Author: Donon, Joseph
Title: Classic French Cuisine : A complete cook book for Americans - the distillation of a master French chef's lifetime experience
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Place: New York
Date: (1959)
Edition: first ed
Pages: 355
Binding: Hardback
Condition: VERY GOOD w/ ink gift inscription, edge-worn/chipped lightly soiled dj
Decorations: Warren Chappell
Book Id: MAIN000300I
Details: Foreword, index
About the book:: The author supervised the kitchens of Mrs. Hamilton McK. Twombly, one of the great hostesses of her time. Mrs. Twombly was the daughter of William H. Vanderbilt and entertained on a scale known only to the great families of Europe.
He later became Managing Editor of The Culinary Review...
"The recipes in this volume" Joseph Donon writes, " encompass the elaborate dishes served at world-famed restaurants and in elegant private establishments, as well as simple, delicious foods that have contributed to the day-to-day pleasure of modest homes."
In the foreword, Joseph Donon adds:

This volume is the culmination of my lifetime experience as a wearer of la toque blanche, the tall white cap that is the badge of office and the mark of honor of the professional chef who, in the words of the great Escoffier, my master, earns the right to wear it by his perfect workmanship. In these pages I propose to guide the student cook and gourmet to an appreciation of the art of fine dining, to help him develop a keen sense of gastronomic discrimination, and, above all, to instruct him in the science of fine cookery. The precepts and techniques which I present are those of la haute cuisine francaise, a cuisine deservedly called classic because it has endured for centuries and continues to stand the test of time. Over the years French cuisine has successfully crossed national boundaries, borrowing from and lending to the cuisine of other countries for mutual enrichment, and finding acceptance wherever it goes. The classic rules apply equally to la haute cuisine and to 'home cooking.'

About the author: Joseph Donon was born in France on November 21, 1888. He came to the United States in 1912 as chef de cuisine for Henry Clay Frick. At the outbreak of World War I, he returned to France to serve in the army. Wounded and honorably discharged in 1917, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Paime and the Medaille Militaire. He is also an Officier of the Legion d'Honneur.
Returning to the United States after World War I, M. Donon became chef de cuisine for Mrs. Hamilton McKay Twombly and Miss Ruth Vanderbilt Twombly, serving them for thirty-eight years. He is a founder-member, and was for twenty-five years National General Secretary, of the American Culinary Federation, Inc., and has been Managing Editor of Culinary Review, the chef's national magazine. He is a founder-member and General Secretary of Les Amis d'Escoffier, and a founder-member and President of Les Amis d'Escoffier Society Foundation, Inc. M. Donon is also a member of the Advisory Commission on Hotel Technology, New York City Community College of Applied Arts and Sciences, and of the Advisory Committee on Culinary Art of the Food Trades Vocational High School, Board of Education, City of New York. For eighteen years he has been Chairman of the Annual Salon of Culinary Art and Exhibition of New York City, Inc. M. Donon was, in 1950, the first recipient of the De Bands Annual Award, an "Oscar" presented each year to the person who has done most to advance the culinary profession in the United States. He and his wife now live in Middletown, Rhode Island.