'La Passion de Dodin-Bouffant' is an adaptation of the French novel from 1924 by Marcel Rouff. The adaptation and art is by Mathieu Burniat.

Dodin-Bouffant likes to eat good food. When his cook Eugenie suddenly dies, he is left without someone to cook for him. Throughout a series of funny auditions,he finally meets a woman named Adele. She is a bit rough around the edges, but with Dodin-Boufffant's guidance, she hones her skills. When Dodin-Bouffant invites royalty to dinner though, he is in danger of having Adele hired away from him.

I've not read the original novel, but I really enjoyed this adaptation. There are notes about the original novel included, and I really liked this comedic story that revolved around food and love. The art is charming and fits well. I really liked the album of full page drawings at the end that have the feel of 19th century cartoons.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

A truly delightful story about a French gourmand and foodie philosopher and his quest to find a chef who can keep up with his peerless palate. When his chef dies suddenly, he goes on a quest to find another. Fortunately, he finds his match in Adele, a down-to-earth woman who has a passion for farm-fresh ingredients and a willingness to follow Dodin-Bouffant's guidance to create meals that are out of this world. The fun romantic twist to this story comes when a wealthy prince comes to dine at Dodin-Bouffant's home, and conspires to hire away his culinary muse.

The art is simple but full of energy and humor, and lots and lots of tasty food scenes. Sure to appeal to fans of cooking shows, historical fiction, and even food-centric comics like Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma and movies like Babette's Feast.

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach – but it can be a very expensive journey, if these pages are to go by. Historical French fiction revamped into a lovely and appealing comic book, this is a simple tale of complex and pompous cooking, but really will get the literary taste-buds going whatever your choice of cuisine. Wonderful.

I think this is the fastest I’ve read any book. Wafting through the pages, dipping in and out of the beautiful food descriptions and preparations with a neat little love story tied to it.

A graphic rendition to Marcel Rouff’s 1924 book called The Life and Passion of Dodin-Bouffant, Mathieu Burnait's adaptation is heartening read which makes you worry, cry, squeal in delight, make your heart race and leaves you with an ooooooo in the end.

A must-read for anyone who enjoys food, loves reading about food or even holds French gastronomy in the slightest of regard. I can just think a list of people who would love to read it.

#DodinBouffantGourmetExtraordinaire #NetGalley

It's difficult to give lengthy feedback on graphic novels, as they are so quickly consumed, and often (unless it's a behemoth like Watchmen, for example) the story is meant to be short and sweet.
However! Whilst this review might be short, it is also positive. The art style managed to evoke the turn of the century French bourgeoisie - those long faces turned up in condescending pity for those beneath them! And the colour scheme both complimented the food whilst not being garish - I particularly liked the use of red shading.
As for the story, it made me smile! It made me think of French food, gastronomes, Curnonsky, Julia Child... And it made me hungry! It evokes the correct response. It also made me want to go and read the source text, to read more about Dodin's life.
Recommended.

This is such a fun little book. If you are familiar with Brillat=Savarin and the cooking techniques of his time you’ll enjoy the recipes and how they’re illustrated here. A perfect little gift for the gourmet in your life!