Good Grape Wine Company

In among the basic techniques and recipes are boxed tips - for herb bouquets, making clarified butter, buying and storing eggs, whipping cream, butterflying a chicken, etc.

Recipes range from earthy to elegant - French Fries, Pizza, Hamburgers, Pot au Feu Boiled Dinner, Cream of Mushroom Soup, French Style Risotto, Potato Galette, Genoise Cake, Country Pate, Beef Bourguignon, Creamed Lobster (or shrimp or crab).

The index is extensive and cross-referenced and the book is impeccably organized - a slim and efficient volume which answers most of the questions that arise in everyday cooking.


Perfect for both the beginner and the advanced cook   March 7, 2001
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This book works well for both the more advanced cook as well as the beginning cook. This book is well layed out with attractive easy to read pages. This book has techniques as well as many recipes. The techniques here range from the very basic to more advanced cooking. Julia Child writes in a language that is easy to read, and best of all easy to understand. I am sure if you are like me, you soon be experiencing some improvements in your cooking with the helpful hints that this book will provide for you.


An Absolute Delight   February 22, 2001
 22 out of 22 found this review helpful

I bought this book to give as a gift and kept it for myself! I am so glad I did. Although I have been cooking for many years, this delightful little book gave me lots of hints and tips, as well as often making me laugh out loud. I regard it more as a book of kitchen essays than as a cookbook, although I think any cook could benefit from the recipes, variations, hints, tips, and reminders it contains. Many of Childs' original recipes have been simplified for this book, but this does not appear to have compromised them.

One of the nicest things about "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom" is the attractive layout and its wonderful index. Someone above mentioned this also. I am very appreciative of a good index in any book - and this one sure made the book easy to use.

I also loved Julia's pithy quotes at the beginning of each chaper--I could just hear her saying them, breathlessly. Her wording in some of the recipes is droll---when describing how to make an omelet, she instructs the reader to "jerk the pan towards you", "bang on the handle with your fist", and "spear a lump of butter with a fork". No formal language here! She really endeared herself to me when she said that she uses an aluminum Wearever pan for her omelets.

The great photos, taken over many years, brought back good memories of Julia Child's weekly shows.


What a gem!   January 3, 2001
 12 out of 13 found this review helpful

"Julia's Kitchen Wisdom" is my favorite Christmas gift this year -- and it's one I gave myself! In this single 100-page book, Julia has performed the perfect reduction, gently simmering her years of wisdom into a luscious demi-glace. Here you will find wonderful basic recipes, masterful techniques, and quick fixes, beautifully organized and easy to follow. This will be the gift that keeps on giving -- one you share every time you cook for friends and family!


I was a bit dissapointed...   December 31, 2000
 15 out of 17 found this review helpful

This book is fairly comfortable to read and well cross referenced. However, I expected more from it after reading the reviews. Most of the topics covered are plain common sense while cooking that I learned from my parents and working in various food environments. This book does however provide valuable advice to people who haven't spent a lot of time in the kitchen, or to those who want to try cooking unfamiliar foods. I did get some valuable tips from this book, and some of the basic recipes are good places to start.