Excerpt
This basic recipe book has been developed under the most exacting of test conditions -- the daily practical classes at Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris. The recipes have been used constantly by students at all levels of expertise for nearly three years and this book builds on their experience. La Varenne's three French chefs, cuisiniers Ferdnand Chambrette and Claude Vauguet, and patissier Albert Jorant, have been the guidling light in making what we hope will be an indispensable reference for teachers as well as students of French cooking. Ingredient quantities in English are given in US standard measures and are intended for use in North America, Japan, Australia, and wherever flour is made from hard wheat with a high gluten content. Metric measures, listed in French, are designed for Europe, where flour is softer, yielding doughs with less eslasticity. This is not a book of finished dishes, though some recipes such as sherbet are complete in themselves. Rather it is a collection of the sauces, pastries and creams that go to make up a dish. Above all, this is a working tool, to fashion professional excellence. It is a practical book for practical cooks.