LECOURT, Henri.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

La Cuisine Chinoise. First edition, one of 40 copies on papier Honan, this copy out of series, of the first work written in French on Chinese cuisine. A further 10 copies were issued on papier Coréen, and 500 copies released as the trade issue on papier pelure Chinois, with the pagination errors from this earlier printing corrected. A scarce and important work in beautiful condition.This in-depth study of Chinese cuisine was written by a master French chef, Henri Lecourt, who was was "head of the French post at Tianjin and a member of the Order of the Cloud of Jade Green" (Shurtleff & Aoyagi, p. 432). He was married to a Chinese chef with whom he conducted the research for this pioneering work, and was a learned connoisseur of both French and Chinese cooking. The work includes a chapter on smoking vegetables, which spices to use and what to replace them with if unavailable, and many recipes using tofu. It also includes detailed accounts on the origins of the recipes, and on table manners and dining etiquette. The publisher notes that "In the enormous bibliography devoted to cooking, one would seek in vain, written in European language a document on Chinese gastronomy. We must therefore praise Mr. Lecourt, one of our compatriots residing in China for many years, knowing Chinese and Chinese inside out, for having filled this gap".The work was distinct in its praise for Chinese cuisine, contradicting the scarce reviews which are known up to this time, almost all of which were ov

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