Diat was a classically trained French chef (his training probably resembled that of Jacques Pepin), but he never forgot the food his mother prepared for him as a child, and his book serves as an introduction to that type of cooking for American cooks. The book is comprehensive, from soup to pastries (there aren't many references to nuts in the book), and provides an incredible variety of recipes within individual categories. Twenty-six recipes for chicken may not strike a modern reader as very many, given our current affinity for that type of meat, but the collection of thirty-one recipes for veal is pretty impressive. The treatment of vegetables is similarly comprehensive, with a breadth and depth of recipes provided.
The book does a fantastic job of conveying the philosophy (if that is the appropriate term) of regional French cooking. There is a focus on economy, and nothing (or very little) was wasted. Interspersed with the recipes are passages describing the background of particular ingredients, the seasonality of eating, and the settings for particular meals. Foods usually would be eaten in season, and those that could be preserved would be eaten throughout the year. Recipes are included for organ means and suggestions are given for using less than ideal parts of produce. There is an undercurrent of efficiency, both in terms of cost and time, running through the book, though there is no sacrifice in terms of the quality of the final product. This approach could be adopted by many modern home cooks. I was particularly impressed by the recipe for Hollandaise Sauce (there is an entire chapter in the book on sauces), which was based entirely on egg yolks, butter, and water (and none of the white wine and shallot reduction I learned to make in culinary school). I tried the recipe one morning, and the results (seasoned with some lemon juice) were fantastic, and certainly made a delicious finishing touch for a breakfast at home.
Though the focus is on home cooking, Diat also includes recipes for things such as breads and cakes that the French would traditionally purchase, but that American cooks might be interested in making by hand. The book provides an incredible reference, with great ideas for using familiar ingredients in new ways as well as for using unfamiliar ingredients. I think some of the recipes would be difficult to follow just based on the text, and some of the techniques would be easier to learn with someone actually showing you how to do it. (Incidentally, that is probably exactly how Diat learned how to cook - documenting and formalizing the recipes must have been a departure from how his mother actually cooked at home.) Practice is exactly what is needed to master cooking, however, and doing so will give the home cook the freedom to experiment and adapt the recipes to his/her tastes.
very good comment
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