OP: The Epicurean

$200 · Offered by Kitchen Arts & Letters · No longer available

The Hotel Monthly Press, Evanston, IL, 1920. Hardcover. Very Good Minus. Charles Ranhofer (1836–1899), who for 31 years presided over the kitchen at the great Delmonico’s restaurant in New York City, was, without question, one of the models for the celebrity chefs of today. Born in France and apprenticed in a bakery at the age of 12, Ranhofer came to America in 1856 and, after a few prestigious positions, settled at Delmonico’s. There he reigned supreme, right in the heart of the Gilded Age, hobnobbing with the greats and naming dishes after such distinguished guests as Alexandre Dumas, Sarah Bernhardt, Jules Verne, Victor Hugo, and President Grover Cleveland. In 1894, he published a book called The Epicurean , representing his work and serving as a manual suitable for a professional audience—restaurant chefs and those who cooked for households of some substance. It is almost hypnotic in its volume and its scope. Just under 1200 pages long, it ranges over every aspect of food preparation and the materials and the activities that surround it. Ranhofer first addresses table service (American, French, and Russian), menus and menu planning, elementary cooking methods, and kitchen utensils and their uses—an astonishing variety, including 75 illustrated with superb engravings. After all this come the recipes—3704 of them. From soups to beverages, the coverage is unstinting with 180 recipes for sauces, nearly 250 on ices and ice creams, right down to a dozen on plover and twice that

• Binding: Hardcover

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