Usage and Style
The original text was printed for the use of professional chefs and kitchen staff; Escoffier's introduction to the first edition explains his intention that Le Guide culinaire be used toward the education of the younger generation of cooks. This usage of the book still holds today; many culinary schools still use it as their culinary textbook. Le Guide culinaire is considered the definitive reference for the traditional French cuisine classique.
Its style is to give recipes as brief descriptions and to assume that the reader either knows or can look up the keywords in the description; as a result, it is often considered an intimidating work for beginning cooks.
Le Répertoire de la Cuisine, written by Escoffier's student Louis Saulnier, is a companion guide to this culinary reference.
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