La bonne cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange

[rjwong]

Russ Parsons has written an LA Times article titled: Madame's main man, a story about Paul Aratow who translated this 1927 tome, which Julia Child referred to as "the best French cookbook I know."

Aratow's newly published translation of "La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange" brings to English speakers for the first time a book that has often been called the "French 'Joy of Cooking.' "

It's a fascinating work, at once an encyclopedia of the basic techniques of cooking and a snapshot of French cuisine as it existed in the early 20th century. This is not the lighter, brighter experimental cooking of today's three-star palaces, but traditional cuisine bourgeoise — dishes such as blanquette de veau, salsify au gratin, floating islands.

Allons-y, mes camerades!

[bleudauvergne]

Clearly he didn't fo it for the money.. Has anyone seen the English version of the book?

[Felice]

I bought the original book in French after reading about the new English translation in the New York Times a few weeks ago. I decided that after living in France for a few years, it was probably time to try wean myself from my American cookbooks and measurements. I hope to make her Boeuf Bourguignonne soon.

[Maison Rustique]

I've got the French version, too. My conversational French isn't nearly as good as it used to be, but I can manage to get through most recipes.

[Laidback]

I bought the original book in French after reading about the new English translation in the New York Times a few weeks ago.  I decided that after living in France for a few years, it was probably time to try wean myself from my American cookbooks and measurements.  I hope to make her Boeuf Bourguignonne soon.

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Just give me the date; I know where you live.

[bleudauvergne]

Felice, you probably did well to start with your English language books - I cook now primarily from French language cookbooks and recipes but did not start that way. I still sometimes go to my English language books when I want to go over some technique because truthfully speaking, the Americans have done very well in putting good explanations of French technique to the home cook, things that supposedly a person might learn from their mother are covered. In all but a few French cookbooks there will always be opportunity for a grey area here or there. If you aren't used to the terms you can easily haze over important details. Once I did get the basics, I started collecting old out of print French cookbooks just because it's a hobby of mine. They are my first stop for anything that may have been lost over the years now when I begin research on a particular dish.

The recipe format can be somewhat different from what we're used to when working with the older French cookbooks, how are things arranged in Mme St-Ange's book? No mind, I will seek out a copy today. Maybe we can cook together from the French version. I suppose which edition doesn't matter, since in the LA Times article they say that this cookbook has never been revised.

[Felice]

I hope to make her Boeuf Bourguignonne soon.

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Just give me the date; I know where you live.

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Deal

Felice, you probably did well to start with your English language books - I cook now primarily from French language cookbooks and recipes but did not start that way.  I still sometimes go to my English language books when I want to go over some technique because truthfully speaking, the Americans have done very well in putting good explanations of French technique to the home cook, things that supposedly a person might learn from their mother are covered.  In all but a few French cookbooks there will always be opportunity for a grey area here or there.  If you aren't used to the terms you can easily haze over important details.  Once I did get the basics, I started collecting old out of print French cookbooks just because it's a hobby of mine.  They are my first stop for anything that may have been lost over the years now when I begin research on a particular dish. 

The recipe format can be somewhat different from what we're used to when working with the older French cookbooks, how are things arranged in Mme St-Ange's book?  No mind, I will seek out a copy today.  Maybe we can cook together from the French version.  I suppose which edition doesn't matter, since in the LA Times article they say that this cookbook has never been revised.

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Thank you Lucy, I think you are right. I love to cook but still have a lot to learn. That's really why I bought this book, to learn as much as I can about French food. Perhaps I should buy a good American cookbook on French cooking as well, so that I can go back and forth between the two. I think I will order Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking to start. Unless you have any other suggestions.

I would love to cook something with you from the French version. Let me know when you get your copy and I will start looking through mine.

[bleudauvergne]

I definitely recommend Julia Child's Mastering the Art. As someone who cooked through both volumes in France, I can say that it having been written for the American kitchen does not matter when you are in France, you'll find it a book that you can cook from daily very easily. The recipes, discussion of ingredients, explanations are generally very thorough and accesible.

The only problem when cooking from these volumes in France are the adustments she has made for American flour, which she explains but are difficult to re-convert to accomodate French flour types. The best thing to do in those cases is to read up on Mme Child's instruction for various pastries and cakes, and then go to Mme St. Ange for the proportions, which I see are appropriately noted as weights.

Once you're ready to start cooking from French recipes, do follow Mme St. Ange's first and foremost page one recommendation: Get a kitchen scale. These days Tefal makes a nice cheap one which you will find indispensible once you really start cooking in French. Also make sure you memorize Farenheit/Celcius conversion, and how they apply to various the general oven temps, this will help you talk about cooking back in your native language when you finally want to share what you have discovered!

[Felice]

I definitely recommend Julia Child's Mastering the Art.  As someone who cooked through both volumes in France, I can say that it having been written for the American kitchen does not matter when you are in France, you'll find it a book that you can cook from daily very easily.  The recipes, discussion of ingredients, explanations are generally very thorough and accesible. 

The only problem when cooking from these volumes in France are the adustments she has made for American flour, which she explains but are difficult to re-convert to accomodate French flour types.  The best thing to do in those cases is to read up on Mme Child's instruction for various pastries and cakes, and then go to Mme St. Ange for the proportions, which I see are appropriately noted as weights. 

Once you're ready to start cooking from French recipes, do follow Mme St. Ange's first and foremost page one recommendation:  Get a kitchen scale.  These days Tefal makes a nice cheap one which you will find indispensible once you really start cooking in French.  Also make sure you memorize Farenheit/Celcius conversion, and how they apply to various the general oven temps, this will help you talk about cooking back in your native language when you finally want to share what you have discovered!

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Thank you Lucy. I've just ordered Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking from Amazon France, so it will take about ten days to arrive.

And, my to-do list already included getting a scale, so I will be sure to get one this weekend.

Thank you so much for the advice, I really appreciate it and am very excited to start cooking with Madame St Ange’s book.

[Maison Rustique]

Thank you so much for the advice, I really appreciate it and am very excited to start cooking with Madame St Ange’s book. 

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Moi aussi!!