La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange: The Original Companion for French Home Cooking

Precise and fussy. Mostly exhaustive short of Larousse (but then again, it was published by Larousse).

Certainly ahead of it's time (this was published in 1928).

The tone of the cookbook is imperious and precise, which is slightly irritating because if you understand scientific principles, some of her reasoning is hopelessly unsound, though the cause and effect is often correct - but very ofren very, very wrong - mayonnaise ingredients have to be warm, not cold!

Having read Herve This and Harold McGee glancingly, i am profoundly irritated by the book. Be that as it may, it is a more concise and easier to read book to get an 'overview' of french cuisine ahead of Julia Childs.

The recipes are pithy, short and often authoritative. However, the lack of illustrations and the difficulties in translation often mean that on physical points of technique like 'cutting in' of ingredients or omelettes, Julia Child's mastering the Art of French Cooking does a better job, or for an overview, her later book, the Way to Cook.

Read it for an overview of the breadth of classical french cooking, as well as if you're looking for inspiration to extend your usual sauce repertoire.

Not for the faint of heart, nor novices. (read less)