Larousse Gastronomique has been the definitive guide to haute cuisine for decades now. This book contains detailed information on cooking technique, seasonings, serving dishes, glasses, kitchen implements, ingredients, and culinary history, apart from a huge number of recipes. This is truly the bible of continental cooking.

I first saw this book in a store nearly 10 years ago, and was quite awestruck by the amount of information in it. I found it too intimidating for a 'cooking to live' bach...