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Rating: 
Summary: Ordinary French recipes with real flair
Review: A cookbook that gives exceptional treatment to ordinary recipes, French or American. Dishes are mostly from the 19th century, using tricks that originated in the country and found their way to the city for authentic French style. Dione Lucas adds a special flair to the recipes that is sure to delight your guests. The book also includes instructions in many techniques that make brilliant French chefs out of all of us.
Rating: 
Summary: A great classic - somewhat dated
Review: I have had Dione's book for 15 years on my shelves, and have consulted it many times. The recipes are all very classical, and require, in most cases, long, intricate, preparations. There was a time when I would look up her recipe first before composing my own in the kitchen (mine would be faster and easier...), just to make sure that I would not miss an essential part.In the end, over the past 6 or 7 years I have progressively dropped that habit and now refer to newer compendia. In most cases, Dione' recipes are too complex, often for no reason (my simplifications did not seem to make them any worse). In addition, there are many original ingredients that could not be obtained in Dione's time, but are now quite common: her substitutions don't make as much sense as they used to. I think that this book is most useful for someone who would want a reference text on how people used to cook French in the US.
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