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4 out of 5
by
Dottie
from
Villa Park, CA | Nov 9, 2007
I’ve had Volume One of Mastering the Art of French Cooking on the shelf for forty years and although I’ve not utilized in quite the way Julie what’s-her-name did by cooking all the recipes and writing a book about it, I have cooked a bit from it but more importantly, I’ve LEARNED so much from it. Julia Child and cohorts were great instructors in processes and whys and wherefores. So I finally got Volume Two just to have them side-by-side on my shelf – haven’t dipped into that one yet but I will once I have some time.
2 people found this review helpful
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5 out of 5
by
Freda
from
Hamilton, ON, Canada | Mar 9, 2010
How can you judge a book like this one, one who is so critically acclaimed?! You really don't. You just judge what your personal experience was.
My experience was easier than I thought. I woke this morning with the idea, a soup recipe would take hours, because it's French and Julia Child's, but it didn't. We were eating at 4:30 pm. That is an early supper, but it was a good one.
Honestly as I was making the soup, I actually wondered if I would like it when it finished. I was becoming turned off, but when I put the Pistou in, my heavens!! The aroma was something I can't describe. I was instantly marved and had to eat!
I am so glad I picked this soup as my first time with Julia... well... her book anyways. She's like a kitchen goddess to me. Don't laugh!
Obviously I am bias involving this book and can only recommend the begeezus out of it. Get it! Do it! Just don't do Aspic!
1 people found this review helpful
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5 out of 5
by
Sweetman
from
Beverly, MA | Dec 13, 2009
A must-have for all who have their "own" kitchen. It's a monument, the sign of someone who knows how important it is to be able to present a beautifully roasted chicken, a perfect white sauce or asparagus done to the "nth" degree of tenderness.
Keep in mind I said someone who knows how important it is to cook this way. The actual execution of nearly ALL of my beloved Ms. Child's recipes require a professional kitchen, an arsenal of specific and expensive cooking tools and at least a week to pull it off--and of course nothing really came out as good as it was supposed to.
This is Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a lifetime of experience in the perfect cookbook, written in the voice of my hero, Julia Child. She kept me company when I was sick on the couch, she enthralled me with her genuine love of cooking and knowledge of what she created. I never tired of her standing in front of the counter telling me in her inimitable voice (that's right, you don't sound like her when you imitate her) that we were going to make a souffle! Creme Fraich! or Cervelles au Beurre Noir!. She was the first woman in my television memory who donned an apron and didn't mince around the table looking perfect (June Cleever) or bumble around the set like a clown (Lucille Ball).
Cooking shows as I recall at that time, numbered a total of two: The Galloping Gormet and The French Chef on the public television network (channel 13 in the NYC area). Most women of my mother's age seemed to prefer Graham Kerr, something about a man vaulting around the staged kitchen seemed to set their hearts afire. On the days that I faked or was actually sick, I kiboshed my mother's routine and watched as much of The French Chef as I could. Julia Child worked the set, the food, the props. I remember best those roaster chickens who were slapped, tossed, flipped, stood up and posed before they were chopped apart, had the skin ripped up for seasoning, or heaved into a skillet of spitting oil. it was even better when things went flying or fell or splattered all over the place because that was really cooking!
Even as a kid, I knew I'd never cook the way she did. The amounts of butter nauseated me (I ate a whole spoonful on a bet as at a church dance and the taste of plain butter still makes me sick), the ingredients--especially the minute "dabs", "pinches" and "a touch" were things I'd never have just waiting to be added to any dish I'd ever prepare in my kitchen--I knew this as a child! But I adored her passion and her desire to share what she loved with the rest of us. This cookbook, following me around from kitchen to kitchen with me leafing through the recipes and reading the introductory chapters is my testament to her as a Master French Chef.
Julia Child matters. This book was in most of the households I knew as a child: I remember seeing it in my grandmother's kitchen and at friends houses. I began leafing through it when I was 6. I was given my own in 1985 as a bridal shower gift (the marriage tanked but the book stuck with me like a loyal friend). I know she is now a current darling, the flavor of the month due to the book and the movie Julie and Julia (or is it the other way around? There is a universal love for this woman and I think it's for her passion for her work and how she's lived a genuine life.
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4 out of 5
by
Angela
from
Irvine, CA | Apr 11, 2010
My friend got this book for me for my birthday and I was ecstatic! Like others, I too was inspired by the movie Julie&Julia. I would have loved to be friends with Julia Child, and reading this cookbook is almost like having a conversation with the woman herself. She describes each dish and cooking technique with precision and detail. I've attempted a few of the recipes, but others are quite challenging. There are some black and white sketches in here for the visual learner in us, but I would have liked to see some color photo spreads that are incorporated in most modern-day cookbooks. Oh well, I guess that's what makes this book so classic and special.
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4 out of 5
by
Kel
from
The United States | Sep 14, 2009
Checklist for Impressing New In-Laws:
1. Plenty of face smoothing make-up (that is, if they are the "look don't touch" types)
2. Wear your best (depending on if your father-in-law-to-be is a pervert or not, wear something slimming and fantastic)
3. NO: hemming, hawing, donkey calling. Laugh cutesy.
4. Whatever you do, don't forget the garlic bread...AND..
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. There never was a better dead person to confer to about making your stiff-lipped, uptight in-laws happy.
Bottom Line?
No one could write a more beautiful book about food and what the heck we wives should do with it than Child.
2 people found this review helpful