Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One (1) (Fortieth - 40th

Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One (1) (Fortieth - 40th - Anniversary Edition) | Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, ... | This is a Classic

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Mastering The Art ...

	Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One (1) (Fortieth - 40th - Anniversary Edition) Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, ... Alfred A. Knopf, 2001 - 752 pages average customer review:based on 69 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Incomparable--the one book you need to begin cooking!

This was the first cookbook I bought for myself and my wife after we were married 34 years ago and had migrated to Perth, Australia from San Francisco. I knew almost nothing about cooking and Julia, along with Simone and Louisette, taught me how to cook.

The book is far, far more than a collection of recipes; it is a university course in French cooking but after plumbing the depths of souffle's and quenelles, terrines and crepes, you can attack any recipe from virtually any region of the world. It might be like climbing Everst as your first mountain--after that everything is a piece of cake [pardon the expression].

Even as a total neophyte, and this is not to pat myself on the back, the explicit and extremely clear directions will lead, after a careful reading, to a successfully completed, eminently enjoyable and some would say, very complicated dish suitable for any luncheon or dinner. These three women have drained away from these recipes all the little blank spots that inevitably occur in most recipes; those little places where the recipe does not fully explain the next step. The women that wrote this superb book, really a manual about how to cook, dissected the recipe steps precisely to the extent that there are no blanks anywhere in any of the recipes that I have tried and I have tried a great many in the 30 plus years I have been cooking from the book.

At this point one may well ask, "Why am I writing these comments now, thirty-some years after buying and using the book"? The answer is that last night I made a pork chop with a mustard-cream sauce that was superb, as usual, and believe me that says infinitely more about the clearity of the book than my cooking. I love the number of sauces in the book so I looked specifically at the second chapter about sauces to find some for vegetables. It has been my primary cook book for all these years and I wanted to write something complementyary about this fabulous work.

Treat the book like a university textbook--read it carefully, underline appropriate passages and then go back and take written notes on the material; you won't be disappointed and you will learn cooking, "... the way its 'spossed to be".

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This is a Classic

On the cover of this hardcover classic is the following statement: "The only cookbook that explains how to create authentic French dishes in American kitchens with American foods". I think this was key to the success of this cookbook; you could use what you could find and not have to scour the earth for the right ingredients.

I was looking at the copyright on the book. My mother gave me hers about two decades ago; but the original date on her edition was October 16, 1961 (amazing) and this book is every bit as useful for me today as it was for my mother.

The chapters are laid out as follows:

Kitchen Equipment
Definitions
Ingredients
Measures
Temperatures
Cutting
Wines (offering the right accompaniment to each dish)
Chapter I - Soups (onion, potato, cream of sorrel, cabbage, fish)
Chapter II - Sauces (white, brown, tomato, hollandaise, vinagrettes, etc.)
Chapter III - Eggs (poached, shirred, scrambed, omelettes)
Chapter IV - Fish (even recipes from Provence)
Chapter V - Poultry (roasted, casserole, sauteed, duck and goose, etc.)
Chapter VII - Meat (beef, lamb, veal, ports , kidneys)
Chapter VIII - Vegetables (greens, carrot, cabbages, etc)
Chapter IX - Cold Buffet (aspics, mousses, pates, etc.)
Chapter X - Desserts and Cakes (souffles, tarts, savarins, and much more)

The recipe for the bouillabaisse alone (page 52 and 53) is well worth investing in this cookbook. Julia Child knew what she was doing and the adaptation of these classic techniques to the American kitchen is stunning. I noticed that there was a paperback available as well; the hardcopy is the one that I would get so that it could stand the test of time like mine has. Bon appetit.

Bentley/2007

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One

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A must have!

Everyone should have this book! There is nothing like learning French cooking from the Goddess herself, Julia Child!
After reading this book and cooking with Julia you will become French!!!
Oh la la!!!

Appreciative of Speedy Delivery.

Overseas 'customers'of Amazon are disadvantaged by the price of postage and often waiting time therefore it was gratifying to get 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' within a few days. It is helpful for our customs if such packages are marked 'BOOK ONLY'. The book was in prisine condition. All books I have bought through Amazon have been in the condition stated but occasionally have taken a long time to arrive.
Jan Birmingham, Sydney.

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Solid Book

A substantial book, with none of the usual colour photos, relying on limited black and white line drawings. Good range of recipes although some of the favorite French ones are missing, presumed in Vol 2. Good instructions and general how-to instructions. Overall a good book of na older style.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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