An American translation of the definitive Guide Culinaire, the Escoffier Cookbook includes weights, measurements, quantities, and terms according to American usage. Features 2,973 recipes.
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Text: English, French (translation)
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An American translation of the definitive Guide Culinaire, the Escoffier Cookbook includes weights, measurements, quantities, and terms according to American usage. Features 2,973 recipes.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
327 of 334 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
I'm a Chef, and have borrowed copies of Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire from friends whenever I need it. On a lark, I ran a search on Escoffier here at Amazon.com. I was stunned to find this book for the low cost of $12 or so, knowing that every other copy I had seen cost $60 or $70. So I ordered it and paged through it. Well, it only prints 2300 or so of over 5000 recipes in Escoffier's treatise. Admittedly, probably more than the home cook actually *needs*, but nowhere does the book say that it has been abridged.
But, like many Amazon.com customers, I found myself in the position of thinking "but it'll cost me half the price of the book to send it back." So I wound up giving it to a friend who likes to cook, but doesn't need the "real thing."
Suffice it to say that if you want the real Esoffier, you're still going to have to drop the $60+ for the Van Nostrand Reinhold edition. Sorry, culinary students, you didn't luck up on a deal.
ToqueBlanc
99 of 100 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"The Escoffier Cookbook" is a heavily abridged American version of Auguste Escoffier's 1903 book "Guide Culinaire". It is a fascinating look at the art of professional European cookery at the beginning of the 20th century.
However, to appreciate this book fully, it's important to understand exactly who it was written for. Escoffier's original guide was never for a second intended for the home cook. Escoffier was a pioneer with respect to the education of professional chefs, and originally wrote this book for the use of those working in grand houses, in hotels, on ocean liners, and in restaurants who might not have had access to contemporary recipes. Accordingly, the original book does not attempt to teach basic cooking or food preparation techniques. The American translation does include some details on cooking techniques and utensils unfamiliar to the average American chef (such as poeleing, worth the cost of the book alone, and the old French form of braising), but even in the translation it is assumed that the reader is a trained, experienced chef.
The recipes themselves are clear and simple to follow, but represent only a small subset of French cooking of the early 20th century. An earlier reviewer mentioned that there was no recipe for onion soup; this is true, but it should be understood that onion soup would never have been accepted by the class of restaurant patron Escoffier cooked for. Much of what has arrived on this side of the Atlantic as "French cooking" - dishes such as pot-au-feu, onion soup, and steak frites - is distinctly middle-class, and consequently would have been rejected by the clientele of quality restaurants of the time as being unspeakably boorish. Escoffier personally enjoyed bourgeois cooking, but as an astute, intelligent businessman he provided the haute cuisine his clients demanded.
One interesting difference between modern cooking and the cooking featured in this book is that Escoffier uses few spices, and indeed declaims on the foolishness of using large amounts of spices in meat dishes. This appears bizarre from our vantage point, but Escoffier had sound economic reasons for his proscriptions. Most diners of the time grew up in the days before refrigeration, when old deteriorating meat was heavily spiced to make it palatable. Fresh, unspiced meat was a sign of the highest quality. The association between strong spices and poor quality was powerful enough to survive long into the 20th century, as any reader of a 1950s American cookbook can attest.
As for the recipes themselves, I doubt that many of them could be prepared by the North American home cook. Most of us cannot afford (if we can even find) foie gras, truffles, or capons, and few have espagnole sauce or fish fumet available at all times. However, many recipes can be adapted for the modern cook - using cepes or porcini mushrooms for truffles, for instance - and those that can be prepared really are delicious.
However, to appreciate this book fully, it's important to understand exactly who it was written for. Escoffier's original guide was never for a second intended for the home cook. Escoffier was a pioneer with respect to the education of professional chefs, and originally wrote this book for the use of those working in grand houses, in hotels, on ocean liners, and in restaurants who might not have had access to contemporary recipes. Accordingly, the original book does not attempt to teach basic cooking or food preparation techniques. The American translation does include some details on cooking techniques and utensils unfamiliar to the average American chef (such as poeleing, worth the cost of the book alone, and the old French form of braising), but even in the translation it is assumed that the reader is a trained, experienced chef.
The recipes themselves are clear and simple to follow, but represent only a small subset of French cooking of the early 20th century. An earlier reviewer mentioned that there was no recipe for onion soup; this is true, but it should be understood that onion soup would never have been accepted by the class of restaurant patron Escoffier cooked for. Much of what has arrived on this side of the Atlantic as "French cooking" - dishes such as pot-au-feu, onion soup, and steak frites - is distinctly middle-class, and consequently would have been rejected by the clientele of quality restaurants of the time as being unspeakably boorish. Escoffier personally enjoyed bourgeois cooking, but as an astute, intelligent businessman he provided the haute cuisine his clients demanded.
One interesting difference between modern cooking and the cooking featured in this book is that Escoffier uses few spices, and indeed declaims on the foolishness of using large amounts of spices in meat dishes. This appears bizarre from our vantage point, but Escoffier had sound economic reasons for his proscriptions. Most diners of the time grew up in the days before refrigeration, when old deteriorating meat was heavily spiced to make it palatable. Fresh, unspiced meat was a sign of the highest quality. The association between strong spices and poor quality was powerful enough to survive long into the 20th century, as any reader of a 1950s American cookbook can attest.
As for the recipes themselves, I doubt that many of them could be prepared by the North American home cook. Most of us cannot afford (if we can even find) foie gras, truffles, or capons, and few have espagnole sauce or fish fumet available at all times. However, many recipes can be adapted for the modern cook - using cepes or porcini mushrooms for truffles, for instance - and those that can be prepared really are delicious.
28 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This book, published in the 1890s, is an excellent resource for those who aspire to cook great french food. Too often cookbook authors insult readers by leaving out key steps for fear that they may be 'too complicated' or call for veal stock when chefs use demi-glace. This book is complicated, poorly organized and difficult, but it WILL tell you the proper way to make french sauces (an incredible section, and well worth the price of the book in itself) and how best to lard a joint of beef. Treat yourself and buy this book to learn the proper way to prepare traditional french cuisine.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
wow
I love this book so much I can not put it down and a 1969 edition in very good condition way happy thanks so much
Published 15 days ago by Jessie
4.0 out of 5 stars
what you can expect from an old book
There are no pictures (drawings, black and white photos etc), and I expected that since this is an old book. Read more
Published 1 month ago by beautyproductuser
5.0 out of 5 stars
Few words from enthusiast
Just benchmark for each amateur or professional cook. Remember, many well known today french dishes ,did not exist in XIX'th century.This is like bible.
Published 3 months ago by JANUSZ WALENKIEWICZ
5.0 out of 5 stars
love it
Awesome book, but not for everyday home cooks. Does not use standard reciepes but for great for chefs and culinary trained cooks.
Published 4 months ago by Zeh
5.0 out of 5 stars
Learning from the Master
This is a must read for the aspiring chef. Like all the Masters of Industry, Escoffier sets the standard from which every artery of culinary innovation springs.
Published 7 months ago by Paul Woodburn
5.0 out of 5 stars
AWESOME
This book is not for the novice. Nor for really the consummate at home cook, but WOW - the part on sauces alone is invaluable!
Published 7 months ago by Hopiwan
3.0 out of 5 stars
This is the Abridged Version
Please note that this is an abridged version of Escoffier's famous Le Guide Culinaire. If you want the translated to English COMPLETE version buy the Cracknell- and... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Bohemian Bon Vivant
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pedestrian cook's review
OK, I admit it up front: compared to this book I am but a pedestrian, mundane, boring cook who can follow Julia Child when motivated but don't most of the time. Read more
Published 10 months ago by informednow
4.0 out of 5 stars
simply the reference
There is a saying in France, that says you have to do perfectly all the recipes in this book before being able to create your own. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Brian Bora
4.0 out of 5 stars
French Cooking
I have always wanted to have this book for a long time. All recipies are easy to read and understand. This is the best book for finding fundamental
cooking and techniques. Read more
cooking and techniques. Read more
Published 13 months ago by jacquie Gariano
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 2
books:
- Van Dyck by Christopher Brown on page 521
- The Physiology of Taste: Or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy by M. F. K. Fisher on page 506
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