Traditional French cuisine can seem daunting, but it's one of life's great pleasures. This comprehensive, illustrated guide to classic French cooking techniques and recipes, with detailed explanations from culinary school instructors, is an essential reference for the home cook. The secret to success is demonstrated in two hundred step-by-step kitchen fundamentals: knife techniques (chopping, slicing, paring), cooking methods (braising, grilling, frying, steaming, poaching, roasting), sauces and stuffings, eggs, and dough.

One hundred sixty-five classic recipes--onion soup, quiche Lorraine, boeuf bourguignon, tarte Tatin--are graded with a three-star rating so the home chef can gauge the complexity and gradually expand their cooking ability. Nine recipes from Michelin three-star chefs and culinary artisans offer the ultimate challenge.

Cross-references to techniques, culinary terms, and complementary recipes facilitate navigation, and the volume is completed with practical resources: visual dictionaries of basic kitchen equipment; cuts of meat; types of herbs, grains, spices, pasta, and dried beans; a glossary; conversion tables; and an index of recipes, main ingredients, and techniques.