Choice Cookery

A humble cod can become an epicurean dish with nothing more costly than a fine sauce. Catherine Owen’s surprising argument: the secret of elegant cooking is not extravagance, but care.

In this late-nineteenth-century guide to refined cooking, Owen invites readers to leave plain family fare behind without surrendering their kitchens to the caterer. Her would-be home chef need not master a mysterious art: elaborate dishes, she insists, are combinations of simple processes done perfectly, with sauces at their heart. Begin with the two “mother sauces,” learn the small details, and even a celebrated restaurant dish may cease to seem beyond reach. Can a little patience—and a well-made sauce—turn the everyday cook into her own chef?

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