A guide to modern cookery

by A. Escoffier

A Guide to Modern Cookery, published in English in 1907, is the translation of Auguste Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire, the book in which the chef of the Savoy and the Carlton in London set down the system of French cooking that professional kitchens still use. It opens with the foundations, the stocks, the mother sauces and their derivatives, the garnishes and the essentials of soup, and then gives several thousand concise recipes for eggs, fish, meats, poultry and game, vegetables, salads, pastry, ices and savories, with chapters on serving and on the organization of a menu. Escoffier wrote for cooks who already knew their craft, so the recipes are terse, but the book remains the reference for classical cuisine. The full text is available to read online in your browser on Vinteuil, and the first chapter is free.