Mastering vs. Stephen Hawking vs. Sandra Lee

FOC Regina Schrambling has a contrarian (shocking, I know) take on the Mastering the Art of French Cooking sales renaissance. Fueled by the relentless tubthumping of the Times, among others, the summer's hottest movie (the hottest starring Meryl Streep, anyway) has led to an explosion of sales of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Schrambling is unwilling to pop the champagne, however:

The inconvenient truth is that although the country's best-loved "French chef" produced an unparalleled recipe collection in Mastering the Art, it has always been daunting. It was never meant for the frivolous or trendy. And it now seems even more overwhelming in a Rachael Ray world: Those thousands and thousands of cookbooks sold are very likely going to wind up where so many of the previous printings have—in pristine condition decorating a kitchen bookshelf or on a nightstand, handy for vicarious cooking and eating.

In this wise, it is the culinary version of Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time, a book that many own, and few have actually read. MTAOFC has a totemic status as a symbol of Child's enormous contributions that one can keep reverently on a kitchen bookshelf. This NYT article does offer the useful reminder that MTAOFC aimed to translate French restaurant, rather than home cooking to American home cooks. I agree with Schrambling that Mastering... is more useful as a reference than as a playbook for actual cooking. Come to think of it I inherited my copy from FOC Rose's Lime's basement, where it was on its way to Lorem Ipsum. More than Stephen Hawking, what concerns me is something like this. More specifically, I would be sad if someone got inspired to cook, got Mastering, decided it was too much, and fled back to the waiting arms of Sandra Lee.

Comments

[Rose's Lime]

Note, not only did we have one copy in the barn, we had two - one untouched copy from each side of the family - that's a totem! At the time, I recall being looked at somewhat askance. I was gratified to learn that Julia herself agreed that "The Way to Cook" is a far better and more useful book. Note, I now have two copies of that too.

[Marco]

Vol 1 has a couple of simple marinades for pork that are phenomenal on a Niman Ranch in-bone roast. I know I am cross referencing posts here but sometimes you have to do that.

[Marco]

in bone or bone in?

[Website Design Sydney]

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