Recipes

Le vray cuisinier francois is a later edition of François La Varenne’s cookbook, Le cuisinier francois. Bound together with the original text are three supplementary sections: “Nouveau Confiturier,” “Ecuyer-Tranchant,” and “Du Maistre de l’Hotel.” The book’s expansion in this edition can likely be attributed to its popularity. Serving as a sort of trade publication for professional chefs, the original Cuisinier françois mapped out the basics of the burgeoning practice of French cuisine. Chock full of recipes and indexes on where to find ingredients or what time of the year to serve certain dishes, La Varenne’s cookbook would have been an invaluable resource to be kept and referenced in the kitchen. The additional three sections expand the original text to include the chef’s wisdom on the preparation of desserts, the methodology for slicing meats and fruits, and the intricacies of seating and hosting large soirées for aristocratic clientele. The comprehensiveness of the cookbook might help explain why French cooking became the recognizable global brand that it is today. Even at this early juncture in culinary history, chefs like La Varenne were taking a broad approach to the art of cooking.Le Cuisinier François’ quick success in France and abroad signals to the fact that from the kitchen’s noblemen across the European continent there was a call for a standard of technique and execution that could be applied universally.