Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Volume 1 of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" received overwhelmingly positive reviews when it was first released in 1961. In the "New York Times", Craig Claiborne wrote that the recipes in the book "are glorious, whether they are for a simple egg in aspic or for a fish souffle," and that it "is not a book for those with a superficial interest in food...but for those who take a fundamental delight in the pleasures of cuisine." Michael Field, writing for the "New York Review of Books", praised Beck, Bertholle, and Child for "not limiting themselves to la haute cuisine," and stated that "for once, the architectural structure of the French cuisine is firmly and precisely outlined in American terms." Field's sole criticism of the book was that the authors suggested dry vermouth as a substitute for white wine, as he felt the domestic vermouth available to American home cooks, the book's target audience, was "bland and characterless." Despite being a relatively expensive cookbook, retailing for $10 in 1965, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" Volume 1 did well commercially, selling over 100,000 copies in less than five years. According to Julia Child biographer Noel Riley Fitch, the publication of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" instantaneously changed the entire American cookbook industry, leading more cookbook publishers to place emphasis on clarity and precision, and away from the "chatty and sometimes sketchy" style that had typified American cookbooks.
Louis Diat
In "Louis Diat's French Cookbook for Americans", Diat compared cooking in the United States with cooking in France. He noted that the key to cooking is appeal. "[Americans] could do it as well as the French, but one has to be interested. In France girls of 11 already are able to prepare meals from watching and helping their mothers. It's early training that does it". Diat proceeded to discuss meat, gravies, fish, and salads. Finally, he added that "fine cooking is the basis of a happy life ... Men like to eat well ... so if you want to keep your husband home, learn to be a good cook." Many of the recipes in this book are derived from the meals Diat's mother cooked.
Diat alleged that American women cannot cook since they "often ruin good food trying to save" money or time. In response to this dilemma, Diat wrote a book entitled "La Cuisine de Ma Mère" to divulge all his "cooking secrets". Diat suggests that they "approach their cooking with imagination, interest and an eye for artistic effects". Ascribing his culinary finesse to his mother, Diat dedicated the book to his mother, "Annette Alajoinine Diat, who guided the early years, inspired the later ones and whose memory is still a spur".