MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING VOL.1 – JULIA CHILD-LOUISETTE BERTHOLLE-SIMONE BECK

This isn t just any cookery book. It is Mastering the Art of French Cooking, first published in 1961, and it s a book that is a statement, not of culinary intent, but of aspiration, a commitment to a certain sort of good life, a certain sort of world-view; a votive object implying taste and appetite and a little je ne sais quoi. Julia Child was like Amelia Earhart, or Eleanor Roosevelt: she was a hero who d gone out there and made a difference. Her books are a triumph, and also a trophy A. A. Gill, The Times