PENGUIN Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol.2

You should read them both!

Un clásico para todo aficionado a la cocina, marca un antes y un después… la edición es también preciosa…

- The master continues her lessons. Need to gut and cook a wild animal? It's here, and it's fit for royalty. Have a random bird roaming around the yard and want it turned into a 5 star experience? It's here. Roast a rattlesnake? Probably, with a nice reduction that compliments it. - Vol 2 continues to thoroughly cover the most serious of cooking styles, but doesn't take itself too seriously. I love French food but French chefs and waiters? Not so much. - If I remember right from her PBS show, Julia didn't have a 3 or 10 second rule. As long as the ingredient or utensil didn't get lost it was still getting used. Maybe a quick rinse or hard slap if it landed in something totally gross. I love Julia.

This is a recipe book for the serious cook. You don’t have to be a good cook just follow the directions and your food will be fantastic. There are no pictures but as these are classical dishes they aren’t really necessary. There are suggestions for what else to eat as a meal. These are probably not everyday recipes but more for special occasions and of course there is no thought to health. But in the years that this book was created no one was over weight. And excellant book and the second volume too.

Do NOT buy either of the latest re-issued paperback editions of Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol.1 and 2. The font size is appallingly and unreadably tiny. Cheap and nasty. A cookbook should be attractively designed both for use and browsing--it is impossible to read this one either for pleasure or use. I have just returned both volumes, bought as a gift for my husband, who has better eyesight than me but was unable to cope with or enjoy the small and miserable font. No idea if the new hardback issues of these books are better designed. If in doubt, source an old edition.