Good cooking is accomplished only by love; love of one's husband, of one's children, and of one's friends. Mapie,1964

{HISTORY}

Don't be dissuaded by the rather plain and straightforward dust jacket of this vintage 1964 French cookbook. So many fascinating things swirl around it. We'll begin with the most obvious first - the author's name - Mapie Countess de Toulouse - Lautrec. She was the wife of the nephew of Henri Toulouse Lautrec, the famous French artist. But she didn't marry into an incredible family, she came from one herself.

Mapie's father was a famous French horticulturalist, whose family operated a seed company dynasty that began in Paris in 1743 and was family-run through generations up until 1972 when it was sold (and still operates) to an outside entity. Mapie expressed a keen interest in cooking during childhood and learned the art of French techniques and preparation from the domestic kitchen staff of her family home while growing up.  Her adult years led to a career as a journalist and food writer for Elle magazine.  In to a weekly food column, Mapie also wrote a handful of cookbooks throughout her career. In 1964, she published this giant one, La Cuisine de France, filled with over 1500 recipes and spanning over 750 pages. 

Her goal with La Cuisine was to adapt traditional French cooking for modern American households. It was similar  in spirit to Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, except where Julia focused on techniques, Mapie in her cookbook featured simplicity - classic French dishes made with few ingredients using easy to accomplish methods. In order to prepare for this cookbook, she traveled to America to study the ways women cooked in typical midcentury kitchens across the country. She studied their equipment, their kitchen space and size, and their time constraints in order to set them up for success from the first recipe forward.

The result of this cookbook and Mapie's cooking style has produced a now-classic French tome that is relied upon and beloved by home cooks both in France and America. Throughout this cookbook, readers will find recipes that rarely contain more than 10 ingredients, all easily accessible with an order of cooking directions that consume no more than a short paragraph or two of instruction. This was such a favorite book, it was released in 2004, ushering in a whole new generation of Mapie lovers. 

With this book and a focus on utilizing herbs, wine, the freshest ingredients possible and the simplest techniques, everyone can prepare a delicious French meal regardless of skill level. 

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- Published in 1964 b Orion Press, book club edition

- Contains 763 pages and 1500 recipes

- Includes original dust jacket

- Special features include a lovely introduction by Mapie, suggested menus, a highly detailed index presented in both French and English

- All recipes contain both the French and English name of each dish for added fun and language-learning 

{CONDITION}

The dustjacket is fully intact but chippy along the top and bottom edge and contains foxing n the spine. The interior pages are very clean, bright and unmarked. The coverboards on the front and back bear a light amount of foxing and some scuff marks along the paper edge of the spine.  Please see photos.

{SIZE}

Measures 10" inches (length) x 8" inches (width) x 2"inches (thickness) and weighs a hefty 4 lbs. 

{FOR THE FRENCH COOK}

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