Chef School Review is a guide to chef schools offering education, diplomas, and degree programs (including Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Programs) in cooking and culinary arts.

by Judi Sandall
judi.sandall@chefschoolreview.com
Chef School Review Columnist

A classic cookbook can be a wonderful gift for any chef, but which cookbooks have had the most impact on the American culinary arts scene and subsequently on America’s top chefs? There are thousands of good cookbooks but are there ten that have stood the test of time?

A quick search on the Internet for top ten cookbooks returned cookbooks for lovers, French bistros, crock pots, and southern historical food. There were pages of other choices, but I was actually searching for the cookbooks that top chefs agree would define 20th century culinary arts and, even though somewhat dog-eared, have endured over time.

The Top Ten

My top ten nominations are:

• First self-published in 1896, chef Fanny Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cookbook, eventually outsold any other book published by the company that made her pay to publish it.
• Auguste Escoffier, ‘the king of chefs and the chef of kings’ gave us Le Guide Culinaire, a ‘soup to nuts’ masterwork published in 1903.
• The Joy of Cooking, written and self-published by Irma Rombauer in 1931, celebrates its 75th birthday this year with sales of more than eight million copies. Her cookbook has taught generations of American families how to cook.
• Larousse Gastronomique, written by noted chef Prosper Montagné and published in 1938, remains a classic of culinary arts from a French point of view.
• Published in 1961 for beginners and gourmet chefs alike, the James Beard Cookbook offers basic American and international recipes, clearly written.
• Chef Julia Child brought us Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 1963, a cookbook that strikes a balance between complex restaurant cooking and practical cooking in the American home.
• The New York Times Cookbook, the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, and my own culinary arts bible, the Betty Crocker Cookbook, held together by duct tape, have occupied space on the kitchen counters of millions of cooks.
• My final cookbook nod goes to Alice Waters with her beautifully illustrated Chez Panisse series of cookbooks (Chez Panisse Vegetables and Chez Panisse Fruits) that contain everything you need to know about selection and preparation of only the freshest ingredients.

With a culinary arts education under your belt and a few classic cookbooks in your kitchen, you’re on your way to that gastronomic career you’ve always wanted.

Source

Bruce C. Moffitt

About the Author

Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.

Posted on December 15, 2006 at 3:32 PM

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