French Cooking: Classic Recipes and Techniques

by Hubert Delorme, Vincent Boue, Paul Bocuse (Foreword)

Over 200 culinary techniques—the building blocks for how to cook any recipe—are demystified in this illustrated guide to French gastronomy. French cuisine can appear daunting, but it’s one of life’s greatest pleasures. French Cooking offers the step-by-step kitchen techniques that are the secret to success. The book opens with a guide to the fundamentals of knife techniques (chopping, paring), cooking methods (braising, grilling, steaming, poaching, roasting), sauces and stuffings, eggs, dough. Each method is explained in text and photographs; twenty-four are further clarified on the accompanying ninety-minute DVD. Organized in courses, 125 classic recipes—quiche Lorraine, onion soup, tarte Tatin—provide ample inspiration. Each recipe is graded with a three-star rating so that home chefs can gauge its complexity—and expand their cooking abilities gradually with experience. Eight recipes from France’s leading chefs offer the ultimate challenge. Cross references throughout to techniques, DVD footage, glossary terms, and related recipes make navigation easy. Practical resources complete the visual dictionaries of basic kitchen equipment, cuts of meat, and types of herbs, grains, spices, legumes; a glossary; and indexes of the recipes, main ingredients, and culinary techniques. With an introduction by Paul Bocuse, this impressive volume is an essential guide for novice and established cooks alike.

Genres: Cookbooks

512 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Jay Beard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ sometimes the recipes were a little unclear, and id have to reread something like four times. Recipes were hit or miss on the tastiness, but I got some good techniques that I will be keeping forever. 


Recipes i tried:

Potatoes a la boulangère: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so easy couldn't mess it up even if I tried. And delicious

Slow-cooked caramelized pork: I cant really rate this one because I used beef instead of pork, and that was on me. I will say the rub was a little too sweet for me. Dont know if I'll reuse that

Bœuf bourguinon: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ my husband made this one and he has much better cooking skills than I do, and I still didnt think it tasted much different than a stew. Took so so much time for what? Still tasty tho.

Chicken breast with baby vegetables: ⭐ ️ ⭐ ️ ⭐ ️ ⭐ ️ It's basically a slower version of this recipe ive been following for years for chicken thighs/breasts just with a sauce. Did adore the addition, but I will be making my quicker, less fattening, and crisper method.

Floating island with spun caramel: This recipe was the whole reason why i checked out this book. I wanted to learn how to make meringue and this had a fun recipe to try it with. YET, it’s another one i feel like I cant rate because I fucked it up so bad. It was definitely part unclear instructions, part my ineptitude for patience, with lack of candy thermometer. I was gonna try this again when I got said thermometer, but I think its just too advanced for me.