Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a two-volume French cookbook written by Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, both of France, and Julia Child of the United States. The book was written for the American market and published by Knopf in 1961 (Volume 1) and 1970 (Volume 2). The success of Volume 1 resulted in Julia Child being given her own television show, "The French Chef", one of the first cooking programs on American television. Historian David Strauss argues that the publication of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", "did more than any other event in the last half century to reshape the gourmet dining scene."
Madhur Jaffrey
After an article about her and her cooking appeared in the "New York Times" in 1966, she received a book contract from an independent editor to write a book on Indian cooking. Madhur started compiling all the recipes learnt by her through correspondence with her mother and adapted for the American kitchen. Due to a period of rapid consolidation in the American publishing industry, the book went to Harcourt Brace Jovanovich but got no attention there either. Madhur took the book to her friend, Ved Mehta, who in turn mentioned it to publisher André Schiffrin. Schiffrin passed on the book to Knopf editor Judith Jones, who had championed Julia Child's cookbook at a time when no other publisher would touch it. Judith Jones snapped up the book immediately, only asking Madhur to add serving suggestions and menus for people not familiar with Indian cooking. In 1973 "An Invitation to Indian Cooking" was published, Madhur's first cookbook. During the 1970s, she taught classes in Indian cooking, both at the James A. Beard School of Cooking and in her Manhattan apartment. She was hired by the BBC to present a show on Indian cooking. In 1986, the restaurant Dawat opened in Manhattan using recipes that she provided.