Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volumes 1 & 2

Inspired by recent television versions of the life and cooking of Julia Child, my wife has begun a blog on her experiences in mastering French cooking throughout 2023. So these volumes were a present to assist her in her journey. Beautifully presented in their own slip case, the two volumes are illustrated with detailed line drawings and clearly outlined recipes. These are not your flashy, glossy lightweights full of pages of enticing full page photos, these are classics from the 1960s. These are detailed tried and tested recipes from a passionate exponent of French cuisine who turned America TV audiences away from their TV dinners. I’m sure that these will get some heavy use, not only in 2023, and I will get the benefit of their contents although my waistline will probably suffer.

I’m liking the language that’s used in this book - I know it’s been upgraded but there’s a feeling of an age gone by and I like that. Less pretentious than some modern cook books. I like the layout in the books - ingredients are listed along side each step - in the margin - very useful as many of the recipes are multi-step. Keeps you exactly in line with what you need and when I’m the process (see the second photo). They are thick books and don’t hold open on the work surface easily so I invested in a book stand - marvellous Going to try some recipes soon - can’t wait

The books arrived on time and in very good condition. I've read some parts and it seems easy to read. The catch with the recipes is that the measurements are not in grams or liters and I will need to do the conversion before starting any recipe. There is a chapter dedicated to helping with this part.

Just received these hardback versions of the two volumes of Mastering the Art... Only just published (March 2011) in a nice slip case so I bought them as a present for myself and my partner so we could try out what, by are all accounts, are excellent recipes explained in well-written style. I certainly endorse the point about the writing - it is a model of how clear recipe writing can be, but often isn't. Not tried any of the recipes yet because the books only just arrived BUT the reason I'm writing this review so soon after delivery is that I wanted to warn other possible purchasers of a 'devil in the detail'. Whether the version Amazon UK is selling is really meant for the US market I don't know (?), but I was disappointed to discover when I opened my parcel that the sticker on the front of the pack proudly announces ' NOW CONVERTED TO IMPERIAL MEASURMENTS' Great! So all we UK and European cooks now have to convert temperatures and weights back into metric. It's a relatively small issue and not one to return the books for, but it is irritating when these books are intended for a UK and possibly European market. This may not matter to you as a factor when compared with the undoubted merits of the books otherwise, but it seemed worthwhile to mention it. It also means 4 stars not 5

I bought this book as a gift to my girlfriend after watching that movie... I wasn't sure what to expect but I can say that I was pleasantly surprised by the content and quality of the book. The text is printed on non-white kind of "old-style" good quality paper. The recipes are great, and being French myself I discovered many recipes I have never even remotely heard of and a nomber of very useful advices to use while cooking. As a previous reviewer said, the measurements are the royal UK thingy, and it might be tricky for us metric users, but I've learned before that it is always useful to keep a conversion chart of some kind in your kitchen, so it is not such a big deal. You could also just convert everything online before starting, it won't take much time, unless you plan to cook every single recipe in both books in a record time.

Good translation off the original French book and movie

Superb, well packaged book. Classic . Foe cooking reference.

I have been meaning to buy this book for years and have finally got around to it. Two volumes of text with no pictures is a bit daunting at first but the recipes are described in great detail and they work! (There are a few drawings in vol 2). Everything I have cooked has been excellent - and I have had more than usual favourable comments from my husband! So far I have tried french hamburgers, navarin of lamb, chicken fricassee and from the vegetable section: onions, beans and courgettes. All excellent. The slipcase is nice as it keeps a place for the books on my bookshelf but could be a bit wider as sometimes it is hard to shove them in. But highly recommended and I am glad I splashed out on the two-volume hardcover set.

Un chef d’œuvre

本が届きましたが、本はに入っていませんでしたが、ケースに入っていました。しかし、本に損傷や汚れがありました。

As good as advertised. delivery on time.

Anzi due! Due volumi che, nello stile dei vecchi libri di cucina raccontano e spiegano di tagli di carne, di utensili necessari per avere una cucina funzionale, con disegni in bianco e nerò molto retrò e molto ben fatti. Ricette base della cucina francese e le loro innumerevoli varianti. Da avere assolutamente per chi come me è interessato alla cucina come disciplina, come arte da affinare, come tecnica da studiare. Il repertorio della cucina classica francese è tutto qui, a portata di mano.

Nachdem ich den film julie und julia gesehen hatte, habe ich im internet nach dem kochbuch gesucht. Als französin war ich ja skeptisch, bestellte die bücher, und ...bin begeistert: es schmeckt wie zu hause. Das englisch ist kein problem. Ich tue mir scher mit den massangaben, aber im buch sind tabellen vorhanden, die beim konvertieren hilfreich sind. Die bücher sehen auch ganz toll aus!