Tante Marie has been as familiar a household phrase in France as Fannie Farmer has been for Americans.

La Veritable Cuisine de Famille par Tante Marie, more comm­only known as Tante Marie, has been used by generations of French families. The fact that few changes have been made in the many editions that have been published bears witness to the fundamental secrets of French cooking—timelessness and simplicity. The French cuisine, despite its reputation for qual­ity and artistry, is basically simple. It is true that an able French chef can produce culinary wonders of haute cuisine that seem extremely complicated, but these complexities are usually matters of decoration and presentation, not of cooking.
French home cooking includes a wide variety of foods. This volume contains recipes for everything from hors d''oeuvre to homemade liqueurs, but there is nothing in it too difficult for an American housewife. Admirers of French cuisine often despair of trying to reproduce it in their own kitchens, fearing that the herbs and ingredients cannot be found in this country. Actually, with the exception of some fish and game peculiar to Europe, there is no ingredient that cannot be found in a good grocery store or grown in a home garden.
The French housewife of many generations ago was aware of the importance of time and money in cooking, as the modern American is today. She knew nothing of frozen or packaged foods or even modern vitamin theories, but the French have instinctively known for centuries how to get the most in flavor and nutrition out of every food. The economical and high-in-vitamin parts of animals, such as liver, brains, and sweetbreads, have long been common in the everyday diet; vegetables have always been cooked in as little water as pos­sible and the vegetable water used in a variety of ways.
This cookbook is written for homes where one is obliged to consider time and money. All the recipes are given in the clearest and simplest terms possible, so that even those entirely unaccustomed to cooking may readily understand...

The New York Times --- "It mirrors the French home kitchen... so delightfully that anyone past the kindergarten stage should find it attractive and helpful."

Cleveland News --- "An almost indispensable addition to the bookshelf of anyone who desires to cook simply, economically, and superlatively."

Des Moines Register --- "It would be a delightful gift for a bride to show her that cooking really is an art and not all drudgery."

Virginia Kirkus --- "This is the first French cookbook I happen to have encountered that is keyed to American budgets and American kitchens."

Los Angeles Daily News --- The basically simple, preeminently Gallic character of Tante Marie’s dishes are faithfully preserved."

Book Shop News --- "The most modest cook can brighten up her meals with those subtle touches that make French cuisine unique."

The New Yorker --- "A guide that the beginning cook can trust to lead her into the way of culinary righteousness."

Detroit Free Press --- "Lands French cooking right where it belongs — in the family kitchen."

Author bio from the d.j. flap:

GOOD FOOD and good cooking have been tra­ditional in the family of Charlotte Snyder Turgeon. Her father was for many years the head of one of the largest and most famous food supply houses in the country. One of her aunts wrote a cookbook, and one was an original contributor to Fanny Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cook Book. But it was not until Mrs. Turgeon married that she turned to cooking as a hobby, stimulated first by the culinary accomplishments of her husband (Professor of French at Amherst College), and later by the enthusiasm of friends who had enjoyed her delectable dinners.
Mrs. Turgeon’s natural skill in the art of cooking was enhanced by a year’s study dur­ing 1936-7 at L’Académie de Cuisine de Paris, Le Cordon Bleu. Finding her apartment far from the Sorbonne, where she had intended to study literature, and near the famous cooking school, she turned wholeheartedly to her new interest and received the full diploma at the end of the year. With this background Mrs. Turgeon was perfectly equipped to translate and adapt Tante Marie.
Mrs. Turgeon was born in Winchester, Massachusetts. Her A.B. degree from Smith College was awarded after three years at the college and a Junior year spent in Italy at the University of Florence. Several Italian recipes that she has included in the book show her appreciation of the grace and gusto of modern Italian cooking. She has a remarkable library of French, American, and Italian cookbooks, some dating back to the seven­teenth century.