Growing up my mother had the usual cookbooks a housewife in the ‘60s owned like the ring-bound Betty Crocker, and Better Homes and Gardens.Books that were useful but hardly high cuisine. My first cookbook was Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. I bought the book at age eighteen after returning from living in rural France for a year. I was an au pair, also known as a ‘mother’s helper, and worked for a French family in the Alsace region of France. My duties included caring for four children, light cleaning, and shopping and cooking. Madame Zundel, an American married to a Swiss Frenchman, owned Mastering the Art of French Cooking, as well as all the needed American measures to cook from it.
I can say with absolute certainty that Mastering the Art
taught me to cook. Madame Zundel and I used it together. She also taught me a lot
about French cooking. It was the highlight of my time in France –
creating a menu, shopping for the ingredients,
and cooking the family meal using Mastering the Art. When I
returned to
the States I immediately bought my own copy and have been cooking from
it ever since. It holds a special place amongst my cookbook collection.
