Image: Jules Gouffé · Public domain
Le Livre de Cuisine
- Year
- 1867
- Era
- 19th century
- Origin
- France · Europe
- Language
- French
- Category
- French foundational
Le Livre de Cuisine by Jules Gouffé, published in Paris in 1867, stands as one of the most ambitious French culinary works of the Second Empire, dividing its instruction between domestic cookery and grande cuisine. Issued by Hachette, it is celebrated for its lavish chromolithographed plates, then a novelty in cookery publishing, which set a new visual standard and elevated the codification of classical French technique for a bourgeois readership.
Cooking from this book
Bombe Glacée
Signature dishThis elaborate moulded ice cream is closely tied to Gouffé's monumental work, which set out high standards for the patissier as much as the cook. The Livre de Cuisine became famous for its lavish chromolithographs, and frozen domes of contrasting flavours, brightly coloured and architecturally composed, were among the showpieces depicted. The bombe encapsulates the book's dual ambition: rigorous bourgeois household cookery on one hand, and the grand visual theatre of nineteenth century French confectionery on the other.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
