named his "A History of the Food of Paris: From Roast Mammoth to Steak Frites" an Outstanding Academic Title for 2019. His most recent work is "Before the Baguette: The History of French Bread".

He began food history with an essay on breakfast in 18th century France (in Wagner and Hassan's "Consuming Culture in the Long Nineteenth Century") in addition to researching and translating several historical works of his own.

He has been both a performer and a researcher, having worked as a radio announcer (WCAS, WBUR and WBZ-FM), acted (on NBC's "Passions", and numerous smaller projects). It was as an actor that he began to write monologues for use by others, resulting in his first collection, "The Monologue Bin". This has been followed by several others over the years.

Where to find Jim Chevallier online

Books

August Zang and the French Croissant: How Viennoiserie Came to France
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 28,490. Language: English. Published: June 2, 2022 . Categories: Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » Baking, Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » French
August Zang's Boulangerie Viennoise introduced Viennese techniques later applied to the baguette, and was known for its Viennese loaves and its kipfel - small rolls in the shape of a crescent. Or, as the French say, croissant. This work discusses Zang's bakery, its influence on French baking, and his subsequent career, notably in transforming the Austrian press.
How to Cook an Early French Peacock: De Observatione Ciborum - Roman Food for a Frankish King (Bilingual Third Edition)
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 35,390. Language: English. Published: December 9, 2021 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » Middle ages, Nonfiction » Social Science » Agriculture & food
Is Anthimus' work "the oldest European medieval cookbook"? Arguably, even if it is more a medical work - or, in modern terms, a book on nutrition, than a cookbook per se, a long letter on diet - De Observatione Ciborum - written in the 6th century by a Byzantine physician, Anthimus, sent by an Ostrogoth king to a Frankish court where the food, being for the rich, was essentially Roman.
Feasting with the Franks
Price: $9.99 USD. Words: 119,760. Language: English. Published: November 24, 2021 . Categories: Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » French, Nonfiction » History » European » Europe / France
(5.00 from 1 review)
"Feasting with the Franks" takes a detailed look at the food of the Franks; that is, the Merovingians and the Carolingians, the first medieval dynasties in France. It surveys the food and drink available during these early centuries in France, and questions around these.
Before the Baguette: The History of French Bread
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 89,490. Language: English. Published: November 22, 2019 . Categories: Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » French, Nonfiction » History » European » Europe / France
A history of French bread from the first Neolithic flat breads up to the baguette, and an overview of developments since.
Bread, Pastry and Sweets in Old Regime France
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 59,490. Language: English. Published: October 14, 2014 . Categories: Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » Baking, Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » Desserts
Le Grand d'Aussy traces the history of French bread, pastry and sweets, with his usual (eighteenth century) mix of meticulous research, wry remarks and colorful anecdotes. If your passion is for pain bourgeois, pain mollet, pasties, wafers, waffles, ginger or pine nut paste or any of the other rich array of products produced over the centuries by French bakers and confectioners, this is for you.
Beer, Cider and Spirits in Old Regime France
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 27,810. Language: English. Published: September 28, 2014 . Categories: Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » Beverages - Beer, Nonfiction » History » Europe / Austria & Hungary
This excerpt from Le Grand d'Aussy's classic work on the history of French private life explores the history of beer, cider and spirits in France from the Gauls to Le Grand's own time (the late eighteenth century).
Feasts and All Their Finery: Elegant Dining in Old Regime France
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 34,170. Language: English. Published: February 6, 2014 . Categories: Nonfiction » Social Science » Agriculture & food, Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » French
Le Grand draws on a classic cookbook and several forgotten memoirs to bring a wealth of details on menus, table decoration, royal households, customs, and entertainments to those who study the Middle Ages, food history, decoration or simply France in all its infinite variety. For the first time, this rich and unique text is available in English.
Eggs, Cheese and Butter in Old Regime France
Series: Le Grand d'Aussy's History of French Food. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 9,480. Language: English. Published: January 14, 2013 . Categories: Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » History, Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » French
Green eggs were popular once, and long before Dr. Seuss, in France. Poached eggs were served with orange juice and spices. These are just a few of the facts found in the brief but wide-ranging chapter the eighteenth century writer Le Grand d'Aussy included on eggs and dairy products in his three volumes on the history of French food.
Catholic Fasting in France - From the Franks to the Eighteenth Century
Series: Le Grand d'Aussy's History of French Food. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 18,100. Language: English. Published: January 7, 2013 . Categories: Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » French, Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Catholicism
Is bacon fat meat? Chicken? Cheese? Eggs? All of these have been considered, at different times, meat or meatless foods by the Catholic Church. The eighteenth century historian Le Grand d'Aussy included several long passages on the complex history of Catholic fasting in France in his master work on the history of French food and these are collected and translated here for the first time.
Apres Moi le Dessert: A French Eighteenth Century Model Meal
Price: $4.95 USD. Words: 13,750. Language: English. Published: July 17, 2012 . Categories: Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » History, Nonfiction » History » European » Europe / France
Original eighteenth century recipes - most newly translated from French - selected to match a "model meal" given in a classic period cookbook. Recipes appear for three services: FIRST SERVICE (Soups and entrees) - SECOND SERVICE (roasts) - THIRD SERVICE (Entremets) - and range from chickens in galantine to fried testicles.
About the Baguette: Exploring the Origin of a French National Icon
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 30,450. Language: English. Published: July 14, 2012 . Categories: Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » Baking, Nonfiction » History » European » Europe / France
Where did the baguette come from? A simple enough question, but this search for an answer ranges from the long breads of Babylon and Egypt to the first long (but wide) breads in France to the gradual evolution of long narrow breads from the eighteenth into the twentieth century, resulting in both the roll-sized "flute" and the gigantic jockos of the nineteenth century.
BULLIES: Monologues on Bullying For Teens and Adults
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 12,390. Language: English. Published: September 15, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Plays & Screenplays » American, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Drama
This collection of original monologues looks at this national problem from many different points of view: those of the victims and the bullies, of teachers and parents, of bystanders who may or may not step in. It focuses on high school, but also looks at how bullying occurs in college and the adult world, and at the scars it may leave years later.
A History of Wine in France from the Gauls to the Eighteenth Century
Series: Le Grand d'Aussy's History of French Food. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 28,500. Language: English. Published: August 17, 2011 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » History of things, Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » Wine
One of the most complete histories of wine in France was written in the eighteenth century, a long chapter within Le Grand d'Aussy's work on French food and wine. Le Grand starts with the Gauls, Greeks and Romans and the introduction of wine into France and continues through the centuries, discussing the appearance of the bottle, the best wines and grapes of his time and a host of other details.
The Monologue Bin
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 31,280. Language: English. Published: August 9, 2011 . Categories: Screenplays » Drama, Fiction » Plays & Screenplays » American
A collection of over 100 original monologues for teen and adult actors. Includes all the monologues from "Monologues for Teens and Twenties".
Paris Poems
Price: Free! Words: 2,530. Language: English. Published: August 4, 2011 . Categories: Poetry » American poetry » African American, Poetry » Themes & motifs » Places
Paris, art, poetry - they go together so well. This original collection includes a number of poems on Paris, the Seine, the gargoyles of Notre Dame, the shifting moods of the city and the nostalgia it inspires. A quirky homage to garlic ("Saloon") is followed by a number of poems on great art (Picasso, Renoir, Japanese prints). The collection ends with an elegy to the author's mother.
A Tour of Two Cities: 18th Century London and Paris Compared
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 21,710. Language: English. Published: July 27, 2011 . Categories: Nonfiction » Travel » By region » Europe, Nonfiction » History » European » Europe / Baltic States
This new translation offers readers of English a unique look at eighteenth century London and England generally, compared to Paris and France in the same period. It was written by the sharp-tongued and observant journalist Linguet, whose observations range from overviews of official institutions like the Law and religion to descriptions of houses, furniture, markets. etc.
The Man with Two Heads and His Friends from the Fair: Monologues Inspired by French 18th Century Fairs
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 4,680. Language: English. Published: October 21, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Plays & Screenplays » American
This playful collection of 14 original monologues gives voice to characters and observers from the 18th century French fairs. Before the Revolution, these were a prime source of entertainment for people of all classes. Among those who speak in these monologues are a man with two heads, a rope dancer, a strong woman, a marionettist, a tumbler, and the maker of an automaton: a colorful assortment!
The Old Regime Police Blotter I: Bloodshed, Sex & Violence In Pre-Revolutionary France
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 38,310. Language: English. Published: December 30, 2009 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » European » Europe / France
Eighteenth century true crime! - A source book of homicide, suicide, rape and prostitution cases from 18th century France, most from previously untranslated material. Sources include periodicals, police reports and contemporary true crime accounts. Includes a look at the Marquis de Sade and his kidnapping and torture of Rose Keller. These cases themselves are rich with period detail.
How To Cook A Peacock: Le Viandier: Medieval Recipes From The French Court
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 15,910. Language: English. Published: December 29, 2009 . Categories: Nonfiction » History » Middle ages, Nonfiction » Cooking, Food, Wine, Spirits » European
In the fourteenth century, French kings prized such fare as peacock, storks and herons. Guillaume Tirel not only cooked these dishes, he left a book on how to do it. Le Viandier has survived in at least four different versions. Now Jim Chevallier has translated the so-called Fifteenth Century version, making it available to recreational medievalists, food historians and students of medieval life.
Monologues for Teens and Twenties (2nd edition)
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 13,620. Language: English. Published: December 28, 2009 . Categories: Fiction » Plays & Screenplays » Anthologies
A collection of monologues for young adults from their teens to their twenties, organized by age group and gender. Monologues from this collection have been included in two other anthologies. This second edition includes revised versions of two monologues as well as three additional monologues.
Suicide Monologues for Actors and Others
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 8,180. Language: English. Published: December 28, 2009 . Categories: Nonfiction » Health, wellbeing, & medicine » Mental health, Plays » American / African American
A collection of original monologues, exploring the issues around suicide from multiple viewpoints. Grouped into four sections, for use individually (for class, performance, auditions, etc.) or as a complete production.
Thirty Monologues for Teens
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 7,020. Language: English. Published: December 26, 2009 . Categories: Fiction » Literature » Plays & Screenplays
Thirty teen voices - flirting, mocking, musing, some fun, some serious, on subjects as different as loss, texting and (yes) spaceships. Monologues for practice, class, audition and performance from the author of "Monologues for Teens and Twenties". NOTE: Certain of these pieces - based on experiences of actual teens - address difficult issues which may be considered "Adult" by some readers.

Jim Chevallier's tag cloud

abuse    acting    acting class    auditions    august zang    austrian press    automatons    bacon    baguette    baking history    banquets    blue cheese    bottle    bread baking    bread history    brie    bullies    charlemagne    chicken galantine    church councils    class    comedy    cooking    crime    crime and criminals    croissant    cultural history    cyberbullying    daily life    dining customs    drama    dramatic monologues    echaude    eggs    eighteenth century food    eighteenth century france    elegy    entertainment    entremets    executions    fairs    fasting    fear    festivities    fighting back    food history    fowl    franks    french bread    french cooking    french history    fried testicles    gargoyles    garlic    gauls    grief and loss    haiku    healing    history of beer    history of cider    history of spirits    hypocras    indoor plumbing    japanese prints    jocko    lean days    macaroon    marzipan    mature actors    medieval    medieval food    medieval meals    merovingians    monks    monologues    mourning    nieule    notre dame    old regime    olio    oublies    pain benit    pain bourgeois    pain marchand de vin    parenting    paris    paris hospital    parlement    parmesan    peach beignets    perfornance    picasso    piment    pliny    police records    practice    prerevolutionary france    promenades    prostitution    rape    recipes    recovery books    renoir    roman food    royal court    salted butter    smoked wine    suicide    survivors    table decorations    taillevent    teens    thames    the seine    theater    viennoiserie    wine    wine skins    winesellers   

Smashwords book reviews by Jim Chevallier

  • Smashwords Style Guide on Dec. 21, 2009

    I've only glanced at it so far, but it appears to be excellent. And not only for publishing works here. Anyone planning to publish on the Kindle, for instance, would do well to read it, for a strong understanding of the peculiarities of this new mode of publication.