Le Guide Culinaire

Infobox Book
name = Le Guide culinaire
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Auguste Escoffier
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = France
language = French
series =
subject = Culinary Arts
genre = non-fiction
publisher = Editions Flammarion
release_date = 1903
media_type = book
pages = 943
isbn = 2082008037 (2001 printing)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

Georges Auguste Escoffier's "Le Guide culinaire" is a pivotal book in the history of European "haute cuisine", being Escoffier's largely successful attempt to codify and streamline the common French restaurant food of the day. The first edition was printed in 1903 in French. It was translated into English in 1907. The current 4th edition was revised in 1921; this version was not translated into English until 1979. This volume contains more than 5,000 recipes, reflecting the best of the French haute cuisine of the turn of the 20th century and providing the basis for what followed. Measurements are included in Metric units, though most translations for the United States have included Imperial units as well.

Usage and style

The original text was printed for the use of professional chefs and kitchen staff; Escoffier's introduction to the first edition explains his intention that "Le Guide Culinaire" be used toward the education of the younger generation of cooks. This usage of the book still holds today; many culinary schools still use it as their culinary textbook. "Le Guide Culinaire" is considered the definitive reference for the traditional French "cuisine classique".

Its style is to give recipes as brief descriptions and to assume that the reader either knows or can look up the keywords in the description; as a result, it is often considered an intimidating work for beginning cooks.

"Le Répertoire de la Cuisine", written by Escoffier's student Louis Saulnier, is a companion guide to this culinary reference.

Contents of the 4th edition

This chapter listing is derived from the 2001 printing of the 4th edition of "Le Guide Culinaire".

Introduction

1. Sauces
2. Garnitures (includes stuffings, breading, and the like)
3. Potages
4. Hors d'œuvre
5. Oeufs
6. Poissons
7. Relevés et entrées de boucherie
8. Relevés et entrées de volaille
9. Relevés et entrées de gibier
10. Entrées mixtes
11. Préparations froides (Cold preparations)
12. Rôtis
13. Légumes
14. Entremets
15. Glaces (Frozen desserts)
16. Savorys
17. Compotes, Confitures
Table alphabétique des recettes
Table des chapitres

References

*Escoffier, Georges Auguste., "Le Guide Culinaire", 4th edition. France: Flammarion, 1921 (renewed 1993)

*Escoffier, Georges Auguste, Trans. H.L. Cracknell and R.J. Kaufmann, "Escoffier: The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery". New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1979

*Escoffier, Georges Auguste, Trans. anon., "The Escoffier Cookbook". New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1969