Summary

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 in fallibly 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 acassoulet,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 famouscordons bleus,the authors have produced a magnificent volume that is sure to find the place of honor in every kitchen in America. Bon appétit!

Author Biography

Julia Child, a native of California and a Smith College graduate; Simone Beck, French-born and -educated; and Louisette Bertholle, half French and half American, educated in both countries, represented an even blending of the two backgrounds and were singularly equipped to write about French cooking for Americans. Mrs. Child studied at Paris’s famous Cordon Bleu, and all three authors worked under various distinguished French chefs. In 1951 they started their own cooking school in Paris, L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes, at the same time that this book was taking shape. After that, Madame Beck published two cookbooks, Simca’s Cuisine in 1972 and New Menus from Simca’s Cuisine in 1979, and she continued to teach cooking in France. Madame Bertholle also had several cookery books published. Shortly after the appearance of Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 1961, Julia Child began appearing in the public television series The French Chef, which aired for many years all over the United States, and in 1978 the program Julia Child & Company was launched, followed the next year by Julia Child & More Company. In 1968 recipes from her early programs, many of which were drawn from this book, were published in The French Chef Cookbook. In 1975 From Julia Child’s Kitchen was published, followed in 1978 and 1979 by Julia Child & Company and Julia Child & More Company, based on those programs. Also based on television series were the two books—Cooking with Master Chefs and In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs—she wrote in the mid-1990s, as well as Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, with Jacques Pépin, in 1999. The Way to Cook, her magnum opus, was published in 1989, and in 2000 she gave us Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom, a distillation of her years of cooking experience.

Kitchen Equipment

(8)

Definitions

(4)

Ingredients

(5)

Measures

(4)

Temperatures

(2)

Cutting: Chopping, Slicing, Dicing, and Mincing

(5)

Wines

(6)

Soups

(17)

Sauces

(62)

White Sauces

(11)

Brown Sauces

(10)

Tomato Sauces

(3)

The Hollandaise Family

(7)

The Mayonnaise Family

(8)

Vinaigrettes

(2)

Hot Butter Sauces

(3)

Cold Flavored Butters

(6)

List of Miscellaneous Sauces

105

(1)

Stocks and Aspics

106

(10)

Eggs

116

(23)

Poached Eggs

116

(6)

Shirred Eggs

122

(1)

Eggs in Ramekins

123

(2)

Scrambled Eggs

125

(1)

Omelettes

126

(13)

Entrees and Luncheon Dishes

139

(68)

Pie Dough and Pastry Shells

139

(7)

Quiches, Tarts, and Gratins

146

(11)

Souffles and Timbales

157

(18)

Pate a Choux, Puffs, Gnocchi, and Quenelles

175

(15)

Crepes

190

(6)

Cocktail Appetizers

196

(11)

Fish

207

(27)

Fish Filets Poached in White Wine

208

(10)

Two Recipes from Provence

218

(2)

Two Famous Lobster Dishes

220

(6)

Mussels

226

(6)

List of Other Fish Dishes

232

(2)

Poultry

234

(54)

Roast Chicken

240

(9)

Casserole-roasted Chicken

249

(5)

Sauteed Chicken

254

(4)

Fricasseed Chicken

258

(7)

Broiled Chicken

265

(2)

Chicken Breasts

267

(5)

Duck

272

(10)

Goose

282

(6)

Meat

288

(133)

Beef

288

(40)

Lamb and Mutton

328

(22)

Veal

350

(25)

Pork

375

(14)

Ham

389

(10)

Cassoulet

399

(6)

Liver

405

(4)

Sweetbreads

409

(4)

Brains

413

(3)

Kidneys

416

(5)

Vegetables

421

(115)

Green Vegetables

423

(53)

Carrots, Onions, and Turnips

476

(13)

Lettuce, Celery, Endive, and Leeks

489

(7)

The Cabbage Family

496

(3)

Cucumbers

499

(2)

Eggplant

501

(4)

Tomatoes

505

(3)

Mushrooms

508

(9)

Chestnuts

517

(3)

Potatoes

520

(8)

Rice

528

(8)

Cold Buffet

536

(43)

Cold Vegetables

536

(5)

Composed Salads

541

(3)

Aspics

544

(14)

Molded Mousses

558

(6)

Pates and Terrines

564

(12)

List of Other Cold Dishes

576

(3)

Desserts and Cakes

579

(105)

Fundamentals

579

(9)

Sweet Sauces and Fillings

588

(6)

Custards, Mousses, and Molded Desserts

594

(19)

Sweet Souffles

613

(10)

Fruit Desserts

623

(9)

Tarts

632

(16)

Crepes

648

(7)

Clafoutis

655

(3)

Babas and Savarins

658

(7)

Ladyfingers

665

(2)

Cakes

667

(17)

Index

684

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Excerpts

Clafouti (Cherry Flan)

The clafouti (also spelled with a final "s" in both singular and plural) which is traditional in the Limousin during the cherry season is peasant cooking for family meals, and about as simple a dessert to make as you can imagine: a pancake batter poured over fruit in a fireproof dish, then baked in the oven. It looks like a tart, and is usually eaten warm.

(If you have no electric blender, work the eggs into the flour with a wooden spoon, gradually beat in the liquids, then strain the batter through a fine sieve.)

3 cups pitted black cherries

1 1/4 cups milk

2/3 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flour

Powdered sugar in a shaker

For 6 to 8 people

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use fresh, black, sweet cherries in season. Otherwise use drained, canned, pitted Bing cherries, or frozen sweet cherries, thawed and drained.

Place the milk, 1/3 cup sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, salt, and flour in your blender jar in the order in which they are listed. Cover and blend at top speed for 1 minute.

Pour a 1/4-inch layer of batter in a 7- to 8-cup buttered, fireproof baking dish or pyrex pie plate about 1 1/2 inches deep. Set over moderate heat for a minute or two until a film of batter has set in the bottom of the dish. Remove from the heat. Spread the cherries over the batter and sprinkle on the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar. Pour on the rest of the batter and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.

Place in middle position of preheated oven and bake for about an hour. The clafouti is done when it has puffed and browned, and a needle or knife plunged into its center comes out clean. Sprinkle top of clafouti with powdered sugar just before bringing it to the table. (The clafouti need not be served hot, but should still be warm. It will sink down slightly as it cools.)

Excerpted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, Simone Beck
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.