"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote in message
. ..

> ... Analyzing my usage, I find that the ones I tend to look at frequently
> a-
> ...
> Julie Sahni's "Classic Indian Cooking",
> ...
> Larousse Gastronomique (1963), in that order.


Thanks James. Coincidence! I had a few more books in the pile, intended
for mention, but decided I'd written enough. Julie Sahni is there. (Also
Horst Scharfenberg's internationally popular "Cuisines of Germany," and the
"Pasta Pizza and Calzone" cookbook from Chez Panisse Café, 1984, ISBN
0394530942.) All used periodically.

I think the Larousse G. (1961 Crown English-language edition) is remarkable
and unique, and not just for food reasons. Posted about it here and there
(mostly re "Reference" cookbooks -- the title is one of three or four really
classic French ones I know of, all originating over 50 years ago) but it's a
useful source of ideas and inspirations too. (And opinions. About French
restaurants becoming "Americanized," for instance. Or that early Paris
coffee houses, late 1600s, were "really no more than dirty little
smoking-saloons, frequented only by confirmed smokers, travelers from the
Lebanon, and several Knights of Malta." These details add zest and savor.)