Jacques Pepin's complete techniques : more than 1,000 preparations and… (original 2001; edition 2001)

Authoritative, and precisely written. Offers excellent grasp of the basics of French cooking. I would have preferred color photos for better demonstrations, but still the best I've found, so far, with Louis Diat's Basic French Cooking Techniques as a very close second. (I was very surprised to see that I'm the only one on librarything who own's Diat's book.) ( )