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Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Volume Set) Hardcover – Box set, December 1, 2009

by Julia Child (Author), Louisette Bertholle (Author), Simone Beck (Author)

534 customer reviews

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The perfect gift for any follower of Julia Child—and any lover of French food. This boxed set brings together Mastering the Art of French Cooking, first published in 1961, and its sequel, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two, published in 1970.

Volume One is the classic cookbook, in its entirety—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 nearly fifty 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. The techniques learned in this beautiful book, with more than one hundred instructive illustrations, can be applied to recipes in all other French cookbooks, making them infinitely usable. In compiling the secrets of famous Cordon Bleu chefs, the authors produced a magnificent volume that continues to have a place of honor in American kitchens.

Volume Two is the sequel to the great cooking classic—with 257 additional recipes. Following the publication of the celebrated Volume One, Julia Child and Simone Beck continued to search out and sample new recipes among the classic dishes and regional specialties of France—cooking, conferring, tasting, revising, perfecting. Out of their discoveries they made, for Volume Two, a brilliant selection of precisely those recipes that not only add to the repertory but, above all, bring the reader to a new level of mastery of the art of French cooking.

Each of these recipes is worked out step-by-step, with the clarity and precision that are the essence of the first volume. Five times as many drawings as in Volume One make the clear instructions even more so.

Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of this volume is that it will make Americans actually more expert than their French contemporaries in two supreme areas of cookery: baking and charcuterie. In France one can turn to the local bakery for fresh and expertly baked bread, or to neighborhood charcuterie for pâtés and terrines and sausages. Here, most of us have no choice but to create them for ourselves.
Bon appétit!

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Volume Set) [Box set]

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Editorial Reviews

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Revised edition of the classic cookbook, originally published in 1961.

From the Back Cover

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.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 2 pages
Publisher: Knopf (December 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307593525
ISBN-13: 978-0307593528
Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 3.6 x 10.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (534 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking Methods > Gourmet
- #9 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > French
- #23 in Books > Reference > Encyclopedias & Subject Guides > Cooking

Customer Reviews

534

4.8 out of 5 stars

5 star		87%
4 star		9%
3 star		2%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top Customer Reviews

THE French cookbook, after all these years

ByJoanna D.#1 HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon December 12, 2009

Format: Hardcover

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.

2424 comments 504 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Few books have had such a profound influence in their field

Bykdjon December 7, 2009

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

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.

11 comment 135 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

I love her...no more to say!

Bycindyon March 22, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I love her style and teaching techniques. I had no idea this was what she was all about. She is just what I needed to make sense of the kitchen. One other thing about her, she was very much into good quality food 50+ yrs ago with PORTION CONTROL. This has changed my life. I have still been losing weight while cooking her style. I have never used so much butter in my life. But I keep track of portions and am no longer afraid of "real" food. I havent used processed foods since I bought this set. I use fresh foods, and now understand how to use and cook them.

11 comment 38 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Too busy experimenting to write more...

ByFord Kaon December 27, 2009

Format: Hardcover

There are books which will keep you up all night reading but this is a different kettle of fish entirely. This is a book which will keep you in your kitchen experimenting with French cuisine.
I must admit I have been a little too busy trying out various recipes to write a long review of the book. So many goodies you can try to prepare on your own. So many fancy names you read about in books and heard in the movies and now you can cook them in a few minutes.
You can find here an appropriate dish for any occasion - tete a tete with your better half and official dinner for inlaws included. And your sex is immaterial - even the most untalented gentlemen will find a dish to impress the family and friends if they only find an hour or two to go through these two bulky volumes to choose something within their range. Onion soup, maybe? Well, and if they feel like a small experiment before the big night...
A fair bit of warning - these recipes are not always very easy and some dishes take time to prepare but great cuisine must require a bit of effort and best ingredients.
What are you waiting for? Get a copy and start cooking!

0Comment 19 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

No Cookbook Collection is Complete without This Set! (And it Makes a Great Gift!)

This two volume-set is just perfect, and would make a great gift (although it was a gift to myself ;~) ).

Published 1 year ago by Anne P. Mitchell

Great, except the vegetable recipes and some cooking times

I've had this set for about 5 weeks, and, no, I have not made all 500+ recipes. It is a classic every serious cook should have in his/her kitchen.Read more

Published on February 1, 2010 by Brotlaib

And you can go to YouTube andwatch her prepare many of the recipes

It is the classic. And you can go to YouTube and watch her prepare many of the recipes, or at least the master recipes, in the book. I originally purchased this as a e-book.Read more

Published 4 months ago by sugilite

Well published matched set

Excellent matched bound set gives the finishing touch to the pair. Volume two is usually only available in paperback and now this set looks like it belongs together.Read more

Published on December 29, 2009 by Eric J. in FL

A Must Have for ALL Home Cooks!

This is just a great deal, and two awesome books. This lady along with Justin Wilson, Martin Yan, and Paul Prudhome are the reasons why I went to culinary school and eventually...Read more

Published 1 year ago by ChefClay

Adding to the chorus of praise

Although some of the recipes are a bit dated for me (aspic, for example,) most recipes in these books will stand the test of time.Read more

Published on December 22, 2009 by RachoftheJungle

Deliciously Detailed

I recently received this set and could not be more pleased! The recipes I have tried so far have been fantastic, while the descriptions and details for preparing and cooking the...Read more

Published on December 18, 2009 by Amazon Customer

The Gold Standard

I first purchased the two volume set from amazon back in 1998 it and cost me nearly $100. It was quite a bit of money for a new college graduate, but it was well worth it.Read more

Published on December 31, 2011 by Justin

Mastering the Art

Simply a great volume set, which is a joy to read and an even greater pleasure to experiment with (with great outcomes I might add).Read more

Published on December 28, 2009 by luigi meneghini

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