The French Chef Cookbook by Julia Child

The French Chef Cookbook Reviews

• 
  Linda

  What a fun cookbook to read! It's broken down by episode of Julia's Boston-based "The French Chef" TV show from the 1960s and makes you feel like you are going back in time and sharing Julia's experience and excitement in sharing the French way of cooking (includes a bunch of black-and-white photos from the show).
  
  Each recipe includes a bit of background story, which makes you feel a bit more engaged with the process -- making cooking fun. And the instructions for each recipe are very detailed, so that you can learn the method. There's quite a lot of recipes that I may not try (either too difficult or not quite my food choice), but I look forward to trying out many of them. First up will probably be the first few recipes: chicken, risotto, and green beans. And then onto croissants and chocolate mousse!
• 
  Steven Peterson

  This is a very nice cookbook. In this volume, one reviews the recipes that Julia Child featured on her TV series, "The French Chef." Not all recipes are quick and easy to create; however, the full volume provides many that can be done handily by folks in their kitchens.
  
  Some examples of recipes that are delicious and doable:
  
  1. Coquilles Saint-Jacques. The nice thing about this recipe is that Julia Child provides variations on the main recipe. It takes considerable preparation, but this dish, featuring scallops, is well worth it. If one prepare the variation she mentions of serving in separate dishes, one can get a very nice response from dinner guests.
  
  2. Boeuf Bourguignon. Beef burgundy. Easy to make--but delicious to eat. And this dish can serve many people if one wishes to serve dinner for a multitude of people. The beef, cut into small pieces, becomes tender after slow cooking over time with a wine sauce. Throw in onions, mushrooms, and so on, serve with rice, potatoes, or noodles. Delicious!
  
  3. Quenelles. A wonderful fish dish which, if done well, is exquisite! What is nice about this recipe is that it is pretty straightforward. The fish used in France is normally pike; options beyond that include halibut, flounder, cod, sole, etc. The recipe details nicely the development of the dish and its poaching. Several different serving methods are also provided.
  
  And so on.
  
  All in all, a nice work for different reasons: (1) It nicely summarizes the essence of a wonderful TV program by Julia Child; (2) It provides cooks with a nice set of recipes. Some of the recipes ion this book are not so simple to make at home. However, otherts are quite doable.
  
  All in all, a worthy work to add to one's cookbook collection.
  
• 
  Susan

  Although the recipes are a bit complicated for me, I still love to peruse them. Julia really was the ultimate French Chef!
• 
  Martha Hall

  While I haven't made all the recipes - I read the book and found it great. I remember seeing The French Chef on PBS as a kid and being mesmerized by Julia Child's presence and form. As an adult and an amateur chef, it is just as engrossing. This book does a great job of capturing her style and personality. The opening has several very funny moments and I can imagine her reading some of the recipe instructions out loud. This book is particularly great if you can match up the recipes with the episode
• 
  Tamra Lagrone

  Julia was the original "celebrity" chef with none of the pomp and circumstance. She truly did what she did for the pure joy and satisfaction of cooking.
• 
  Curlysue

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• 
  Lisa (Harmonybites)

  This isn't the cookbook with which Child revolutionized how Americans cook--Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Rather, it's a companion book to her PBS show of the same name. As it says in the back cover, it "puts in print, session by session, dish by dish, every recipe Julia Child has demonstrated on the first series of television programs." It's organized by "Show Number" from 14 to 134. (The first 13 shows no longer exist--the tapes had deteriorated but later shows repeated almost all that material.) As Child writes, the book covers everything from "sauces, stews, and meats to appetizers, vegetables, desserts, cakes and pastries, and from the very simple to the fairly complicated." A subject guide and index makes it easy to locate dishes. It makes a superb lesson in how to cook, even if many recipes would make a cardiologist weep. If I have any complaint, it's that I didn't get this in a more sturdy hardcover.
• 
  Mike

  Probably the second of her books that I bought back in the days of wood-burning computers.
  
  This book also covers the dark days of America's home chefs. Before the days of yuppie purveyors of cooking supplies, tools, and accoutrements (e.g. J. Bildner's). She came up with useful substitutes or recipe modifications that enabled the mere mortal to make an acceptable or even superb dish with readily available ingredients. Of course today, only people living under a rock don't have access to world-standard ingredients, but in a pinch...
  
  One excellent example of this was her solution to using American all-purpose (or bread) flour to make croissants. I won't spoil it for you, go out and get a copy!
• 
  Lynda

  I loved the show on PBS. I bought the book with my birthday money and proudly brought it home to show my mother. She looked at me as if I were crazy. "Your father," she said, "would never eat this stuff." And, she pointed out that most of the recipes weren't kosher. I was crushed.
  
  However, we found some recipes that would work...mainly desserts. And I took the book with me when I left home. I have used it frequently over the years. More than anything, as I read the recipes and instructions, I can hear Julia's excitement and passion as it used to boom from the tv screen and enthralled me as a teen.
• 
  Rich

  While I haven't made all the recipes - I read the book and found it great. I remember seeing The French Chef on PBS as a kid and being mesmerized by Julia Child's presence and form. As an adult and an amateur chef, it is just as engrossing. This book does a great job of capturing her style and personality. The opening has several very funny moments and I can imagine her reading some of the recipe instructions out loud. This book is particularly great if you can match up the recipes with the episodes.
• 
  Lily

  Simply amazing. Many of our favorite family recipes are from here, including Chocolate Mousse, Orange Bavarian, and Ratatouille. This one is based on her television series.
  
  In reality, it never gets "read," just used again and again.
  
  (My two copies are actually the original hardback edition.)
• 
  Barbara VA

  I just love to read cookbooks and I found this one wonderful. it was like having Julia sit at my kitchen counter and just chat. I watched and learned so much from her growing up, she made cooking fun and not a chore. She tells why things do the way they do. I have been hard boiling eggs for 40 years and last night I did them a totally new way, and the difference was amazing! Bon Appetit!
• 
  Lori

  Bought my first cookbook of Julias..
  and inside the cover were three press photos of my lady!
• 
  Linda

  Given to my by my aunt when I began my career as French teacher - I love the book as bedraggled as it now is.
• 
  Emily

  cheese souffle with poached egg, on spinach something or other, is first up.
  
  
  ---update===
  I haven't made this yet. But I will. I will.
• 
  Judy

  I still depend on this dogeared copy for my quiche recipe!
• 
  SheilaRaeO

  Cookbook,Celebrity Chef
• 
  Lee

  Worth buying just for the preface alone. Julia herself wrote about being a Boston TV pioneer. Amazing recipes follow.
• 
  Fredrick Danysh

  Julia Child's is an acclaimed French chef who had a cooking show in America. In this cookbook, she gives many of her recipes.
• 
  Holly

  i've done three recipes from The French Chef Cookbook and enjoyed them all but the real gem of this is learning how to do my vegetables "French style"..so simple and satisfying.
• 
  Ron Silvers

  Julia was the original "celebrity" chef with none of the pomp and circumstance. She truly did what she did for the pure joy and satisfaction of cooking.
• 
  Sally

  Loved reading this cookbook - cover-to-cover - I've never done that with a cookbook before.
• 
  Jenni

  Wow, it's delicious french cuisine.. Read careful before practice d recepies..
• 
  Cheryl Scott

  Two words: Boeuf Bourguignon.
  
  Great cookbook that altered the way millions of Americans saw food and cooking.
  
  I cherish this book!
  
  
• 
  Ginnie Grant

  Classic! Every cook and non-cook alike should read this book!
• 
  Beka

  Though less ponderous than Mastering the Art of French Cooking, this little dear still contains many of Julia's classic recipes.