336 of 344 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE French cookbook, after all these years, December 12, 2009
Like the famous Julie of "Julie and Julia", a lot of us aspiring amateur cooks tried to work through this book in the 70's. We made a lot of the recipes, including a memorable "Dacquoise" meringue and praline cake for grad school parties. (We eked out a seminar dinner budget to cover the speaker and two or three guests at a restaurant and turned it into dinner for 30 or so by cooking at a faculty member's house. This was our main cookbook for many of those dinners.)
The basics on vegetables are here--maybe a bit plain by today's standards, or sometimes overly complicated (who is going to fight with an artichoke or make a moussaka a la turque steamed in a lining of eggplant skin in a timbale mould) but most of the recipes are well worth the effort.
Book One has main dishes and a few desserts, soups, of course and vegetables. Book Two has more ambitious baking (the infamous Dacquoise) and even baguettes, which still don't come out quite right as American flour has a different ash content and American ovens don't produce steam like professional ovens. The pastry section is particularly good in both; you can learn to make a pate sable or a kind of sugar-cookie like crust that is dead useful for tarts. I've also used the Creme Bavaroise many a time; a lot of work, beating gelatin, cream and carefully unmolding what looks like a simple mousse in a decorative ring mould but is a very elegant dessert that serves quite a few, especially sliced, and plated with fresh berries and a drizzle of sauce. It adapts to many flavors (passion fruit, strawberry, chocolate, mocha) and is one of my favorite classics that you just don't see anymore. The Reine de Saba cake (chocolate almond, under-baked in the center and with a ganache glaze) is equally elegant and again, serves a number of people when sliced and plated elegantly.
This book has the only French Onion Soup recipe I really like. A lot of work (you have to peel and slice a hellacious pile of onions, oh the tears) and when I had this book the first time, there were NO food processors. Even so, with the food processor, it takes a lot of time to cook down and brown those onions and you need REALLY good broth but the result is by far the best onion soup there is. Just writing about it makes me want to go slice onions this very minute.
I can't imagine being without these books, and the packaging is nice, as the originals were two different sized volumes and sit kind of funny on the shelf.
I suppose I should mention that even if you aren't going to make most of these dishes (who can find veal these days?) the book is excellent reading on culinary arts.
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93 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Few books have had such a profound influence in their field, December 7, 2009
There are very few books that have had such a profound effect on their field. This book set is transformative - you will never view cooking food the same way again. I grew up watching Julia Child on my local PBS affiliate with no idea that she was anything other than a local cooking talent with a strange affect. After college, I found a copy of volume one in a used book store and can hear her voice in every recipe, stage of directions, and sage advice.
After many years, my family loves her beef stew - a regular dinner in our home. I despised French Onion soup growing up, but after following her directions it is my favorite.
One criticism of this book is the production. After many years of publishing technology improvements, the lack of photos to explain some butchery techniques makes this set a bit dated if you expect visual guides to some steps. Be patient, re-read, and have confidence. These are spectacular dishes made with simple techniques that even someone who grew up on canned soup and boxed dinners figured out.
If I was trapped on a remote island with only one cooking instructional resource, then this would be my choice. Everything else is a far distant second place.
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87 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To me this book is irreplaceable, so I'm ordering a new one., August 23, 1998
With the help of this book, I taught myself to cook using the basic French cooking instructions in the book. Thirty some years later, after two-year's work/study in a small (then non-accredited) cooking school, I still refer to it. I refer to it for many reasons, least of which is to jog my memory. My ancient copy (circa 1960?) is coming apart at the binding, so I need to replace it. This book is inspiration!
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