Product Description
Revised edition of the classic cookbook, originally published in 1961.Amazon.com Review
This is the classic cookbook, in its entirety—all 524 recipes.

“Anyone can cook in the French manner anywhere,” wrote Mesdames Beck, Bertholle, and Child, “with the right instruction.” And here is the book that, for more than forty years, has been teaching Americans how.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking is for both seasoned cooks and beginners who love good food and long to reproduce at home the savory delights of the classic cuisine, from the historic Gallic masterpieces to the seemingly artless perfection of a dish of spring-green peas. This beautiful book, with more than 100 instructive illustrations, is revolutionary in its approach because:

• it leads the cook infallibly from the buying and handling of raw ingredients, through each essential step of a recipe, to the final creation of a delicate confection;

• it breaks down the classic cuisine into a logical sequence of themes and variations rather than presenting an endless and diffuse catalogue of recipes; the focus is on key recipes that form the backbone of French cookery and lend themselves to an infinite number of elaborations—bound to increase anyone’s culinary repertoire;

• it adapts classical techniques, wherever possible, to modern American conveniences;

• it shows Americans how to buy products, from any supermarket in the United States, that reproduce the exact taste and texture of the French ingredients, for example, equivalent meat cuts, the right beans for a cassoulet, or the appropriate fish and seafood for a bouillabaisse;

• it offers suggestions for just the right accompaniment to each dish, including proper wines.Since there has never been a book as instructive and as workable as Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the techniques learned here can be applied to recipes in all other French cookbooks, making them infinitely more usable. In compiling the secrets of famous cordons bleus, the authors have produced a magnificent volume that is sure to find the place of honor in every kitchen in America.Bon appétit!

Julie & Julia is now a major motion picture (releasing in August 2009) starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child. It is partially based on Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France. Enjoy these images from the film, and click the thumbnails to see larger images.

Customer Reviews (298)

i, dondn't receive at these time anything an i want to know what happends thank you.
i'm very ungry because i bought my book two months ago and it had to arrived at Octtober 19th but these does'nt happend, i only want to know when will i have my book? thank you.

How Did I Cook Without This One???
I have a cookbook collection, but for some reason, fear perhaps, never bought this book.I finally broke down, and have not been disappointed with anything I made using this book.The instructions are clear.The ingredients are not hard to find.I have learned techniques that I will use in other dishes.Just cannot beat this book!A very belated Thankyou, Julia.

everything you ever wanted to know about French cooking but were afraid to ask
I learned how to cook by watching Ms. Julia Child on PBS. She has always been one of, if not my very favorite, TV cooking chef. Ms. Child's on-air recipes were always so practical and forgiving because she not only gave recipes but also taught a method and had a wonderful attention to detail that has remained uncompromised.

Recently when Ms. Child's show was put back into rotation on The Cooking Channel I started watching her shows again and celebrating her recipes (she is truly the only cook that I can watch, get the method and make the dish without any complications, mistakes or a need for a paper recipe). And I was amazed to find that I did not have any of her cookbooks in my kitchen library. So I immediately decided to purchase her most famous cookbook (and her very first), "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

The book was first published in 1961, is hard cover and a total of 684 pages in length. The book includes diagrams, pictures, as well as an index and a glossary.

And although I know my way around the kitchen, I have to admit that the book is somewhat intimidating. It is truly a wealth of information for absolutely everyone that appreciates the fine creation of French culinary cooking.

The contents of the book include chapters and sections on these topics: kitchen equipment, definitions (basic translations from French to American-English), ingredients (how to find some of the rather unusual items in American supermarkets and what to substitute), measures (or conversions), temperatures, cutting, wines (I don't drink, but even if you don't this is still handy to read because we all entertain), soups, sauces, eggs, entrees and luncheon dishes, fish, poultry, meat, vegetables, cold buffet, and desserts and cakes.

So far I have made a couple of the recipes from the poultry chapter and what I like about this book is that Ms. Child lays everything out so neatly and explicitly in each recipe. She even lists all of the utensils that will be needed for each dish.

This is would make a fantastic book for a new bride because it includes descriptive information on both serving and preparing lavish and basic dinners. I also recommend this book to both the amateur cook (like myself) as well as the longstanding professional because we can all learn something new about French cooking. And who better to teach us than the one and only Julia Child.

Gift for my 13 year old granddaughter
She requested it and has been thrilled by it.She is learning to cook and shows great promise.I am not a cook.I don't find any fascination with it except to eat what she prepares and she prepares well.

Quick Delivery
I had to turn in the book from my library, so I ordered one for my permanent use.The vender was quick and there were no problems with this item. ... Read more

Product Description
The perfect gift for any follower of Julia Child—and any lover of French food. This boxed set brings together Mastering the Art of French Cooking, first published in 1961, and its sequel, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two, published in 1970.

Volume One is the classic cookbook, in its entirety—524 recipes.
“Anyone can cook in the French manner anywhere,” wrote Mesdames Beck, Bertholle, and Child, “with the right instruction.” And here is the book that, for nearly fifty years, has been teaching Americans how.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking is for both seasoned cooks and beginners who love good food and long to reproduce at home the savory delights of the classic cuisine, from the historic Gallic masterpieces to the seemingly artless perfection of a dish of spring-green peas. The techniques learned in this beautiful book, with more than one hundred instructive illustrations, can be applied to recipes in all other French cookbooks, making them infinitely usable. In compiling the secrets of famous Cordon Bleu chefs, the authors produced a magnificent volume that continues to have a place of honor in American kitchens.

Volume Two is the sequel to the great cooking classic—with 257 additional recipes.
Following the publication of the celebrated Volume One, Julia Child and Simone Beck continued to search out and sample new recipes among the classic dishes and regional specialties of France—cooking, conferring, tasting, revising, perfecting. Out of their discoveries they made, for Volume Two, a brilliant selection of precisely those recipes that not only add to the repertory but, above all, bring the reader to a new level of mastery of the art of French cooking.

Each of these recipes is worked out step-by-step, with the clarity and precision that are the essence of the first volume. Five times as many drawings as in Volume One make the clear instructions even more so.

Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of this volume is that it will make Americans actually more expert than their French contemporaries in two supreme areas of cookery: baking and charcuterie. In France one can turn to the local bakery for fresh and expertly baked bread, or to neighborhood charcuterie for pâtés and terrines and sausages. Here, most of us have no choice but to create them for ourselves.
Bon appétit!
... Read more

Customer Reviews (123)

Ewing
This is the most amazing set of cookbooks ever written. Not only does Julia Child give step by step instructions, she also gives the "how to fix it" if the recipe does not work out the first time. She warns you before you begin, so if there is a problem, you are already warned about what to look for and how to correct it. Never in all my cooking experience, about 50 years now, have I been given such detailed information. Julia Child wanted us to really get it right and enjoy ourselves in the kitchen. We owe her so much. I also read her book, "My Years in France" and realized how intelligent this woman was to adapt French recipes to the U.S. market, even changing ingredients and measurements to obtain the same effect, thus giving us her "no fail" recipes. I just may never turn to another cookbook. This one is definitive.

Great product, great service
I received the item as shown, in super condition (new and unwrapped) and in just a few days.The price was within my "very reasonable" range.I am very pleased with the sender on all counts and Amazon, of course, continues to rock!

Outdated, but Really Good
A cookbook without pictures these days is just silly.I understand that this is NOT a recent work and is therefore excused on that point.That aside....the book(s) is excellent.The recipes are described very well and unlike other cookbooks, some of the procedures have a reason WHY.Nice.My wife and I have decided to try the recipes for special occasions making it a day-long event:choosing various recipes for a complete meal including desert, going shopping together to buy the ingredients, preparing everything together and then enjoying the meal together with a glass of our favorite wine.I highly recommend the book----at least for THAT purpose.

YUMMY!
Great books! If you want to learn about French cooking.... This will teach you a plethera!

Just as I expected
I loved these books. They look beautiful both individually and in their case. And, most important, they are really wonderful cook books. I consider myself a good cook and with a certain experience, and these recipes have not disappointed me. And they are SO detailed that they do not leave space to doubts that some times arise even when you know how to cook (e.g. "should I in this case leave the preparation boiling covered, uncovered or partially covered?"); well, all this points are very clear. In a couple of weeks I've prepared plenty of the recipes, from asparagus soup, onion soup, vanilla souffle, quiche lorraine, braised beef, chicken "a la ancienne", strawberry tart, pear tart... in general all the recipes are "time intensive", even the soup may demand two-hours work, but they are really worth it, believe me. They are also not exactly "fat free", butter and egg yolks are usual ingredients, but as Julia says: "small portions, no seconds, no snacking... enjoy and bon appetit!!"... I enjoy them with no gilt!! ... Read more

Product Description
Here is the sequel to the great cooking classic. Each of the new recipes is worked out step-by-step, with the clarity and precision that are the essence of the first volume. 5 times as many drawings as in Vol. I make the clear instructions even more so. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Excellent!!
I love these cookbooks!! Julia Child makes cooking French food "easy" to follow.The recipes are well written and even a little comical. French cooking takes a while, but it is so worth it.
My husband cannot get enough of it........every day I hear, "Is Julia helping you with dinner tonight?". Don't be surprised if your friends start dropping by to say hello around dinner time.
I highly recommend Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume I and Volume II.

A note on the index.
An earlier reviewer gave this item one star because they thought the index was useless. The Index in volume two is an index for both volumes.I believe the previous reviewer misunderstood that.For example the Mushroom Appetizer recipe they were looking for says "I: 202" meaning volume 1, page 202.This may have confused the reviewer but it is not a defect in the book.

On another note the book is well bound so it should last for many years of kitchen use.

Learning the meaning of cooking
Cooking has always been fun for me, but now I am loving it, because Julia goes to great depth explaining why, you let the eggs come to room temperature before beating, and why you dry off the meat before browning. All questions and steps in cooking that I now know not to skip, because of Julia. Great teaching tool. I love it. If you want to know why you need to do a step, then this is the book for you....You can sit down and read this cookbook like a BOOK. It is amazing. If you don't know about Julia Child, then pick the cookbook
'Julia's Kitchen Wisdom'.Happy Cooking...

Nice reference
I like the emphasis on technique rather than on recipes. I wish I could found more books like this.

Julia Child cookbook
My wife REALLY wanted this as a companion to volume one. She loves cookbooks that also tell a story and give the flavor of the region; Julia Child does just this. This was the hardcover edition, NEW, perfect condition, and reasonably priced. Thanks Amazon! ... Read more

Product Description
A beautiful reprint of Edouard de Pomiane’s classic collection of recipes for simply prepared meals is more useful now than ever before. Illustrated with period pen and ink drawings, French Cooking in Ten Minutes offers an array of recipes for quick soups, extemporaneous sauces, egg and noodle dishes, preparing fish and meats, as well as vegetables, salads, and deserts.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

handy little book
this is a nice little book.it does use some commercial items (canned asparagus, etc.).i suppose that is necessary for the ten minute format.
it is a useful guide.

An Okay Book
Unlike another reviewer of this book, I like recipes. The art of cooking has been perfected that a chef can create something appealing to suit many taste buds (and be perfected to a persons taste with a few dashes more of seasonings - everyone tastes are different). I wish the publishers of this book would have specified that this is more of a 'guess how much should go in the pot and you have yourself a dish recipe' book. There are few actual recipes here and more of a commentary such as put a little in a pot, simmer with a bit of this and add a pinch of that. NOT HELPFUL. I'm sure the recipes are nice, but again, I 'm sure I will be selling this book. I can not use it. I should have looked at it somehow, first. If you are not a seasoned cook and are not willing to guess up a dinner, avoid this book. Sad to say, I didn't.

Fascinating
E de P was way ahead of his time in advocating quick and fuss-free cooking.So interesting historically and has some good tips on techniques and short-cuts.Some of the recipes are a bit dated (naturally since they're from 1930) and they're mostly not dinner party food, but simple, good, sometimes fairly rich meals for everyday eating.A good read overall.

Delightful!
I've done a fair amount of French cooking in my time and even owned a four-star rated restaurant for a # of years.I can say with confidence that if you knew nothing of French cooking but followed the recipes inthis little book you could turn yourself into a competent chef in no time!

Simply delicious!
This is one of my favorites among the cookbooks I own.I love to cook, although I hate recipes.Edourad de Pomiane's approach is perfect.His writing is funny and encouraging, and he teaches you to cook rather than simply giving instructions to copy a specific recipe.His recipes are exquisitely simple yet profoundly delicious.This one book changed the way I cooked steak, gave me confidence to try sauces for the first time, and taught me the key to making perfect omelets.Buy it.You won't regret it! ... Read more

Product Description
Elizabeth David's books belong in the libraries of everyone who loves to read and prepare food and this one is generally regarded as her best; her passion and knowledge comes through on every page. She was one of the foremost writers on food in the latter half of the 20th century and this book has her most celebrated writing. "French Provincial Cooking" should be approached and read as a series of short stories, as well written and evocative as the best literature.

Customer Reviews (23)

Elizabeth the Queen of France
I feel indebted to Mrs.David knowledge of the French Provincial cooking. I watch videos and TV talented culinary programs, but not one is as good as Elizabeth's simple instructions.
For many years I had payed attention to her travels across France in search of talented food and very interesting combinations of regional recipes.

Exciting!
Working with this book has been one of the most exciting culinary experiences I've ever had, the recipies are given in a very "familiar" easy to follow format, although not for the beginner,it is "sprinkled" with wonderful anecdotes about her trips to France, and the experiences she had at "inns" and restaurants there, amongst other "treasures" I found what I believe to be the best recipe for "pissaladiere a la menagere" I've ever had (and I've tried a few from other books),highly recommended!

Beware of the small print and light paper weight of this version!
This is a 5-star book getting a 4-star review for this paperback edition.I ended up giving this paperback book to my newbie teen child, who is learning to cook, has spent a couple of autumns eating in Paris and Lyon, and loves French cuisine.The print was too small (but still readable) and the pages too lightweight for my preference.I ordered the hardcover version for myself after I received this paperback version, and am delighted with the hardcover version for my cookbook collection.

After reading reviews of French Provincial Cooking, I ordered this paperback edition under the mistaken impression that it was akin to a kind of Peter Mayle-type French travelogue, but with recipes.What was I thinking?!Oh, but what a fortuitous mistake!As the title promises, this book is a compilation of French Provincial Cooking recipes.Unlike most recipe books however, the author's style is to take you in hand, like an older sister or mother, to impart the secrets of making the dishes come out perfectly.

Ms. David's writing style is conversational, with recipes written in prose.Reading them, one feels transported in time and place, as if she and we are in a kitchen in France, and she is teaching us how to prepare a delicious dish for our meal together.Her recipes are more letters from home imparting instructions from Mama on how to make her favorite dishes, than assembly instructions PDFs. Both presentation styles may result in a flawless dishes.It is a matter of preference.

Elizabeth David's style of presentation feels personal and nurturing.So, this book will be perfect for my teen, as she seeks to learn to cook from one of the grande dames of the culinary arts, and throw garden luncheons, for us or her friends, in lieu of summer school.When I gave my daughter French Provincial Cooking late last night, she could barely contain her excitement and delight as she immediately plunged in and began to avidly pore over Ms. David's recipes.I went to sleep filled with hope and deeply contented to have my gift so joyously received!

Classic cookbook
This was a replacement for my first Penguin paperback copy from back in 1964. I was in college then and it was one of the first cookbooks I got as I was teaching myself how to cook. British college food rivaled only British boarding school food in its ability to ruin good materials.
This was not the first Elizabeth David book I bought. It ranked up there with her masterpiece "Italian Cooking". It made my mouth water as I read her vivid summaries of the experiences she had traveling in France and her intelligent dissection of what made the cooking of one province different from another. Her recipes required that you bring some experience to the table, a lack supplied by either another book, or by hit and miss - one was young then after all! Later there were basic cook books to remedy the omissions, and of course the "French Chef", Marcella Hazan etc.
But there is still something about Elizabeth David's books which is lacking in the others. Perhaps it is the combination of the travelogue with the recipes. Perhaps it is because she combines the best of food writing including scholarship and the extra zing of little snippets of diaries and memoirs and other recipe books - the MFK Fisher element - to the book. There is a passion here which almost overwhelms at times. Other books may be more useful, but my copy of this book fell into bits and had to be replaced.
And, since I had not dared to open the old one for a few years, my reunion was joyful. It was all I remembered it to be.

Provincial French Cooking by Elizabeth David
This book is not only one of the landmarks in European cooking but also a great read. The recipes are excellent and the discussion of where they originated and how to cook them is superb. The general narrative about French food, cooking and its history is really interesting and informative. This is a book that I will treasure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great B-day Present!
This made a wonderful present for the cook in my life who already had Volume I. He was thrilled! ... Read more

Product Description
A culinary bible featuring 1,000 recipes from the legendary woman who revolutionized French cooking by simplifying recipes for the home cook. With the revival of interest in Julia Child, everyone is hungry for French food again. But why does French cuisine have to be so complicated? Well, it doesn’t. Not according to Françoise Bernard. Beginning in the 1960s, Bernard revolutionized French cooking by writing cookbooks aimed at the modern woman. Until that time, the only cookbooks available were full of fussy recipes handed down by the grand chefs of the past. Bernard set out to make classic dishes accessible to everyone, paring down to a recipe’s true essence. She continued to publish and teach, building her forty-year career on the principle that good food can be simple, easy, and economical. This grand volume is the culmination of her work, a collection of the best, most tried-and-true recipes. Each recipe is labeled with degree of ease, prep/cooking time, and cost. The book overflows with charmingly homey recipes that take you back to the basics: onion soup, croque mignon, steak au poivre, coq au vin, tuna provençale, and potatoes boulangère. This is the ultimate reference book, not just for those who love French cuisine, but for anyone who craves simply delicious food. ... Read more

Product Description
Hearty bistro fare such as crisp pommes frites paired with a sizzling pepper-coated steak. Rustic country dishes, including coq au vin and fragrant seafood stew. Decadent desserts such as crème brûlée and cherry clafoutis. These are the simple recipes that capture the essence of French cuisine.

Williams-Sonoma Collection French offers more than 40 delicious and satisfying recipes, from time-honored classics to inspired new ideas, all designed for the way you cook today. When paired with a glass of wine and a fresh baguette, recipes such as caramelized onion tart or endive salad with beets and goat cheese make the perfect light lunch or casual dinner. For special celebrations, serve roasted asparagus with hazelnut oil vinaigrette alongside filets mignons with Roquefort sauce. Whether you enjoy the well-loved dishes of the French countryside or want to entertain with Parisian panache, here are recipes for every occasion.

Beautiful full-color photographs of each dish help you decide which one to prepare, and each recipe contains a photographic side note with additional information on key ingredients and techniques. With an informative chapter that covers the basics of French cuisine, as well as an extensive glossary, this essential volume will help you make simple French cooking part of your everyday culinary repertoire.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not just another collection of recipes
With explanation of terms, simple to follow recipes and photographs, this is not just another cook book.

French cookbook
I really love this book! The pictures are great and the recipes are what I was looking for! I highly recommend it!

Fabulous photographs and clearly written recipes
Get this book for no other reason that to appreciate the excellent food photos, almost 3-D they are so vivid.Even better, the selection of recipes are so clearly described that even I, a klutz in the kitchen, can make the wonderful dishes.This is French cooking at its simplest and best.Buy it and enjoy. ... Read more

Product Description
Susan Loomis arrived in Paris twenty years ago with little more than a student loan and the contents of a suitcase to sustain her. But what
began then as an apprenticeship at La Varenne École de Cuisine evolved into a lifelong immersion in French cuisine and culture, culminating in permanent residency in 1994. On Rue Tatin chronicles her journey to an ancient little street in Louviers, one of Normandy’s most picturesque towns.

With lyrical prose and wry candor, Loomis recalls the miraculous restoration that she and her husband performed on the dilapidated convent they chose for their new residence. As its ochre and azure floor tiles emerged, challenges outside the dwelling mounted. From squatters to a surly priest next door, along with a close-knit community wary of outsiders, Loomis tackled the social challenges head-on, through persistent dialogue–and baking.

On Rue Tatin includes delicious recipes that evoke the essence of this region, such as Apple and Thyme Tart, Duck Breast with Cider, and Braised Chicken in White Wine and Mustard. Transporting readers to a world where tradition is cherished, On Rue Tatin provides a touching glimpse of the camaraderie, exquisite food, and simple pleasures of daily life in a truly glorious corner of Normandy.Amazon.com Review
It has been said that food defines a culture. For the French, food is anintegral part of their coveted tradition, and Susan Herrmann Loomis's newbook On Rue Tatin embraces both. As a young, recent American college graduate,Loomis left the U.S. for France to attend one of the oldest French cookingschools, La Varenne. Her intent was to immerse herself in French cookingwith the aspiration of becoming a food critic. Working as the Frenchequivalent of an apprentice, she quickly became intimate with the ways andtraditions that define the French culture, specifically its cuisine.On Rue Tatin ("On Tatin Street") is a descriptive narrativeof Loomis's first several years in France, her encounters with the local people,and the bonds she formed, as well as recipes she gathered during hertime there.

Following her formal culinary training, Loomis returned to the U.S. and met the man whowould become her husband. After the couple's first son turned 2, they moved toFrance where Loomis was determined to launch her writing career focusing onunique aspects of French farming cuisine. She and her husband eventuallypurchased an old monastery in Louviers in the Normandy region of France.One of the more humorous and memorable stories she shares concerns thelandlord of the small rental that they occupied for a year while her husbandremodeled the monastery to livable conditions. During that year, the wifeof the landlord believed them to be CIA agents and chose to keep a cold distancefrom the family. Meanwhile the French police suspected them of dealingdrugs.

Every recipe featured throughout this memoir comes with an interesting,anecdotal story, and is very much representative of traditional Frenchcuisine.Gateau au Chocolat de Mamy (or Mamy Jacqueline's Chocolate Cake)is a dense, almost death-by-chocolate confection, but served alone orwith a fresh fruit coulis, it will bring a smile, as will the sweetexplanation of its origin.

Loomis describes experiences and people with much detail, sometimes severaltimes over, and her prose allows the reader to imagine the tempting smellsand vivid colors of the countryside. You may find yourself wishing to seepictures of Loomis's home and the quaint village where she lived, but perhaps that was Loomis'sintent--she wants to tempt and challenge you to experience the beauty andfoods of Louviers and the Normandy region for yourself. --TeresaSimanton ... Read more

Customer Reviews (54)

On Rue Tatin
A warm and wonderful book that I liked so well, I bought copies for several friends.I want to live in that house!

Loved it!!!
I love this book!!Great story.I feel like I know them and wish I did!! Makes me want to visit France even more than before! Great Read!

I don't even think I'm going to finish it.
This type of book is right up my alley.I'm a Francophile.It normally doesn't take much quaint Frenchyness to please me, but somehow this book completely lacks it.I just read over some of the low-scoring reviews and feel I have permission to not even finish it. It's just boring!The first several evenings of reading the book, my impression was, "she's not a very good writer."I doubted myself, "she's a successful writer, how can this be?"I don't know.Here's how I'd sum it up, her stories don't transport one to France.I really don't care about how "luxurious" it feels walking on the in-floor heating in her house.The most interesting thing about this book (I bought a used copy) were the business cards and boarding pass (not for a flight to France, sadly)that fell from it's pages.Try From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant by Michael S. Sanders, instead.

Easy read for a bit of escapism
I am glad I was given this book as a gift, I probably wouldn't have picked it up myself. (I have not been a huge fan of the "woman carving out a niche for herself in a quaint European town" genre). But I have to say, I really enjoyed On Rue Tatin. It was an easy read- and I love thinking a little bit about "another world" before I fall asleep. The author is sharing her adventure, and I liked hearing about her house, cooking, neighbors, friends and family. It was a bit of escapism. I think I will read it again next winter- when it is rainy, dark early, and there is no adventure for me in sight!

in Normandy
Nice memoir from Loomis, who now teaches cooking in the French village of Louviers in Normandy.

She describes her time in Paris at culinary school, her marriage and their move to Louviers, where she and her husband restored an old convent in the center of town. I loved reading about life (and renovation) in a small village in France (the trials and the joys) and how she started to teach cooking.

This was good reading and lots of recipes too.

There were some glitches and not-so-great writing in the book --- which could have easily been taken care of with better editing. ... Read more

Product Description
Over 200 culinary techniques—the building blocks for how to cook any recipe—are demystified in this illustrated guide to French gastronomy. French cuisine can appear daunting, but it’s one of life’s greatest pleasures. French Cooking offers the step-by-step kitchen techniques that are the secret to success. The book opens with a guide to the fundamentals of cooking: knife techniques (chopping, paring), cooking methods (braising, grilling, steaming, poaching, roasting), sauces and stuffings, eggs, dough. Each method is explained in text and photographs; twenty-four are further clarified on the accompanying ninety-minute DVD. Organized in courses, 125 classic recipes—quiche Lorraine, onion soup, tarte Tatin—provide ample inspiration. Each recipe is graded with a three-star rating so that home chefs can gauge its complexity—and expand their cooking abilities gradually with experience. Eight recipes from France’s leading chefs offer the ultimate challenge. Cross references throughout to techniques, DVD footage, glossary terms, and related recipes make navigation easy. Practical resources complete the volume: visual dictionaries of basic kitchen equipment, cuts of meat, and types of herbs, grains, spices, legumes; a glossary; and indexes of the recipes, main ingredients, and culinary techniques. With an introduction by Paul Bocuse, this impressive volume is an essential guide for novice and established cooks alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Pretty good
I really love this book, and CD.

In all fairness, I've just been flipping through the book for the last few hours so I'll come back later and give a more thorough review.

If you are a beginner to French or otherwise cooking techniques,I would first recommend signing up for the inexpensive online Rouxbe cooking school in Vancouver BC.$15 a month is pretty cheap to get you up to speed with fantastic clear narrated videos of all the most important cooking techniques.

Then come back and buy this book as you'll appreciate it 10 times more!


The Book:

The layout is pretty good I do have to do some flipping around to figure some things out but I do find what I'm looking for when needing to cross reference.So A+ for cross referencing.

The pictures are beautiful, and five stars for including practice recipes with the page numbers!Love the tips and foot notes.

Unfortunately for a beginner, and not so beginner some of the subjects covered don't go that deep into explanations, theory, and how and when things go wrong and how to fix it when it does.Very important for any culinary technique text.

Like there are three types of a Roux, white blond and brown,--not just the two mentioned in the book and no mention as to where or why I would use any of them.

I was surprised to see the stock recipe calls for you to boil it, then simmer.Also says nothing about how to roast the bones.Like I said, you kinda have to know what you are doing if you are going to use this text.Boiling causes fat to emulsify.If you boil your stock, you end up with a greasy stock and the only way to get that grease out of your stock is to use egg whites, shells and a tube.But, hey I'm just a housewife, not a chef.But I'll still never again boil any stock, even for a second, roasted or not.

Also, on making a brown stock, he's actually giving you a ratio for your mirepoix, which is quite beneficial but he doesn't tell you that.Also if you can't find crushed bones and don't want to waste all that energy on just a pound of bones, you're going to have to simmer a lot longer than his chart suggests.

Also it just says to remove the fat--not how, skimming it doesn't get all of it, it needs to cool down anyway so put it in the frig.By morning you can easily remove the chunks of solid fat off the top with a spoon, then a paper towel for the smaller ones.

Also he doesn't mention how to quickly cool it down and why.He assumes you already know this info.If you don't, good luck.

All said and done.I LOVE this book!It totally rocks because I'm finally at a level where I can appreciate and understand it!It has almost everything I wanted in a text!I am at a point now that I'm getting "hungry" for more sophisticated French techniques but not ready for the more complicated texts I have collecting dust on my shelves.This book delivers.

There are too many positive things to mention like charts/conversions/meat varieties, potato varieties/liaisons/etc. and lots of practice recipes.Thank you!I'm gonna have fun with this book!!

The CD:

Breath taking videos!Now that's what I'm talk'n about!!And lots of 'em!!

You can really SEE what they are doing, although you might not understand because there is no narrator, and unfortunately no subtitles.Say what?

Unbelievable.What were you guys thinking?At least give us subtitles, something, anything.

How about including at the very least a page number for the techniques you are showing us as you cannot watch these videos without having the text to reference right in front of you.

And the music you picked?I like it, rather upbeat and goofy but I keep waiting for Marcel Marceau to pop into the picture and say, "just kidding, here's the real soundtrack with chefs who talk to you while they are showing you the techniques."

So I give the CD Five stars for the quality of picture, five stars for entertainment, and five stars for the humorous blunder, but minus five stars for no instructor explaining what he is doing and why.

Hence only, 4 star over all rating.

I bought this book mostly for the CD!At least it makes me laugh.What were you trying to tell me while pointing at those bubbles on top the bechamel?Or were you pointing at something else.Where's Marcel when you need him?

... Read more

Product Description
How many minutes should you cook green beans? Is it better to steam them or to boil them?
What are the right proportions for a vinaigrette?
How do you skim off fat?
What is the perfect way to roast a chicken?

Julia Child gave us extensive answers to all these questions–and so many more–in the masterly books she published over the course of her career. But which one do you turn to for which solutions? Over the years Julia also developed some new approaches to old problems, using time-saving equipment and more readily available products. So where do you locate the latest findings?

All the answers are close to hand in this indispensable little volume: the delicious, comforting, essential compendium of Julia’s kitchen wisdom–a book you can’t do without.Amazon.com Review
What would you give to see the notes Julia Child keeps in her handwritten loose-leaf kitchen reference guide? Your wish is granted! This clever little volume was inspired by Child's notebook, compiled from her own "trials, remedies, and errors."

Organized by large category and technique, it's a very handy referenceguide for anyone reasonably comfortable in the kitchen. Each sectioncontains a master recipe followed by variations. The emphasis is ontechnique, so if you occasionally find yourself trying to remember at whattemperature to best roast a duck, the best way to cook green beans and keepthem green, or how to save your hollandaise, then this is the book for you.And what good is a reference guide without an index? As always, Child comesto our rescue with a fantastic, comprehensive index, 19 pages long for 107pages of text, so we can find the answers to life's burning questions in aflash.

Part of what makes Julia Child such an icon is that she can describe acomplicated dish, and in the next breath convince us to make it. ClassicChocolate Mousse, Sabayon, Scalloped Potatoes Savoyarde, and ButterfliedLeg of Lamb sound manageable when they follow recipes for Roast Chicken,Mashed Potatoes, and Scrambled Eggs. And with Child's help, they are."Quick, snappy answers" for both basic and complicated cooking questionsmake this a work we'll never outgrow. And if Julia can use a cheat sheet,so can we! Fans of Child will love that her personality shows through incomments like, "Don't crowd the pan... or you'll be sorry," and, to introduceher Basic Vinaigrette Dressing, "I use the proportions of a very drymartini." Eight pages of photos taken by her husband, Paul, including oneof Child with the famous dancing goose, make this even more of atreasure.

If there is anyone qualified to offer kitchen wisdom, it must be JuliaChild. After a lifetime of cooking and teaching, her knowledge is a perfectgift for fans, novices, or anyone responsible for putting dinner on thetable every night. --Leora Y. Bloom ... Read more

Customer Reviews (76)

Julia's Kitchen Wisdon
Glad I bought this little help book on my favorite passtime...cooking. She is really right on with tips. I also bought the two volume set, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Surprisingly, they do not overlap, but compliment one another.Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking

Gift giving.
This is a Christmas gift for my daughter...I'm sure we'll reap the benefits of this book as she like to cook and share!

Kindle version NOT text-to-speech enabled
I am one of a gazillion people who loves food AND love to listen to people who talk about food.Therefore, I was excited to see this book, 'Julia's Kitchen Wisdom', available on Kindle.BUT it is NOT text to speech enabled AND all the pictures and drawings are ommitted. SO SAD. ALSO, Kindle did NOT give me the option of returning the book, as it usually does upon delivery.
Kindle, give me all of Julia or give me nothing.I will keep this bastardized version of Julia and pay for it with hesitation, waiting for a speech enabled version - grumbling every time I want to listen rather than read (like when I am lying in bed and planning my next family event's cuisine with food avarice), waiting for you to do this book, and all other Julia Child's books to the TOP QUALITY THAT THEY DESERVE.

Julia's Kitchen Widom
Fast delivery, fair price, new condition. Enjoyed the movie so much, when PBS was showing her history I didn't want to move from the TV set, love her personally! Since we now have a new hugh kitchen my husband is letting me do whatever I need it!!! I ordered (3) of her books to my cookbook collection's can't wait...

Buy Another of Julia's Cookbooks
If you have anything more than a superficial interest in Julia Child or cooking, buy another one of Julia's cookbooks.I love my set of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Volume Set) and I bought this cookbook because I couldn't get enough of Julia and her cooking and I wanted more.I have to say I was disappointed when I got it in the mail.Julia's Kitchen Wisdom is a small paperback cookbook described in the introduction as "a mini aide-memorie for general home cookery."This reference cookbook started off as Julia's own loose-leaf kitchen reference guide but I found I much preferred her all-purpose cookbooks such as MTAFC (linked above) or The Way to Cook.But, I have to admit, now that I own this cookbook, I have used it (Julia's dry spice rub for pork has transformed our weekly pork tenderloin dinners (her secret; salt, pepper, thyme, AND allspice) but I don't think I would buy it again. ... Read more

Product Description
Paul Bocuse, one of the world's most influential chefs, takes us on an enchanting culinary journey through France, presenting delicious recipes that evoke the special personality and flavor of each province. Bocuse's selection reveals the remarkable sensitivity of the French to the land and to the preparation of food. He describes the landscape and heritage of each region, as well as the local produce and gourmet traditions that contribute to the unique character of its cuisine. Written in a clear, easy-to-follow style, this is a collection that any cook can master. The recipes demand no complicated techniques or equipment and were carefully adapted to the non-French kitchen under Bocuse's own expert guidance. In the French tradition, the presentation of food is as important as its flavor, and the splendid photographs by Dietmar Frege that accompany the recipes beautifully reveal this aspect of French culinary art. Handsomely designed and illustrated, Bocuse's Regional French Cooking makes the fabulous tastes of France accessible to everyone in a stunning cookbook that is a delight for the eye as well as for the palate.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Keepsake Book
This book epitomizes the very essence of great French cooking.Whilst I cannot purchase most of the ingredients used in the recipes, the recipes themselves are classics!!Us ing the recipe as a guide, an experiened cook can re-create almost the same results.Truly Monsieur Bocuse is a genius in the culinary arts!!A real must have for the serious cook!!!!!

Invite France to your house
This wonderful and important book, give you the most authentic recipes and background on many famous dishes from the regions of France.
If you follow the recipes and ingredients exactly you inevitably bring authentic refined flavors of French cuisine to your kitchen.
There is no use of stocks and other base recipes, the sauces are made along the dish preparation, this can take longer but sometimes it's better for home cooks.
Try this book "Basque-style chicken", the "Nice-style Salad", the "Macaroni and Cheese", and you will be surprised to find how these simple recipes capture the delicate nature of French cuisine.
Note: the "Bouillabaisse" recipe has a mistake - add the "soup" fish to the pot after the onion step.

Elegant Treatment of French Classic Dishes. Excellent
This book by Paul Bocuse, arguably the most distinguished French chef alive today, translated from the French into English, is akin to Stephen Hawking's writing a popular work on the history of physics. Unlike similarly formatted works by Joel Robuchon, this book aims at presenting relatively straightforward instructions for preparing classic French regional cuisine. What is missing are the details of proper selection and handling of seasonal ingredients. This is replaced by a very high level tour of the major culinary regions of France.

I am surprised that such a distinguished culinary figure would do this kind of book, but I am supremely delighted that he did. The book includes literally every traditional French dish I can think of, with recipes that are quite easy to follow by the average American amateur cook. The book includes recipes for pot-a-feu, cassolet, crepes, coq au vin, salade Nicoise, Vichyssoise, onion soup, stuffed cabbage, Provencal fish stew, Burgundy Beef, tapenade and aioli. The list of recognized classics goes on and on. There is even a gratin recipe for macaroni and cheese and a confession that it was the Romans and not the Lyonnaise who invented macaroni.

I confess that some ingredients, such as the Lyonnaise sausage with pistachio may be a little hard to find, but the author graciously provides several serviceable substitutes for each ingredient not commonly available in American markets. Kielbasa, for example is an acceptable substitute for the saucisson pistache.

I am simply delighted with the simplicity and clarity of the instructions. The potato and sausage salad dish is French to its core yet the author succeeds in making the recipe read like something out of a Martha Stewart book. The instructions are clear, unpreachy, and workable. Aside from the sausage, there are no unusual ingredients and no unusual equipment needed. No trace, for example, of a food mill, china cap, or bain marie. The same can be said of almost all recipes in this book.

This is not to say there are no interesting recipes in the book. While there are so many classic dishes here, many have a special twist which is not due to the invention of the very talented author, but rather due to the author's using a recipe which is closer to the original roots of the dish rather than the dish's most famous incarnations. The recipe for onion soup, for example, is quite unlike the dish I had at Les Halles in Paris at 5 AM. Bocuse's recipe is from the Lyon area where, as he says, they put onions in virtually everything.

There are only two minor complaints about the book. First, this is a book about foods from specific geographic regions, yet there is no map to assist one in visualizing where in France these regions occur. While many foodies may be familiar with the location of Provence, is probably the rare American who knows that the Alsace is in the East, bordering on Germany. This explains similarities between food in the Alsace chapter and common German dishes such as sauerkraut. Second, as the author states himself, there was much Procrustean lumping together of different geographical regions to form a single culinary identity. The author blames this on his editors. I am willing to believe this, and register my complaint to the editors that I am really surprised that they could come up with only six culinary regions (Lyonnais, Provence, Bordelais, Perigord, Brittany-Normandy, and Alsace).

These two complaints aside, this is hands down the very best introduction to French cuisine I have seen for the casual reader. Be sure to read Julia Child and Elizabeth David and Patricia Wells, but read this book first. It will clearly whet your appetite for those other classic authors.

Very highly recommended.

Clear, Exquisite French Cooking Display
From the cover one is in for a treat, both to the eye and palate.The photography in this cookbook is simply gorgeous.How can one take a shot of a man holding a rooster in front of a bin of corn and make it look like a million dollars?It's here.

The recipes are the best of the tradition which the French are world famous for.Here are stressed the best in ingredients, cooked lovingly with patience and care and technique to bring out their succulence from French Regions.

Feast on such as "Cod and Vegetables with Garlic Mayonnaise" "Stuffed Breast of Veal" "Lyon Style Onion Soup" "Veal Stew" "Pears in Beaujolais."

Truly Bon Appetit.

Bocuses' Regional French Cooking
Bravo Monsieur Bocuse. Finally, an authentic French Cuisine Book. The recipes are simple and truly traditional. The ingredients are available at your corner grocery store and THAT is a refreshing change. The only FrenchCookbook you will ever need. ... Read more

Product Description
Renowned for her cooking school in France and her many best-selling cookbooks, Anne Willan combines years of hands-on experience with extensive research to create a brand new classic. More than 250 recipes range from the time-honored La Truffade, with its crispy potatoes and melted cheese, to the Languedoc specialty Cassoulet de Toulouse, a bean casserole of duck confit, sausage, and lamb. And the desserts! Cr pes au Caramel et Beurre Sal (cr pes with a luscious caramel filling) and Galette Landaise (a rustic apple tart) are magnifique. Sprinkled with intriguing historical tidbits and filled with more than 270 enchanting photos of food markets, villages, harbors, fields, and country kitchens, this cookbook is an irresistible celebration of French culinary culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Cookbook+++
This is a lovely (and big!) book.It makes me wish I lived in France.There are plenty of pictures and the recipes are easy to understand.I just got it today and haven't tried any of the recipes but they look really good.

Fast shipment
The shipment was really quick and the book looked new. Was only missing a few pages but other then that it was great buy.

best French recipes ever
As an amateur French chef, I've cooked from Elizabeth David to Madeline Kaman, Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Samuel Chamberlain, et. al. Willan has clearly cooked her way thru their pages and more. You can find the historical references in almost every recipe. She has taken the best of French culinary tradition, reduced it like a fine sauce and produced an eminently cookable and deeply delicious compendium of the best that France has given the world's table.

Gorgeous book!
This book is huge, and absolutely beautiful to look at.Well worth the money, both for the great recipes and the impressive aesthetic.

Excellent book! Don't think twice, just buy it!
I decided to buy that book because it features some recipes that my French grandmothers used to make. I have not been disappointed! I tried several of them already (watercress soup, the coq au vin) and I found exactly the taste of my chilhood diners. The recipies are very well explained, accompanied with the tips and tricks that make a dish absolutely perfect. The book covers lot of areas of France, from the most famous to some least known recipes, with historical tidbits of those French regions that are both informative and pleasant to read. The book is also a pleasure to the eyes. The photographs are beautiful. The book is of very good quality. So that can be a beautiful coffee table or a perfect gift. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who want to become familiar or perfect their French cuisine cooking skills. Finally, I find this book very helpful for any French living in the US, who like me is looking for authentic recipes without having to go through the convertions and translation of the French recipes. ... Read more

Product Description
First published in 1927 to educate French housewives in the art of classical cooking, LA BONNE CUISINE DE MADAME E. SAINT-ANGE has since become the bible of French cooking technique, found on every kitchen shelf in France. A housewife and a professional chef, Madame Evelyn Saint-Ange wrote in a rigorous yet highly instructive and engaging style, explaining in extraordinary detail the proper way to skim a sauce, stuff a chicken, and construct a pâté en croûte.

Though her text has never before been translated into English,Madame Saint-Ange's legacy has lived on through the cooking of internationally renowned chefs like Julia Child and Madeleine Kamman, setting the standard for practical home cooking as well as haute cuisine. In this momentous translation by Chez Panisse cofounder and original chef de cuisine Paul Aratow, Madame Saint-Ange's culinary wisdom is available in English for the first time.

Enveloped in charming intricacies of even the most fundamental cooking techniques are 1,300 authentic French recipes for such classics as Braised Beef, Quiche Lorraine, Cassoulet, and Apricot Soufflé; original illustrations of prepping and cooking techniques; and seasonal menus for every meal of the day. An indispensable culinary encyclopedia and an absorbing historical document, LA BONNE CUISINE DE MADAME E. SAINT-ANGE is the definitive word on French cooking for food lovers, dedicated cooks, culinary professionals, and Francophiles alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (40)

an amazing book
there are reasons this book is famous.
julia child used it, partly for cooking and partly as a reference forwriting her cookbooks.
chez panisse was built on it.
this bookwas chosen in both instances because it was simply the best of it's time, and still is tops in the esteem of many people.
get it. buy it. do it now.

La Bonne Cuisine
Great section on cooking wild game; perfect for an avid hunter!
Fantastic instructions on cooking vegetables; really makes you want to eat your asparagus!

Good Times
I love this cookbook.I love it in a puffy heart kind of way.

It is one of the few that stays on my counter as a reference guide as well as a casual read.

I've mainly used it as a reference for techniques but have made several recipes from it.And have found them to be complex but well worth the time it takes to make them.

Very interesting book from 1927
This book from 1927 is actually not that dated. The book goes into great depth in certain areas. Sometimes this knowledge is a bit esoteric, e.g. how to tie the mouth of a turbot so it stays flat in the turbotiers. i.e. the special pan used for poaching a turbot. Still, many people love this kind of knowledge, me included. Overall I would strongly recommend this book to cooks with a historical interest. However, this is also a book that can be used today. Since it is aimed at home cooking, it has many tidbits of useful information, e.g. how to get the surface on a roast really caramellised or great details how to make Hollandaise sauce. It is also a good contrast to Escoffier's haute cuisine book, which is more dated than the current volume.

The only problem with the book is the translation. Sometimes it is as if the translator doesn't know cooking. Sea salt becomes sea water, saute pan becomes sauce pan, etc. One wonders if the translation effort started with machine translation?However, since the target audience already knows a bit about cooking this is never a problem for understanding. Still it is sloppy.

The food geekery of another age
Well, what can I say. I'm a sucker for a good historical cookbook, and this may be the greatest one I've reviewed.

In retrospect, I'm seriously disappointed it took me this long to get a copy. I've wanted it for a while, ever since I first saw it on the shelf, and it is pretty much everything it claims -- the best of the early 20th century French kitchen, and so obviously the spiritual forebear of Mastering The Art of French Cooking that it's easy to see how Child, Beck, and Bertholle got so carried away in the early manuscripts. Though its teaching value is somewhat limited by virtue of the fact that 21st century American kitchens simply aren't that much like their French counterparts of 80 years ago, Saint-Ange's technique is still solid, if outdated. Her food science is a bit lacking -- "sealing in the juices" when grilling meat appears here, as it has in a great many other cookbooks despite its inaccuracy -- but when you allow for the age of the text, this really isn't so big a deal as all that.

The historical aspect is very important in one regard though -- the baking recipes may prove to be borderline useless for a modern cook, since the ovens St-Ange worked with didn't have temperature controls. (In that regard, modern books on hearth cooking like The Bread Builders or The Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook would be a little better, so that you can learn the necessary skills first before trying the recipes.) Those reviews telling you that it's not a book for beginners -- this is very true. It's a book for kitchen geeks, especially the historically minded.

All that said, there's a lot of odd and cool recipes in here that are definitely worth a look, and unlike a lot of other cookbook translation projects, Aratow left the original metric measurements in the text, so you don't have to mess around with awkwardly-converted US measurements. (Not that this is going to come up much, but you steampunks out there might find this one particularly useful for themed dinners.) ... Read more

Product Description

The French cooking of everyday life is lighthearted, accessible, and suited to modern tastes. Whether it's getting weeknight dinners on the table fairly fast (Basil Beef, Rhubarb Chops, or Carrot Juice Chicken) or leisurely cooking for dining at a slightly slower pace (Lamb Tagine, Holiday Hen, or Fennel Bass), Laura Calder shares recipes she's created at home in her own French kitchen.

Almost all of Calder's recipes are barely a page long, and that's only because of those frank and funny introductions. Her recipes for dishes such as Camembert Salmon, Scallops in Velvet, and The Lemon Tart of My Dreams, are simple, approachable, and manageable. The ingredients are easy to find, and she's always suggesting options. Calder's is a sunny and welcome addition to the list of French cookbooks already out there, and happily, chefs of any skill level will enjoy her company in the kitchen. --Leora Y. Bloom ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

What A Creepy Program
The concept is so good, but the execution is way too cute and over-produced and couldn't they have found a less terrifying host? Oh, and that annoying music! French food is a wonder. French Food At Home is a nightmare.

Great Contemporary French Home Cooking
I bought this book when it first came out in 2004 and have cooked from it extensively.Not only is Ms. Calder's writing fun, personal, and interesting, her recipes are really great.For example, she offers a recipe for Carrot Juice Chicken -- chicken cooked, yes, in carrot juice.In the introductory paragraph to that recipe, she states that she saw the recipe demonstrated by a famous chef and thought, "Yuck!", but she tried it anyway and found it to be wonderful.So did I.She has another recipe later in the book for carrots cooked in carrot juice, which is a great thing to do with all that carrot juice you bought or made, and those carrots go splendidly -- just as she says! -- with the Tuna in Fragrant Water, another very good dish.I've made the Beet Stacks, Pistou Zucchini Ribbons, and Fennel Salad (all in the "first courses" section) many times over, and these are always well received and are fresh, delicious ways to start a meal.

The book is organized in a very helpful way:Aperitifs (including some alcoholic ones), first courses (including salads), "dinner fairly fast" (which I have personally used a lot), "dinner somewhat slower", side dishes, and desserts.We do not eat many desserts in our home, so I have tried few of Calder's dessert recipes; however, the wine-poached pears (a French classic) are wonderful and can be made while you are making the rest of dinner.

I disagree with other reviewers that it is disappointing that there are no photos. I buy cookbooks for the recipes, which is my number one consideration, and secondly for the writing.Calder is a very good writer, which more than makes up for the lack of illustrations and photos.Her instructions are very clearly written, and I like that she makes a fair number of suggestions about food pairings.The absence of photos actually gives me more incentive to be creative in the presentation.

A couple of the recipes in the book that I have tried were disappointing.The Sea-Salt Salmon was more mess than it was worth.The Alsatian Potato Salad was too oily, but that can be easily corrected.One of the best features of this book, however, is how inventive, unusual and contemporary many of the recipes are.Not everyone's taste will agree with Ms. Calder's.

I highly recommend buying and cooking from this book.And thank you to Laura Calder for sharing this fine collection of recipes and your knowledge with us enthusiastic Francophile home cooks.

the book needs photos of the dishes
The book is good and if you have seen the program muchbetter but it really needs photos because it is difficult to picture your presentation if you are not an excellent cook.Ingredients are almost very easy to find and that is excellent

French On My Level
A nice read with French cooking simplified to a normal home cooking level. The prose is enjoyable and the food looks great. Have not had a chance to make any of the food yet but if it turns out as good as what is shown on her show that is great. The show is kinda quirky and so is she but both the book and the show are enjoyable.

French Cooking at Home
I have not seen the book, since it arrived at a specified address, which is not my own. It is a gift to be received for Christmas. ... Read more

Product Description
Authentic French cuisine clearly explained for every cook, with easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step photographs for every recipe ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Delightful French cooking!
A sinful cookbook! Cooking French food is delightful. This book has tried and true recipes (such as coq au vin, French onion soup, Beef bourguignon), but also other delectable recipes, many of which appear fairly doable for the amateur chef. Delightful photos of dishes are a nice plus.

The book begins with a brief introduction to "The French and their food." As the authors note (Page 6): "Part of what distinguishes French cuisine is simply the attitude of the French towards food."

The first section is "Soup and salads." The very first recipe is the authors' version of "French Onion Soup." I have used a version for some time, and this one varies a bit from how I have traditionally fixed this--but it's tasty nonetheless. Leek and potato soup is something my mother used to make. It was pretty tasty, but this recipe is better. Simple ingredients: potatoes, leeks, chicken stock, creme fraiche, salt and pepper, and chives to garnish. Pretty easy to make.

Next section--"Vegetables and side dishes." I like a particular recipe for red cabbage, a German variation (from the "Berghoff" cookbook). This one has some of the basic ingredients, but also cloves, mustard seeds, raisins, and red wine. Looks pretty easy to make, and I look forward to trying this recipe out soon. Another recipe provides instructions for a simple sautéed potato. Pretty easy to make. "Eggs and cheese." This section opens with a nice Omelette with herbs ("Omelettes aux fines herbes"). Eggs, butter, creme fraiche, mixed herbs, salt and pepper.

"Fish and shellfish."Here are some cool recipes: Tuna with garlic, tomatoes, and herbs (featuring one of my favorite herb mixes, "Herbes de Provence"); Bouillabaisse; Sautéed scallops (Coquilles Saint Jacques Meuniere--one of my favorite French dishes). "Poultry and game": Chicken chasseur, Chicken braised in red wine (I like it better as "Coq au vin"). Meats: Here's a variation on a dish I've made for almost 40 years-Burgundy beef stew (Boeuf bourguignon). Great for dinner parties! There are also sections on "Pastry and cakes" and "Desserts."

Great photos, as far as I am concerned. Overall, a delightful French cookbook. I do wish that there were more recipes, but what is here is pretty good. And lots of the recipes are eminently doable.

Good, comforting, everyday meals
I picked this up on impulse one day at Borders from their bargain rack.I am sure glad I did!French food is often thought of as fussy and laborious.Here, the authors make everyday French food accessible for everyone.The recipes are not difficult and few are time-consuming, making this a great book to have in your collection for weeknight suppers and dinner parties alike.Most ingredients are familiar items found in most supermarkets, but yes they do include recipes for various organ meats and a few for rabbit, which the thought of eating might make some Americans shudder.I might not want to cook up Bugs Bunny for dinner myself, but I would still highly recommend this book.

Oooh LaLa!
It's the best cookbook I have ever purchased. In just a few incredibly easy steps you can prepare foods that ensure your guests bring their own tupperware to sneak any leftovers they can get their hands on (and I'm not exaggerating). Several people have actually tried to "borrow" the book. I keep it well-hidden, needless to say.

surprisingly easy and delicious recipes
This is not the book for preparatory basics of French cooking, yet it's a fine book for clearly written, simple - the photos that follow along with the recipes are excellent - and, for those I've tried, many times improvising my own twist, the dishes are simply delicious - tonight I made Chicken with Red Wine Vinegar - subtle and outstanding.An ideal book to add different flavors to the palate without having to run to a specialty store to find the ingredients.Happy cooking

Soft cover/no cover
If you're looking for a collection of very basic, introductory, not-too-complicated French dishes, this is it.So far, results are good. It is a heavy soft cover book and the binding is not holding up very well. The front cover came unglued soon after delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
One of America's most talented and visible chefs demonstrates his culinary philosophy, skill, and imagination.Amazon.com Review
Wolfgang Puck's first book, written before he became wildlyfamous as the owner-chef of Spago and Chinois, offers more than 160complex, innovative recipes that employ elements both familiar andsurprising. Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchenfocuses on the basics of French cooking rather than theself-consciously avant-garde fusion food that Puck helped topioneer. But, as Wolfgang himself says, he is "never intimidated bytradition" and the recipes in this book are hardly ordinary. Dishessuch as Zucchini Flowers Filled with Shrimp Mousse, fresh andnontraditional from conception, set the tone. Bold flavors are therule here; even simple-sounding recipes prove to be rich andintricate. Lobster with Herbs, for example, is served with both atomato-basil béarnaise and a beurre blanc with herbes deProvence. Illustrated with clear and helpful drawings andsuccinctly laid out, intimidating gems such as a Sweetbread Torte(baked in puff pastry with ham, black olives, cream, and port) seemalmost straightforward. Throughout the book, Puck interjects vignettesfrom his childhood, musings on different ingredients, and his opinionson the philosophy of cooking. His enthusiasm is infectious; before youknow it, your copy will be dog-eared and slathered in butter. --David Kalil ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good book
This book has many interesting recipes.Moderate to difficult in preparation, but full of flavor.

French Food with California Twist
This famous chef takes classics from French cuisine and adds the California touch of some lighter sauces with American ingredients.

He relates that this book was tested on students in his cooking school, so the average home gourmet should be able to pull these off.I would not encourage beginners to try one of these for a meal unless they practice the technique several times before the real thing.Puck has great suggestion:If you are giving an important party, it is sometimes better to present five recipes that you have mastered, rather than struggle with twenty that are new to you."

What I love about Puck is the attitude he brings:kinderspiel--my child's play.Share and laugh, great advice.

Especially have enjoyed preparing Lamb Chops with Cream of Shallots and Coulibiac of Pike with Crayfish.With each entree he also suggests an appropriate wine.

Sophisticated Collection of Various Recipes
Wolfgang Puck's Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchen is a wonderful collection of recipes which will easily fill anyone's appetite.This book of recipes provides the reader with many great sauces which willbring enormous flavor to any dish that a person is creating in theirkitchen.The recipes in this book have an American flavor with a Frenchtwist.This book is sophisticated and is geared more towards people with aintermediate knowledge of food preparation.If a person has this knowledgein the kitchen I suggest that they add this book to their collection ofrecipes.If you do feel like going out to eat at Spago you now can bringSpago home to your kitchen.If you enjoy this book of recipes I suggestthat you look further into other Wolfgang and Spago recipe books. I amgoing into the hotel and restaurant business and from books like this I amable to further my education and knowledge about the various details of thefood industry. ... Read more

Product Description
From the James Beard award--winning author of Sauces-a new classic on French cuisine for today's cook
His award-winning books have won the praise of The New York Times and Gourmet magazine as well as such culinary luminaries as chefs Daniel Boulud, Jeremiah Tower, and Alice Waters. Now James Peterson brings his tremendous stores of culinary knowledge, energy, and imagination to this fresh and inspiring look at the classic dishes of French cuisine. With a refreshing, broadminded approach that embraces different French cooking styles-from fine dining to bistro-style cooking, from hearty regional fare to nouvelle cuisine-Peterson uses fifty "foundation" French dishes as the springboard to preparing a variety of related dishes. In his inventive hands, the classic Moules à la marinière inspires the delightful Miniature Servings of Mussels with Sea Urchin Sauce and Mussel Soup with Garlic Puree and Saffron, while the timeless Duck à l'orange gives rise to the subtle Salad of Sautéed or Grilled Duck Breasts and Sautéed Duck Breasts with Classic Orange Sauce. Through these recipes, Peterson reveals the underlying principles and connections in French cooking that liberate readers to devise and prepare new dishes on their own. With hundreds recipes and dazzling color photography throughout, Glorious French Food gives everyone who enjoys cooking access to essential French cooking traditions and techniques and helps them give free reign to the intuition and spontaneity that lie in the heart-and stomach-of every good cook. It will take its place on the shelf right next to Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.Amazon.com Review
In Glorious French Food, James Peterson argues that once you understand a recipe's "logic and context," and the techniques required to follow it, you actually have something much more valuable than the recipe itself--you have the knowledge to create variations, make simplifications, and cook with spontaneity. Although French cuisine is often accused of being fussy and time-consuming, Peterson's clear instructions demystify many traditionally finicky recipes, and in the process, teach us how to cook anything.

The hundreds of recipes presented here are a pleasure to peruse; kitchen novices can work their way through this hefty volume and come out the other end accomplished cooks. Peterson details necessary equipment, techniques, and ingredients for each recipe so that by the time you start making it, you're fearless. Some of his dishes are remarkably simple, like the beautifully fresh, ready-in-minutes Shaved Fennel Salad, or the richly aromatic French Onion Soup. Others are more complicated, but all teach a lesson: In the Roast Chicken chapter, learn to roast without a thermometer, truss without a needle, make gravy, and then succeed at Roast Chicken Stuffed Under the Skin with Spinach and Ricotta. Learn to make pasta dough, and then re-present leftover Provençal Lamb Stew (if there's any of this heavenly, melt-in-your-mouth tender, orange-scented stew left) as Meat-Filled Ravioli. Perfect for fans of French cuisine, this is also a remarkably handy reference guide for any kitchen. --Leora Y. Bloom ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Tasty and easy French recipes
The duck salad was divine, in fact all the recipes we've tried, have been divine.

With the tightening economy, it pays to eat well at home. Glorious French Food: A Fresh Approach to the Classics updates French recipes while maintaining high taste value. Cooks can now eat well at home instead of paying high prices at French restaurants. Gourmet cooking is simplified but tasty when using recipes from Peterson's cookbook.

I've never owned a cookbook from this author, but after trying his French recipes I will be buying more of his cookbooks in the future.

An excellent reference damaged by ...
I agree with previous reviewers on what this excellent book is and isn't (Not really for beginners, there is an implied expertise level of the reader, lots of research in writing the book, etc.)However, after using the book for 5 months now, I have a constructive complaint for the editors, who apparently lack the practical knowledge of using a cookbook.What rationale drove them to use such small and hard to read fonts?What drove them to actually use a pale blue ink for some text?(E.g., try reading the ingredient list on page 272 - miniscule font, in that pale blue ink.)Unless your kitchen is very brightly lit, and you have the eyes of an eagle, you will have great difficulty in reading the text.The entire book has a great deal of unused 'white space' that could have been better used by using a larger, darker contrasting font.If there is a second edition, I hope it is more legible (ditch the pale blue ink.)

An Amazing Value by One of the Best
This is a wonderful companion to Julia Child, Paula Wolfert and Richard Olney.It is contemporary without being trendy.His recipes are fairly practical--not larded with recipes for truffles and caviar--and yet are unabbreviated and uncompromising. It will appeal primarily to advanced amateurs and consistently sells for under ten dollars--an amazing value for such a comprehensive and well-crafted work.

If you can only own one French cookbook, this may be it
French cuisine, despite predictions of its demise by food writers admist inroads of other Western cuisines including Italian and Spanish cuisines, is still going strong.Many people will, have heard classic/haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine, bourgeois/bistro cuisine, and regional cuisine that form the four important strands of French cuisine, and this book has touched on all four of these cuisines.

One important difference between this book and others is it uses 50 dishes as the starting point and teach 4 to 10 more dishes that share either the principal ingredients or are related by techniques.It is, as Peterson himself mentions in the preface, aiming to teach you to how to cook on your own and understanding cooking is not just a mechanical follow-one-recipe process: it is a little like how you learned mathematics in electrical engineering and apply the central methodology into diverse areas like power load flow analysis, calculating a circuit's small signal behaviours, using signal processing in protection relays.

Bear in mind that this book is geared towards big city or middle-sized suburban-area American homes.Duck a l'orange, for instance, is in the American adaptation version.This makes the book a little tricky to be used if you live in Auckland, Sydney, or in London, where the ingredients available will likely be different from what's available in US.For those armchair chefs who want to buy a book that tells how French food is actually prepared in France itself, another book, such as the Konemann publications, will likely be more useful.

By all means this book is not meant to be an exhaustive coverage of France's cookery. , but most books on French cooking tend to cover very small specialized subject areas (Provence's bistros) or are just a thin compendium of recipes (eg 100 recipe in a 200 page cookbook showcased as "Cuisine of France").If you are interested to build a library of French cookbooks, I recommend the more exhaustive publications of Jacques Pepin, Alain Ducasse's Grand Livre de Cuisine (currently with 2 titles in English, but there are a few more published in the original French), and the ever reliable Larousse Gastronomique, in addition to this book.Otherwise for a tight bookshelf, this book on its own may be what you want for French cooking.

Almost perfect for me.
I am a big fan of his books after receiving copies of Sauce and Splendid Soups. He brings a fresh approach to the subject and it is written in a style more suited to my learning. I have always been slighly intimidated with the Classic side of French cooking. I hope by the end of the book I will be better aquainted, better versed and better versed.

Bon Appititte. ... Read more

Product Description
'A remarkable book ...food is treated with reverence, with understanding and, above all, with care' - "Sunday Times". Full of authentic recipes, this richly evocative book describes some of the splendid regional cookery of France. The food of each area has its own particular flavour, derived naturally from local resources. "French Country Cooking" shows the immense diversity of the cuisine through recipes that range from the primitive peasant soup of the Basque country to the refined Burgundian dish of hare with a cream sauce and chestnut puree. There is also invaluable advice on suitable cooking utensils and the use of wine in the kitchen. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Has its place in culinary history
This book was first published in 1951 teaching English people how to cook French.A whole lot has happened since then but this book remains a clasic for what it tried to achieve about a decade before Julia Child.The recipes are easy to follow.There are no pictures but it is a very usable book.It is a classic on French cooking in the English language. ... Read more