What is a good French cookbook, with authentic recipes?

[abefroman]

What is a good French cookbook, with authentic recipes?

[Chad Aaland]

Larousse Gastronomique, Guide Culinaire, Escoffier Cookbook.

[shel]

When French Women Cook by Madeline Kamann, The Cooking of Southwest France by Paula Wolfert

[chrose]

I love this book! Great Chefs of France: Anthony Blake: ISBN 9780810909694

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The Time Life Foods seies have recipe books and hardcovers. The hardcovers are better reads but only have some of the recipes. The spiral bounds have all the recipes referred to in the book.

[stir it up]

a nice little one I like, in addition to all the textbook types that I'm sure will be recommended is a little gem from the restaurant Le Gavroche. Le Gavroche Cookbook, by Michel Roux Jr. It's one of those books with no "filler," every recipe is a good one. It's organized seasonally into four sections based on ingredients of each season. There are full page color photos of most recipes, with the recipe opposite. The food is beautiful.

[foodnfoto]

I don't know, but I always refer to Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It's a classic and her style is so much more accessible than Larousse Gastronimique or Escoffier. I find them both a little too "cheffy" and old fashioned. The processes are not very well explained and kind of trunkated.
I challenge anyone to produce a better recipe for Beouf Bourginnone (sp?)than Julia's, except maybe Jacques Pepin's. His books are good too, but I have a soft spot for Julia-spent many a Sunday afternoon as a youngster watching her show with my Mom.

[Harpua]

but Larousse Gastronomique is so AWESOME!

[thetincook]

Nobody mentioned Richard Olney? For shame....

Back to Applebee's the lot of you!!

[KCZ]

I really like Patricia Wells' books. Elizabeth David is probably more authentic but less fun.

[chrose]

Let's not forget Amazon.com: Ma Gastronomie: Books: Fernand Point

There is also a smaller book featuring many recipes from La Pyramid.

[sawse]

Originally Posted by abefroman

What is a good French cookbook, with authentic recipes?

Culinary history has several different focus of study, maybe the first and foremost is the cookbook. Since the early beginnings of writing, humans have been recording recipes: recorded on a clay tablet by Sumerians were recipes, including one for making ale. Likewise, numerous recipes have been located in Egyptian hieroglyphics. The ancient Greeks appear to have been the first to compile cookery manuscripts. While many manuscripts in ancient times were written, only one is known to have survived. The Artis Magiricae Libre X was written in part by Marcus Apicius in the first century. Roman and Greek chefs wrote down their recipes and their ideas of cookery survived at least in monasteries and in the Byzantine Empire.

The Arabs revelled in cookery and the first known non-Roman cookery manuscripts were written in Baghdad in the 9th century. The crusades revived interest in culinary arts in Western Europe, and in particular the spices of the east. Subsequently, dozens of cookery manuscripts were written in England, France, Germany Italy and Spain. The similarity of these manuscripts indicate that the chefs and the Royal families that they served were interconnected.

Twenty-five years after Johann Gutenberg printed his first book in 1450, Bartolomeo de Sacchi di Piadena (otherwise known as Platina) published 'De honesta voluptate' in Venice. This was translated into German, Italian and French, and frequently republished throughout Europe. About 250 of Platina's recipes were borrowed from a manuscript written by Martino, who lived during the 1450-75 period. Martino's recipes were reprinted in Epulario (Of Feasting) two hundred years after their origin.

Eight years after the publication of 'De honesta voluptate', the Roman cookbook of Apicius was published in Italy. It was frequently republished and translated into French and Spanish, but not English until centuries later.

Bartolomeo Scappi (1540-1570) was a cook to various cardinals, and perhaps Pope Pius IV. Many classical cooking techniques are presented by Scappi: marinating, braising and poaching. He explores the Arab art of pastry making and the likes of succussu all moresca (Moorish couscous). His book published in 1570 contains over 1,000 recipes. It is extremely well illustrated and demonstrates the high point renaissance cookery at its best. By the 1650s it was out of print and the culinary initiative had passed to Paris.

The most important French cookbook after the publication of Platina was Francois Pierre de la Varenne's 'Le Cuisinier Francois' which signals the end of the anarchy of the medieval age and Renaissance fantasy, and methodically organises cooking. It starts with bouillon or stock, the base ingredient for sauces, etc. The goal was a harmonious blend of ingredients so that not one predominates. The cookbook continued to be reprinted in France until 1815. It went through an estimated 250 editions with over 250,000 copies published. This alerted publishers to the financial possibilities of cookbooks. La Varenne worked for the marquis d'Uxelles. He is attributed with founding the classical French cooking school. Pierre Francoise de la Varenne was born 1615 and died in 1678, he was also the author of "Le Vrai Cuisinier", published in 1651; the first cookbook to summerise the French Nobilities cooking practices.

(geocities dot com / napavalley / 6454 / history_cookbooks dot html)

[Whitey Ford]

I vote for any of Julia Child's books. I have several and refer to them often. She really knew the best techniques. Slog through her many pages on eggs and you will understand eggs.

Example: I grew green beans this summer. Read her entry on them and she says to use a big stock pot and get lotsa water boiling. Throw the beans in, clamp on the cover to get it boiling again and then watch them til they get bright green. Extract with chopsticks to taste. Prepare a ice/shock bath and drain them and then into that. Then you can do anything with them---saute w/butter, add to salad, chop for soups, pickle. Really was the best way to handle them 'cause I'd pick a bunch, do this then store in fridge.

[MysticalNyte]

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking.

From Publishers Weekly
A celebrity with a high-profile position as executive chef at New York bistro Les Halles, and bestselling author of Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour, Bourdain doesn't intend to break new ground. The dishes do exactly as the subtitle notes and include such solid classic fare as Onion Soup Les Halles, Steak au Poivre, Boeuf Bourguignon, Coq au Vin and Chocolate Mousse. Nearly all recipes are within reach of competent home cooks, and those that are more complicated or time-consuming—Bouillabaisse, Cassoulet and Roulade of Wild Pheasant—are thoroughly spelled out to calm most jitters. Foie gras, duck fat and dark veal stock are frequent components, but a list of suppliers makes just about every ingredient available. Even though many of the dishes can be found in other cookbooks, what sets this one apart is Bourdain's signature wise-*** attitude that pervades nearly every recipe, explanatory note and chapter introduction. Profanity adds frequent color.

[Brook]

I like the cookbook, Cuisine Nicoise, by a former mayor of Nice, Jacques Medecin. The original, La Bonne Cuisine du Comte de Nice, was written in French. The main trouble with the English version is that the measurements are sometimes wrong. But once you have adjusted the proportions, everything I've made has been good! I have both versions of the book, even though I don't read French, so usually check the ingredients before starting.

[cakerookie]

No doubt Julia Childs....might checkout Jacques Pepins as well...The French Laundry maybe another one you could checkout...James Patterson is another author of French cookbooks...