| Le Repertoire de La Cuisine | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Louis Saulnier |
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | Culinary Arts |
| Genre(s) | non-fiction |
| Publisher | current editionBarron's Educational Series |
| Publication date | 1914 |
| Media type | book |
| Pages | 239 |
Le Répertoire de La Cuisine by Louis Saulnier, is a reference book available in the original French and in English translations. Several editions are in circulation, such as the Canterbury Press (Westminster, Maryland) translation of 1961, or the Barron's Educational Series edition of 1976. The book is currently available in a version printed by Biddles Ltd, Great Britain.
Louis Saulnier, a student of Auguste Escoffier, wrote this book (commonly called "Le Répertoire") as a guide to his mentor's cooking and as a shorthand guide to Le Guide Culinaire written by Auguste Escoffier, Phileas Gilbert and Emile Fetu. The recipes are shorthand versions of the recipes found in Le Guide Culinaire (there are some differences anyway, such as the introduction of mustard in the mayonnaise recipe, contrary to Le Guide Culinaire).
The style of Le Répertoire is highly unusual in that the recipes provided are little more than aides-mémoires and assume a great deal of background knowledge. The book does not make any allowances for the novice cook: no quantities are given (a chef is expected to be able to estimate these for himself) and frequent use is made of terms of art which are opaque to those without the necessary background. This is in the same style of Le Guide Culinaire. Le Répertoire was created as a sort of shorthand for those familiar with Escoffier's cooking, so that it could be used as a quick reference. This style of writing gives the large assumption that anyone using this book is familiar with Le Guide Culinaire and has a good amount of culinary knowledge and experience.