Mastering the Art of French Cooking

History

The book was the result of a collaboration among Beck, Bertholle, Child (listed alphabetically), illustrator Sidonie Coryn, and Paul Cushing Child (Child's husband), and was the impetus for Child's long and successful career as a pioneering television chef. Julia Child's goal was to adapt classic French cuisine for mainstream Americans. The collaboration of this cookbook proved groundbreaking and has since become a standard guide for the culinary community. Mastering Volume 1 (ISBN 0-375-41340-5) was originally published in 1961 after some early difficulties (which are recounted in great detail in Julia Child's memoirs My Life in France as well as Child's introduction to the 2003 edition). Volume 1 was a broad survey of French flavors and techniques, and grew out of the work the three women had done for their Paris cooking school, "L'École des trois gourmandes" (whose logo Child wore as a badge throughout the production of her first TV series, The French Chef). Mastering Volume 2 (ISBN 0-394-40152-2), released in 1970, this time a collaboration between Julia Child and Simone Beck but not Louisette Bertholle with whom the professional relationship had ended, expanded on certain topics of interest that had not been covered as completely as the three had planned to in the first volume (particularly baking and charcuterie). Taken together, the two volumes are considered one of the most influential works in American cookbook history. Child has long been accorded near-universal respect in the cooking world, in part due to the influence of these books.

Beck had wanted to create a volume 3, but Child, with her TV career doing well, was less interested; they severed their writing partnership and Beck's work for volume 3 became her first published book in English, Simca's Cuisine.

Contents

Mastering the Art of French Cooking… doesn't mean it has to be fancy cooking, although it can be as elaborate as you wish. — Julia Child

Volume 1 covers the basics of French cooking, striking as much of a balance between the complexities of haute cuisine and the practicalities of the American home cook. Traditional favorites such as beef bourguignon, bouillabaisse, and cassoulet are featured, as are extensive instructions on how to prepare vegetables in a manner more appetizing than that of the 1960s American kitchen. This volume has been through many printings and has been reissued twice with revisions: first in 1983 with updates for changes in kitchen practice (especially the food processor), and then in 2003 as a 40th anniversary edition with the history of the book in the introduction. The cookbook includes 524 recipes.

Some classic French baking is also included, but baking received a more thorough treatment in Volume 2, published in 1970 after Bertholle had gone on to other projects. Also covered is breadmaking, which Child and Beck studied under Professor Raymond Calvel at the time one of France's recognized experts on bread and charcuterie. Coryn's illustrations in the second volume were a result of Paul Child's photography.

Editions and printings

First edition (published August, 1961)

1. First printing, August 1961 m,m

2. Second printing, October 16, 1961

…

5. Fifth printing, December 1963

6. Sixth printing, May 1964

10. Tenth printing, August 1965

12. Twelfth printing, August 1966

13. Thirteenth printing, December 1966

18. Eighteenth printing, November 1969.

19. Nineteenth printing, October 1970. Second cookbook by Julia Child and Simone Beck is published and the original book is referred to as Volume One (a.k.a. Second edition)

 ??. Reprinted from new plates, October 1971

24. Twenty-Fourth printing, November 1973

…

34. Thirty-Fourth printing (revised), September 1983 (a.k.a. Third edition)

First Fortieth Anniversary Hardcover edition, October 16, 2001 (a.k.a. Fourth edition)

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14. Fourteenth printing, September 2009

18. Eighteenth printing, February 2010

First Fortieth Anniversary Paperback edition, October 2004

9. Ninth printing, February 2010

First eBook edition, October 2011

The original edition of this book has the title ("MASTERING the ART of FRENCH COOKING") and the logo "L'École des trois gourmandes" printed in red. A Book Club edition of this book has the title and the stamp printed in black and white.