Larousse Gastronomique Recipe Collection: 'Meat, Poultry & Game', 'Fish & Seafood', 'Vegetables & Salads' & 'Desserts, Cakes and Pastries'

This is a gorgeous book - an absolute joy - and I wish I'd bought it years ago. (The price had always put me off but as far as I am concerned now, it is an investment - and had I known then what I know now, I would have bought fewer 'other' books and used the money saved to buy this one.) It is an absolute mine of information, and if you're interested in food, as I am (and you must be, or you wouldn't be reading this..), I am sure you will find yourself 'dipping' into this book constantly - it makes fascinating reading, and this version is beautifully presented. The pages are crammed with many tempting recipes - certainly, some of these are complicated and more suited to a professional chef, and perhaps this would not be the best choice for a 'first cookbook' for a novice - but there are so many recipes and cooking methods that would be suitable and appealing to anyone with a basic knowledge of cooking. Even the humble potato has a whole host of recipes devoted to it. I find the book to be an invaluable reference aid and now - having enjoyed cooking from an early age, and after 30 years as a 'home cook' - I find my enthusiasm rekindled and my horizons broadened. Nothing left to say really, except perhaps 'bon appetit!'

Excellent and comprehensive when it wants to be (1/1 people found this helpful)

Portrayed by some, including somewhat understandably the publishers, as 'the world's greatest cookery encyclopedia' this is a book which can justifiably try to claim that title. Whether it would win that title is debatable but it's certainly a strong candidate. It's excellent when it chooses to cover a subject but not comprehensive and not for the novice cook.

Cookery is just too large a subject to cover in a single volume so it's unreasonably to expect any single volume work to be encyclopedic so there are understandable gaps in Larousse's coverage of it's subject. This won't teach you how to cook from scratch, despite containing descriptions of many cooking techniques and recipes, but this is a reference work. This is the book you turn to after you've learned the basics of how to cook.

If you have reached that point of being confident in the kitchen and want to get more from what you've learned so far this is a book for you. If you're a gastronome and want a reference to tell you more about the background of what you're eating then this is for you. If you're just learning to cook and are looking for one book to cover everything then you're probably better off with Delia.

For those who do want this as a reference then remember it is excellent but not comprehensive. When it chooses to cover a subject it is very good but what it chooses to cover is a bit random, for example the entry on croissants describes their history, the basic process to make them and gives half a dozen different recipes and variations but the entry for danish pastry rattles off a quick one paragraph description and mentions nothing more. Also the indexing is a bit disorganised so there is an entry for black pudding but nothing for white pudding, on the other hand though it has entries for boudin blanc but not boudin noir! The gaps in its coverage reflect its slightly francophile emphasis but the indexing is just one of those things that mean without a little food knowledge, in that case knowing that boudin noir and black pudding are pretty much the same thing, this won't be that useful.

This has a home in my kitchen as it sits among thirty or forty other cook books. If I was to just have three or four on the shelf then it wouldn't be one of those books but it is worth the money once you are buying you second or third set of cookbooks.

mammoth (1/4 people found this helpful)

the larousse gastronomique is a mammoth encyclopedia, and it makes fascinating reading and drooling. there are recipes galore, entries on the cuisines of various countries, cooking techniques, ingredients, restauranteurs, leading chefs, and more.

(having said that, i couldn't find a single entry on seafood chowder.)

and for those with serial killer tendancies, this is the book hannibal lecture uses in his recipe for human brain (although i presume he adapted).

hours and hours of use in this book.

"Umm, what is he talking about" (3/3 people found this helpful)

So, you're in the kitchen planning (or heaven help you if you're mid way through cooking for) a dinner party and you look at the Celeb Chef's guidance and ask to the heavens "what is he on about". This is where Larousse comes in. This is not a cookery book by itself, it is a manual to food and drink of a kind that has no competitor. You need to know what an obscure ingredient is, and what you can replace it with if you can't trace it? Look in Larousse. You've got one of those complicated Rick Stein books and he's telling you prepare your vegetables à la Ménagère, and after you've scratched your head for a bit, you reach for Larousse and there you are. This book is amazing, but will not go into the finer details of all food stuffs as this is not what it's for, and there are loads of books on the market place on subjects such as soya and the like.

OK, so there have been some mixed reports on this book with some good and some bad. Take it for what it is; it's an encyclopedia after all, and should be THE standard book for any gastronome. Complaining about lack of in-depth knowledge on one food type, or lack of complex recipes is the same as grumbling about the Encyclopedia Britannica for not having enough of a story line or having an accurate description of the inner workings of a Ford Mondeo! Use it, embrace it, and live by it. Amen.

Big and broad, but incomplete (0/10 people found this helpful)

Yes, the compilers know their stuff - most of the way - but this tome still does not acknowledge the development of Soya foods. The Soya bean is there, but that's it. If you are someone for whom Soya foods are essential (you cannot digest meat and/or milkstuffs, for instance) then this book is of no use to you. Otherwise, for omnivores, things couldn't be grander.

Larousse Gastronomique Recipe Collection: 'Meat, Poultry & Game', 'Fish & Seafood', 'Vegetables & Salads' & 'Desserts, Cakes and Pastries'

Prosper Montagne

Reader Reviews:

A feast of a book! (2/2 people found this helpful)

Excellent and comprehensive when it wants to be (1/1 people found this helpful)

mammoth (1/4 people found this helpful)

"Umm, what is he talking about" (3/3 people found this helpful)

Big and broad, but incomplete (0/10 people found this helpful)

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