Best Selling Books by Simone Beck

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The definitive cookbook on French cuisine for American readers: "What a cookbook should be: packed with sumptuous recipes, detailed instructions, and precise line drawings. Some of the instructions look daunting, but as Child herself says in the introduction, ''If you can read, you can cook.''" —Entertainment Weekly “I only wish that I had written it myself.” —James Beard Featuring 524 delicious recipes and over 100 instructive illustrations to guide readers every step of the way, Mastering the Art of French Cooking offers something for everyone, from seasoned experts to beginners who love good food and long to reproduce the savory delights of French cuisine. Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle break down the classic foods of France into a logical sequence of themes and variations rather than presenting an endless and diffuse catalogue of dishes—from historic Gallic masterpieces to the seemingly artless perfection of a dish of spring-green peas. Throughout, the focus is on key recipes that form the backbone of French cookery and lend themselves to an infinite number of elaborations—bound to increase anyone’s culinary repertoire. “Julia has slowly but surely altered our way of thinking about food. She has taken the fear out of the term ‘haute cuisine.’ She has increased gastronomic awareness a thousandfold by stressing the importance of good foundation and technique, and she has elevated our consciousness to the refined pleasures of dining." —Thomas Keller, The French Laundry

The only cookbook that explains how to create authentic French dishes in American kitchens with American foods. Teaches the key techniques of French cooking, permitting many variations on a theme. Over 100 instructive drawings.

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • For sixty years, this has been the definitive cookbook on French cuisine for American readers. It deserves a place of honor in every kitchen. "What a cookbook should be: packed with sumptuous recipes, detailed instructions, and precise line drawings. Some of the instructions look daunting, but as Child herself says in the introduction, ''If you can read, you can cook.''" —Entertainment Weekly “I only wish that I had written it myself.” —James Beard Featuring 524 delicious recipes and over 100 instructive illustrations to guide readers every step of the way, Mastering the Art of French Cooking offers something for everyone, from seasoned experts to beginners who love good food and long to reproduce the savory delights of French cuisine. Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle break down the classic foods of France into a logical sequence of themes and variations rather than presenting an endless and diffuse catalogue of dishes—from historic Gallic masterpieces to the seemingly artless perfection of a dish of spring-green peas. Throughout, the focus is on key recipes that form the backbone of French cookery and lend themselves to an infinite number of elaborations—bound to increase anyone’s culinary repertoire. “Julia has slowly but surely altered our way of thinking about food. She has taken the fear out of the term ‘haute cuisine.’ She has increased gastronomic awareness a thousandfold by stressing the importance of good foundation and technique, and she has elevated our consciousness to the refined pleasures of dining." —Thomas Keller, The French Laundry

View recipes from Food and Friends.The coauthor of Mastering the Art of French Cooking shares an irresistible feast of reminiscence and recipes. Simone "Simca" Beck first met Julia Child in 1949 in the women''s cooking club Cercle des Gourmettes in Paris. Soon afterwards, the two began collaborating on what would become Mastering the Art of French Cooking. During her extraordinary career, Simca was mentor and friend to a generation of cooks and food writers. In Food and Friends, she interweaves tantalizing recipes and menus with a wonderfully evocative account of her Normandy childhood, her madcap escapades in 1920s Paris, her work with Julia Child, and her friendships with James Beard, Craig Claiborne, M.F.K. Fisher, and Richard Olney, among others.

Presents recipes and preparation guidelines for the creation of gourmet, French dishes, and menus suitable for casual, formal, and special occasions