Mastering the Art of French Cooking

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Cover of Volume 1, original 1961 edition
Author	Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, Simone Beck
Country	United States/France
Language	English
Subject(s)	Culinary Arts
Genre(s)	non-fiction
Publisher	Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date	1961 (vol. 1), 1970 (vol. 2)
Media type	book
Pages	720
ISBN	0-375-41340-5 (40th anniversary edition)
OCLC Number	429389109
LC Classification	TX719 .C454 2009
Followed by	The French Chef Cookbook, Simca's Cuisine

Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a two-volume French cookbook written by American Julia Child, and Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle both of France. The book was written for the American market and published by Knopf in 1961 (Volume 1) and 1970 (Volume 2).

History

The book was the result of a collaboration among the three authors (as well as illustrator Sidonie Coryn and Child's husband Paul) and the impetus for Child's long and successful career as one of the pioneering television chefs. Originally published in 1961 after some early difficulties (which are recounted in great detail in Julia Child's memoirs My Life in France as well as Child's introduction to the 2003 edition), Mastering volume 1 (ISBN 0-375-41340-5) was a broad survey of French flavors and techniques, and grew out of the work the three women had done for their Paris cooking school, "L'École des trois gourmandes" (whose logo Child wore as a badge throughout the production of her first TV series, The French Chef); volume 2 (ISBN 0-394-40152-2), released in 1970, expanded on certain topics of interest that had not been covered as completely as the three had planned to in the first volume (particularly baking and charcuterie). Taken together, the two volumes are considered one of the most influential works in American cookbook history, and Child in particular has long been accorded near-universal respect in the cooking world, in part due to these books' influence.

Contents

Volume 1 covers the basics of French cooking, striking as much of a balance as possible between the complexities of haute cuisine and the practicalities of the American home cook. Traditional favorites like boeuf bourguignon, bouillabaisse, and cassoulet are featured, as are extensive instructions on how to prepare vegetables in a manner more appetizing than the practices of the American kitchen of the 1960s. This volume has been through many printings and has been reissued twice with revisions, first in 1983 with updates for changes in kitchen practice (especially the food processor), and then in 2003 as a 40th anniversary edition with an introduction giving a history of the book.

Some classic French baking is also included, but baking got a much more thorough treatment in Volume 2, which was published in 1970 after Bertholle had gone on to other projects. Also covered is breadmaking, which Child and Beck studied under Professor Raymond Calvel, at the time one of France's recognized experts on bread, and charcuterie. Coryn's illustrations in the second volume were built on photography work done by Paul Child.

Cultural references

In 2002, writer Julie Powell began the Julie/Julia Project a popular Web log in which she recorded her ultimately successful attempt to cook all the recipes in the book in the space of an entire year. This challenge and Child's creation of the book in the early years of her career are dramatized in the 2009 film, Julie & Julia. The success of this film prompted the book to once again become a bestseller in the United States, 49 years after its initial release.^[1]

See also

• La bonne cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange -- cited by Child as a major inspiration

References