Saveur cookbook on French, the ‘world’s greatest’ cuisine

A lot of people would argue with the subtitle of this book, from the Saveur Cooks series and first published in 1999, which claims that French is “the world’s greatest cuisine”. It’s definitely one of the great cuisines but, in my opinion, it’s no better than Japanese, Chinese or Italian. Then again, I didn’t write the book.

Colman Andrews, the then editor of Saveur magazine, says in the intro­duc­tion, “[French] is a remarkably accom­mo­dating cuisine, capable of borrowing from other kitchens without compromi­sing its own identity. Why is French cuisine ultimately greater than that of, say, China? Because it can adopt ingredients and techniques from the Chinese and remain true to itself, while the converse is not true.”

The book ticks all the boxes when it comes to what people think of when they hear “French cuisine”. Foie gras, frog legs, snails and truffles? Of course! Souffles are covered, too, as well as onion soup, boeuf Bourguignonne and bouillabaisse.