A review by rkwdc
Thomas Jefferson's Creme Brulee: How a Founding Father and His Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America by Thomas J. Craughwell

3.0

Perhaps owing to the lack of historical documentation about the subject of how Thom. Jefferson and his slave James Hemings introduced French Cuisine to America, the book primarily sidetracks into sketches of such topics as Jefferson's travels through southern France and into Italy, taxation and the seeds of the French Revolution, and gardening at Monticello, all of which are covered elsewhere to much more detail and lasting impression. Not that this little tyke of a book is poorly written: it is not. It simply cannot deliver on the promise of the title, and is loaded with speculation like "Paris must of dazzled [Hemings]" and "[Hemings] may have wandered into working-class neighborhoods."