Product Description

First published in 1932, "Je sais cuisiner" has been a best-seller for three generations. It is a household must-have, and a well-thumbed copy can be found in kitchens throughout France. Its author, Ginette Mathiot, was the queen of French domestic cooking. During her long career she published more than 30 recipe books, and "Je sais cuisiner" is her magnum opus. It is now available for the first time in English as "I Know How to Cook". With more than 1,200 recipes for every occasion, "I Know How to Cook" is an authoritative compendium of every classic French dish, from croque monsieur to cassoulet. Clear, practical and comprehensive, it is an essential guide to the best home cooking in the world: no cuisine is better than French at bringing the very best out of ingredients to create simple, comforting and delicious dishes. The recipes have been carefully updated to suit modern readers and their kitchens, while preserving the integrity of the original book and the authenticity of the recipes. The great reputation of "Je sais cuisiner" has been built over three generations by the fact that it is a genuine cookbook: each recipe has been cooked many times, and because it is used by domestic cooks rather than chefs, "I Know How to Cook" reveals how easy French cooking really is.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #358 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1072 pages

About the Author
Ginette Mathiot (1907-1998), Officier de la Legion d'Honneur, taught three generations how to cook in France and is the ultimate authority on French home cooking. She wrote more than 30 best-selling cookbooks, covering all subjects in French cuisine. Je sais cuisiner was her definitive, most comprehensive work, which brings together recipes for every classic French dish.

Customer Reviews

Je Sais a good book
This is to French cooking, what 'Silver Spoon' is to Italian, '1080 Recipes' is to Spanish and the recent 'Vefa's Kitchen' is to Greek. Which is to say, it's published by Phaidon, it's huge and it has many many recipes that are both authentic and usually very easy to make at home too. Not to mention, delicious.

The food is often such that you could not get at a restaurant, but would be served in many French homes if you went to stay for a few weeks. At least, that's the impression it gives... (and since i idealize the french I'm happy to go along with it.) The truth is, Ginette Mathiot was an exceptional cook with great flair and knowledge of French Home Cooking, and this is her masterpiece, first published in the 1930s I think.

Clotilde Dusoulier (of her blog/cookbook 'Chocolate and Zucchini' fame) has adapted the current edition, and it is absolutely, gobsmackingly, fantastically great. [any book that has a recipe called 'silly biscuits' is perfect by me].

Here's an example of what is so charming about this book: there's a recipe for crunchy Chestnut biscuits called 'Casse-museau'. Casse museau, we are told, translates as 'muzzle-breakers'. I love that kind of useless fun information. I like food with funny names.

The book is organized into the following chapters:

Sauces and Basic recipes, Hors-D'oeuvres, Milk eggs and cheese, soup, fish, meat, poultry, game, vegetables and salads, pulses rice and pasta, fruit, milk and egg puddings, ices,cakes and pastries, sweets preserves drinks.

If I'm not mistaken that pretty much covers everything you could desire. The sort of recipes you might expect are all here, like Beouf Bourguinon. But there are some surprises too... like... Melon Marmalade. I really want to try Melon Marmalade.

The chapters that stand out for me so far are the 'Milk eggs and cheese' (you could basically eat eggs a different way each day for months following this book) and the vegetables and salads section.

Je Sais Cuisiner
At last in English! I have a battered copy of the French version which I worked my way through while living in Paris a few years ago. The English version is much prettier, than the rigorous, image-free, French original. Some of the recipes are very French, including several for snails and frogs legs, but most of them are quite simple and they have been through almost 80 years of testing - the book was first published in 1932. This is not a here today, gone tomorrow TV tie-in, but something that will be on your shelf for years to come. From the English edition I have tried making madeleines, easy and instantly devoured by the children (so no time for Proustian reflection), and the raspberry sorbet, very easy and a talking point at a recent dinner party. Highly recommended.

Traditional French cooking explained as the French do it
Since arriving here in France nearly four years ago, with my French wife, I have personally been looking for an English translation of this the bible of traditional French Home Cooking. Well this is it and one can immediately see and understand why it has been in constant print since it was first published in 1932 and is still a best seller here in France and sits proudly in most French homes.

The book is very well laid out in it's various recipe sections with further sections on cooking fundamentals, menus by celebrated chefs, some interesting general kitchen advice and an easy to understand and comprehensive index.

This book is now making the visits to the traditional French farm markets, butchers, traditional bakers and fishmongers all the more interesting as one sources the various ingredients which in France, at least thank goodness, is still done by season and local availability. Personally I like the recipe sections on Soup and Ices whilst there is plenty here to please and satisfy all other tastes of traditional French home cooking.