THE HUNDRED GLORIES OF FRENCH COOKING

Strictly for the pro who's already mastered most of Julia and learned all of Simca's trucs, Courtine, celebrated food columnist for Le Monde, presents his hundred favorite recipes covering all categories and generally the most haute of cooking (never for him the better than butter spread) braised with anecdotes, history, testy and arguable opinion. Often he's dearly on the side of the angels as when he advocates infusing Steak au Poivre with the essence of pepper (who hasn't had the nasty experience of crunching on the whole corn?), at other times his arrogant purity is a bit much, like his notion that it's better to eat a Tournedos Rossini only once (or never) in a lifetime than to settle for the impoverished (his word) version prepared with canned puree of foie gras and mere scrapings of truffle skin (has he priced truffles lately?). His Bechamelle is true (stock and heavy cream simmered for an hour than sieved); he has his own secret for spiking Coq au Vin Blanc (sloe gin); and rare to find he includes a recipe for Tart Tatin, that marvelous apple upside down pie. Unlike most American cooks, Courtine is least fussy about dessert -- after dining on Chou-croute (sauerkraut, bacon, ham, potatoes, blood sausage) who would want more than a refreshing Granite au Citron or better yet his simple Melon de Scheherazade.