Robert Courtine
Robert Julien Courtine was a French food writer who also wrote under the pen names "La Reynière" and "Savarin".
Background
Courtine was a member of the far-right Action française during the 1930s, and was close to the anti-semitic journalist Henry Coston. During the German Occupation, he was an active participant in the collaborationist newspapers La France au travail and L'Appel. He left Paris in August 1944 for the Sigmaringen enclave. He was arrested in 1946 and sentenced to ten years at hard labor. The sentence was commuted in 1948, on condition that he not speak on the radio.
In 1952, Courtine joined Le Monde where, using the pen name "La Reynière", he wrote the gastronomy column until 1993.
Courtine has written many books on gastronomy. The Hundred Glories of French Cooking, translated by Derek Coltman and published in North America by Doubleday in 1973, has been described as a "culinary art gallery" with recipes from throughout France, and "simplicity is their common threadchoice ingredients carefully prepared in the simplest manner, not over-garnished or over-rich."
Publications
Drôle de macchabée, préface de Paul Reboux, A. Fleury, 1952L'assassin est à votre table, Éditions de la Pensée moderne, 1956 ; réédition, avec une préface d'Albert Simonin, la Table ronde, 1969Un gourmand à Paris, B. Grasset, 1959 Un nouveau savoir manger, B. Grasset, 1960Tous les cocktails, Gérard et Cie,1960Les Dimanches de la cuisine, la Table ronde, 1962 La Cuisine du monde entier, Gérard et Cie, 1963450 recettes originales à base de fruits, Éditions de la Pensée moderne, 1963 La Vraie cuisine française, Gérard et Cie, 1963 Célébration de l'asperge, R. Morel, 1965Toutes les boissons et les recettes au vin, Larousse, 1968 La Gastronomie, Presses universitaires de France, 1970Cent Merveilles de la cuisine française, 1971Le Guide de la cuisine française et internationale, Elvesier-Séquoia, 1972 Dictionnaire des fromages, Larousse, 1972 Le Cahier de recettes de madame Maigret, préface de Georges Simenon, Robert Laffont, 1974Balzac à table, Robert Laffont, 1976La Cuisine française : classique et nouvelle, dessins de Claudine Volckerick, Marabout, 1977 Mon bouquet de recettes, Marabout, 1977Zola à table, Robert Laffont, 1978Guide de la France gourmande, P. Bordas, 1980Toute la cuisine française et étrangère, Publimonde, 1982Dictionnaire de cuisine et de gastronomie, Larousse, 1986Les Fromages, Larousse, 1987 Le Guide de la cuisine des terroirs, La Manufacture, 1992