Larousse Gastronomique (1938)

NA

This will never be "read" :)

Much like the The Silver Spoon (but even heavier) it's an impossibly complete and exhaustive encyclopædia of everything related to cooking, and the level at which you cook doesn't really matter, as even the simplest of concepts (and also the most complex one) is explained. ( )

Slightly clunky translation of a book that's stuffy, old-fashioned, and very very French. Recommended as a fun cultural artefact, or as a reference when deciphering older French recipes. (That's for the 1986 edition, anyway. I hear rumours that later editions grudgingly admit the existence of lesser cuisines practised in countries that have the misfortune not to be France.)

world famous cook book very good + dj with tears rarely used

Contains a General Index of key topics, and a separate Index of Recipes. Weights and measures are given in metric, Imperial, and American standards, with a nice precaution that "it is advisable" not to mix them. Unlike most cookboooks sorted by type of dish or recipe, this encyclopedia presents topics in alphabetical order.

This work is touted to be "the world's most famous culinary reference book" and to provide comprehensive coverage of "every aspect of cookery". This includes history and traditions of foods and eating, biographies of chefs, cooking terms, and culinary techniques. For example, how to filet a fish, or make beurre blanc. How to store and use ingredients. Provides over 3,800 recipes, many of which are classic and non-obvious.

Prosper Montagne published the first edition in Paris in 1938. This revised English edition features 90 new biographies and expands the global scope. There is emphasis on techniques of contemporary cuisine -- alongside simmering, braising, roasting and baking, we now find induction or plancha cooking and the use of liquid nitrogen and creating foams. New ingredients such as cactus, eddo, haloumi, potmarron and tonka beans, along with new recipes such as chocolate avocado souffles. With over 800 illustrations and 400 photographs.

Under "Abattoir" is a small section on "Slaughtering in former times", with a surprising observation that "in the language of Homer, to express the idea of the slaughter of livestock, there are no verbs other than those relating to offering up sacrifices to the gods".

What a wonderful thing to repeat -- to recall the days when our food animals were treated with respect, even "religiously". Today, we eat creatures produced in factories and torture chambers. Chickens who live to scratch the earth, are pinned in cages and never touch the ground. Calves are locked in pens and have never spent their youth gamboling the meadows! We have fished to near extinction species we once ate in abundance. We are doing this WRONG. J'Accuse!

Fortunately, many people "care" about food. My takeaway on the attitude of the many authors of this encyclopedia is that transparency, planning and integrity must attend what we eat. Every professional and every consumer should insist that great "care" be taken of our food. ( )