This is a third edition hardback of a heavy and hefty cookbook title which once belonged to a professional chef, who cooked several times for Royalty and went on to lecture at a culinary college. His library of cookbooks is pretty extensive and they have been lining the shelves in our not too large kitchen for a few years now, but space is limited and we are having to be ruthless and let them go.

The gentleman who owned this was indeed a master of culinary art including classic French cooking, so it is unsurprising to us that he had this mammoth tome in his personal ‘library’.

The title is simply: Modern French Culinary Art. It is published by Rene Kramer Ltd, of Lausanne, and was distributed in Britain byVirtue & Co.

It is compiled by Henri-Paul Pellaprat, who was a chief instructor at the Cookery and Confectionary Schools “Cordon Bleu”, Paris.  

It was translated into English by Walter Bachmann. 

It comprises 752 pages and was several years in the making. 

The title was originally published in French, but this is an English language third edition from 1961.

It is invaluable for up and coming, and more advanced chefs.

The book is illustrated with colour, and black and white photographs, and it still has its original dust jacket.

The promotional text on the dust jacket says: “ Pellaprat has succeeded in doing what has often been tried in vain – writing a book which appeals both to the professional chef and the housewife, which is a valuable counsellor and an inexhaustible fund of knowledge.”

It covers everything from weights and measures, equipment selection, nutrition hints, carving techniques and food preparation, to food presentation advice and recipes for a wide range of courses from soups to ices, wine to hot drinks, sauces to jams, and a whole range of main meals and sweets. There are 1,200 recipes and 600 illustrations.

It shows signs of its age and previous handling but is fully legible throughout and overall clean.

It measures approx 10x8x2.5 inches in size and is heavy – unfortunately too much so to squeeze into small parcel postage size.