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."
The Way To Cook
The book also formally described an approach to teaching that Child and others had been using since the very beginning, providing a more explicit focus on "master recipes"—that is, recipes that illustrate broad principles in cooking—with other recipes provided as variations on those same themes. The book also made greater use of improved cookware designs and of new technology such as the food processor, of which Child was a major proponent. The 1983 revision of "Mastering" was inspired in large part by the introduction of the food processor into the market.