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What is a good French cookbook, with authentic recipes?

post #1 of 31
10/14/07 at 7:27pm
Thread Starter 
What is a good French cookbook, with authentic recipes?
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post #2 of 31
10/14/07 at 9:14pm
Larousse Gastronomique, Guide Culinaire, Escoffier Cookbook.
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post #3 of 31
10/15/07 at 6:24am
When French Women Cook by Madeline Kamann, The Cooking of Southwest France by Paula Wolfert
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post #4 of 31
10/15/07 at 10:05am
I love this book! Great Chefs of France: Anthony Blake: ISBN 9780810909694

"http://cgi.ebay.com/Cook-Book-Recipes-Classic-French-Cooking-Time-Life-1970_W0QQitemZ120170486531QQihZ002QQcategoryZ11104 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Lot of 8 FOODS OF THE WORLD France Spain Portugal + - (eBay item 110179150407 end time Oct-16-07 11:37:00 PDT)

FOODS OF THE WORLD-VINTAGE-LATIN AND FRENCH-2 BOOKS!! - (eBay item 140168026180 end time Oct-20-07 04:06:45 PDT)

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.
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post #5 of 31
10/15/07 at 1:44pm
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.
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post #6 of 31
10/15/07 at 2:52pm
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.
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post #7 of 31
10/15/07 at 3:38pm
but Larousse Gastronomique is so AWESOME!
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post #8 of 31
10/15/07 at 4:36pm
Nobody mentioned Richard Olney? For shame....

Back to Applebee's the lot of you!!
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post #9 of 31
10/15/07 at 4:49pm
I really like Patricia Wells' books. Elizabeth David is probably more authentic but less fun.
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post #10 of 31
10/16/07 at 9:49am
Let's not forget Amazon.com: Ma Gastronomie: Books: Fernand Point

There is also a smaller book featuring many recipes from La Pyramid.
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post #11 of 31
10/28/07 at 5:37pm
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)
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post #12 of 31
10/28/07 at 7:55pm
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.
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post #13 of 31
11/14/07 at 8:12pm
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.
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post #14 of 31
12/31/07 at 9:51pm

a Nice cookbook

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.
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post #15 of 31
1/1/08 at 4:20pm
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...
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post #16 of 31
1/2/08 at 1:18pm
LeNotre.....my poor pastry cookbook is much loved, no cover several pages gooped together....the pastry cream is much used.....

Julia Childs books....they've all been tried and true.

Daniel Boulud's cookbooks have had some interesting twists, as too Pierre Herme.....Bocuse has a decent cookbook....
Of course Time Life, the hardback with pix and stories is classic....well both the Classic French Cuisine and the Provencal......
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post #17 of 31
1/4/08 at 6:14pm
The Les Halles cookbook by Bourdain has a bunch of basic french recipes I've been looking for.
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post #18 of 31
1/6/08 at 8:54am
MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING Julia CHild AND grab her 3 DVDs!
Larousse Gastronomique is a Beauitful book but its an
Encyclopedia
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post #19 of 31
1/6/08 at 8:55am
MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING Julia CHild AND grab her 3 DVDs!
Larousse Gastronomique is a Beauitful book but its an
Encyclopedia
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post #20 of 31
1/6/08 at 8:55am
MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING Julia CHild AND grab her 3 DVDs!
Larousse Gastronomique is a Beauitful book but its an
Encyclopedia
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post #21 of 31
1/6/08 at 1:35pm
Yes, it's an encyclopedia but it has hundreds of recipes for basic dishes.
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post #22 of 31
2/1/08 at 10:29am
I think you mean James Peterson, no? He wrote one French book, among his bibliography.

I'll echo the votes for Julia and Jacques. Their work is "authentic" French, but much more easily understood by Americans. Anne Willan has also written a number of excellent books on French Cooking, as well as Patricia Wells and Lydie Marshall. My book is not bad, either. :blush:
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post #23 of 31
2/1/08 at 5:38pm
Appreciate the correction there Chef........I did misspell it.
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post #24 of 31
2/20/08 at 11:37am
A lot of good recommendations. In addition:

Modern French Culinary Art, by Pelliprat -- This has been published under a number of titles. If it's thick, has a lot of pictures, and by Pelliprat, it's this book. Pelliprat was the Grand Old Man of Le Cordon Bleu, and taught many of the other names listed in this thread how to cook. His book represents the bridge between the old style Escoffier cooking and the simpler, flavor-forward recipes of regional and nouvelle. If you can perfect the more difficult dishes out of this book, you can cook. Everything you wanted to know about Grand Cuisine.

Any book by Elizabeth David -- Hard to find, not much in terms of recipe specifics or technique either. You pretty much have to know how to cook if you're going to get anything useful out of David. Her books are as much travelogues and reminiscence as cookbooks. Way out of print. They taught a generation of Britains to seek out good food. Regional cooking as authentic as it gets.

When French Women Cook -- Madelein Kammins. Cuisine bourgeois. Tres Francais, et authentique!

I've fooled around with Escoffier, and really, the recipes aren't much help. Like David, you have to know what you're doing going in to make sense out of it. The recipes need a lot of adjustment. I'm always a little leery of people who say they use Escoffier's recipes or learned to cook from his books. Not that it doesn't happen, just less often than you might think.

LaRousse is, well, LaRousse.

The big Gourmet Cookbooks have tons of good stuff, often reverse-engineered from great French restaurants in France and America. You have to pick and choose.

Not exactly "authentic" French food, at least not traditionally French, but you could do worse than looking at the various Chez Panisse cookbooks from Alice Waters. Waters was, and still is, at the forefront of the movement which puts ingredients first and is the hallmark of great cooking. Most of her dishes employ French technique and French sensibilities.

BDL
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post #25 of 31
2/21/08 at 5:02am
for the home cook julia child is the best cookbook i've ever used for quality of recipes, quality of explanations, clarity of illustrations and techniques. You cannot go wrong with one of her recipes.
I'm not in a position to argue about the authenticity of her stuff, but it sure seems authentic.
p.s. i have a personal letter from her - one of her recipes wasn't coming out and i wrote her and got a reply with a long introduction to how lucky i was to be living in rome with those WONderful little artichokes...
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post #26 of 31
3/5/08 at 6:32pm

All this Childs worship is nice, but what about ...

Julia Child was a great teacher, a great cook, and an author and co-author of a few good cookbooks and food related books. She was also one of the first, great stars of PBS, and helped define an era as a pop-star.

Because of television, it's easy to overlook the fact that her best books were collaborations with other, equally or more famous chefs and writers.

So, let's not forget Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, who deserve as much, if not more, credit for writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vols. I & II as Childs. IIRC, the other two women gave most of the credit to Beck.

And let's not forget the immortal Elizabeth David, who along with Juliet Renny, collaborated on French Provincial Cooking.

Also, Jacques Pepin.

IMO Child's greatest gifts was keeping things in perspective.

BDL
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post #27 of 31
3/5/08 at 8:41pm
not sure where you have gotten your facts, but the bolded text is just not true. The three ran a cooking school together in Paris, and all three contributed to the FIRST volume, but Julia, being the American writing in English WROTE the book. Simone Beck (Simca) was a very close collaborator. Bertholle tested more recipes than she wrote. Bertholle's name is not on the second volume. By that time she was out of the picture altogether.

Any of Julia's biographies will corroborate the above, as will Judith Jones' autobiography.
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post #28 of 31
3/7/08 at 2:38pm
Chef,

You're right about Julia Child's contributions to Joy of Cooking, of course. I don't know what I was thinking when I put my foot so deeply into my mouth. Looking back at what I wrote, I have a pretty good of idea of where my brain was at the time, though. :crazy: Whoops.

My larger point about Julia Child was and is that her greatest value in the greater scheme of cookery is as teacher and popularizer, rather than a creator or complier of authentic French, or any other type of recipe. OTOH, it's possible to go too far devaluing her contribution there. It's important to highlight the contributions of other people who did so much to both modernize French cooking and bring it to the English-speaking home (and restaurant scene, as well).

I certainly owe her a great deal for whatever I learned and accomplished in my short career as a pro, and in my lifelong appreciation and continuing practice in the culinary arts. She communicated possibility, discipline and simplicity. Those are, in my opinion, the most important attributes in food -- both on the plate and in the cook.

BDL
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post #29 of 31
3/25/08 at 1:37pm
I would have to agree with you that she was a pioneer for getting more people interested in cooking.
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post #30 of 31
6/24/08 at 12:31pm
The Great Book of French Cuisine by Henri-Paul Pellaprat

The Saucier's Apprentice by Raymond Sokolov
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