Customer Reviews

Larousse Gastronomique Recipe Collection

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have many times over many years gone to the Larousse Gastronomique as my first step in menu planning before a grand meal. Its encycopedic breadth, its to-the-point informative essays, its side-by-side alternative recipes, and its marvelous way of linking recipes, ingredients, geographical biases and lore into nearly endless chains of ideas is a great inspiration. So often, different sources say very different things about a food, and the Larousse becomes the arbiter of these disagreements. It is authoritative and comprehensive.

But it can be a pain in the tenderloin to use as a cookbook. Its recipes, even in the most recent editions, can be too dense, too full of recondite practices, and just too damned French in their prejudices and presuppositions. So I've always used it as a first source, but rarely for practical guidance with individual dishes. For years I have returned to the same unfulfilled wish: to have the recipes excerpted, reorganized, edited, and cleaned up for kitchen use. Sometimes you just need to know how much onion goes in the soup without all the chauvanistic opinions about onions in their many forms. I am very pleased to say that the editors at Larousse have produced exactly this book.

The book is in fact four: meats, fish and seafoods, vegetables, and deserts are separately bound into four handy volumes. The books are compact, beautifully designed following the old French format of one recipe in paragraph-form per page, with saddle-stitched bindings and stain-resistant covers. The volumes come in a strong paperboard box. With some gentle stretching the books will lie open on the counter. Each volume is intelligently arranged by major ingredient or thematic relevance. Everything is easy to find [assuming you know some French], and easy to use. Leave your full Larousse in the library, and keep this recipe collection near the stove. Or, since it is so incredibly inexpensive at Amazon, buy two and let one get encrusted in Cassoulet sauce.

One caveat: The French-format recipes may take some getting used to. You'll have to be careful to line up your ingredients, since they are not listed except as needed within the paragraph. This format works very well if you are a reasonably experienced cook who is comfortable reading a recipe through and then improvising the dish as you go. If you need precise instructions, other cookbooks might be more accessible. But if you know a mirepoix is a highly-variable mixture of vegetables, you can relax and let the recipes suggest a direction, and adjust as needed. Where exact instructions are more important, with delicate pastries and souffles, for example, you may want to supplement these recipes with a step-by-step cookbook, but for Coq au Vin, just dive in and let go your fears of imperfection.

I highly recommend this monumental compendium for every cook who loves French food. It is fast becoming one of the vertebra of my cookbook library.

As another reviewer has noted, "this book is listed as a "hardcover" edition. This collection, in point of fact, consists of 4 paperbound books with a cardboard slipcover." To that, I can add that the cardboard slipcase is incredibly cheaply made. My set arrived with the slipcase torn apart on several edges. It was not damaged, but simply torn by the stress of being moved about with books inside it.

That said, it is a very good, if overpriced, resource for serious cooks. It and its companion encyclopedia (which is actually hardback) are great for cooking or just getting ideas.

I would give it more stars if the recipes were printed in the traditional English-speaking format, making them easier to evaluate, choose and use. Also, it is upsetting to pay so much for paperbacks, which are unlikely to last very long.

In answer to Amazon's question in their guidelines, "What would you have wanted to know before you purchased the product?", I would say, I would have wanted to know that these were paperbacks, not hard bound as stated.

With decent editing and durable binding, I would give 4 or 5 stars.

Larousse Gastronomique is the ultimate culinary reference for the serious foodie and cook, whether a good home cook or a professional. It was never intended for the person who does not already know something as basic as what a flan case is (or how to boil water) nor for the person who lacks the intelligence to observe that the book is arranged alphabetically, so no cross reference to "flan case" is required. It is only necessary to turn to f-l-a-n, alphabetically. Nor is "a list of ingredients" the truly traditional way to write recipes. Even Gourmet magazine wrote recipes in the paragraph style until the 1980s.

Larousse Gastronomique answers just about every culinary question you have and describes everything you need to know to cook at a world class level using real (not mass-produced processed) ingredients in the traditional way. Not for the person who thinks a great recipe contains canned cream of X soup!

If you have already mastered the basics of real cookery and are ready to step up to great cooking, this is the book for you.

I bought this collection for my fiance who is an executive chef here in Albany. He had shown me the LaRousse Gastronomic book he had bought years ago and shared how incredible it was. So when I saw there was a recent collection of just the recipes in one place, I thought he would enjoy having those at his fingertips instead of having to go through the big book and find them. He absolutely loves them, he reads them all the time and uses them as a source for his restaurant and I can use them as a source at home (I love to cook as well and collect recipes from all over..) He says they are absolutely wonderful and described them as "Gastronomic Wizardry"... Highly recommend them.. they are paperback version in a nice packaged box that you can use to store the collection in. there are also a few books that LaRousse has out that are not in this collection that I am going to get as well... Good price and great, great recipes... a must have in the culinary world weather it is your job or you just like to cook!

This is an amazing reference collection. The collection has both depth and breadth that can be appreciated by novice and master alike.

I am always trying to improve my learning and skill in the culinary art of cooking. These books have more information than I will ever learn, but is said to be a must have for those in this schooling. I hope only to improve.

This is a great book if you don't have the Gastronomique Cookbooks and are looking for only recipes. The shipping was fast, the book was as promised, good condition. It was not for me though because I have Gastronomique, so I passed it on to a friend.

Recipes are great, the setout is logical and easy to index. Very disappointed in the presentation. The books are advertised as hardcover but that is just the surround, the books themselves are low quality paperbacks.

If what you want is a thorough French cookbook, this is it. Don't expect to find a recipe for American Meatloaf.

Timeless! A brilliantly crafted book. This is truly a must for any ones kitchen.