A guide to modern cookery

by Auguste Escoffier

This book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations. We have represented this book in the same form as it was first published. Hence any marks seen are left intentionally to preserve its true nature.

898 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

French chef Auguste Escoffier of grand hotels, such as the Savoy and Carlton in London, wrote several cookery books, including Le Guide culinaire (1903).

Georges Auguste Escoffier, restaurateur, popularized and updated traditional methods. This most important legendary figure among gourmands led in the development of modern cuisine. Antoine Carême of the codifiers of haute cuisine based much of technique of Escoffier, whose achievement simplified and modernized his elaborate and ornate style. The press referred to preeminent Escoffier as roi des cuisiniers et cuisinier des rois, "king," also previously said of Carême, of France in the early part of the 20th century.

Escoffier recorded and invented the recipes alongside, another contribution to introduce organized discipline to his kitchens to to elevate to the status of a respected profession. The system of brigade de cuisine organized his kitchens; a partie ran each section.

Escoffier published in the form of a text, still used as a major reference work. Restaurants in France and throughout the world adopted highly influential recipes, techniques and approaches of Escoffier to kitchen management today.

Reviews

[Raihan Siam]

"The undisputed holy grail of culinary literature—a breathtaking, encyclopedic masterpiece that remains the absolute foundation of professional cooking!"
To call Auguste Escoffier’s A Guide to Modern Cookery (originally published as Le Guide Culinaire) a mere "cookbook" is like calling the Mona Lisa a simple sketch. This monumental text is the very bedrock upon which the entire architecture of modern Western gastronomy was built. Reading it feels less like studying a recipe collection and more like receiving a direct, rigorous masterclass from the greatest culinary mind in history. Even over a century after its original publication, this book remains an awe-inspiring, fiercely relevant bible for anyone who wants to truly understand the mechanics, philosophy, and art of professional cooking. It completely shattered my reliance on internet recipes and taught me how to think like a chef.