Alice B. Toklas was an American writer and a central figure within Paris's early 20th-century avant-garde scene. Serving as Gertrude Stein's confidante, lover, and companion, she became integral to the literary and artistic life of her era. Her own literary contributions, while often overshadowed by Stein's, offer a unique perspective on culture and Parisian life. Though often perceived as a background figure for much of her life, her influence on artistic circles was undeniable.
When Alice B. Toklas was asked to write a memoir, she initially refused. Instead, she wrote The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book, a sharply written, deliciously rich cookbook memorializing meals and recipes shared by Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Wilder, Matisse, and Picasso. And of course by Alice and Gertrude themselves
Long before Julia Child discovered French cooking, Alice B. Toklas was sampling local dishes, collecting recipes, and cooking for the writers, artists, and expats who lived in Paris between the wars. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Wilder, Matisse, and Picasso shared meals at the home she kept with Gertrude Stein, who famously memorialized her in The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book, however, is her true a collection of traditional French recipes that predates Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Toklas supplies familiar recipes such as coq au vin, bouillabaisse, and boeuf bourguignon, along with what is perhaps the earliest instructions for haschich fudge (“which anyone could whip up on a rainy day"), and she entertains with fascinating memories of Paris-Toklas' home for most of her life-and of rural France, Spain, and America.