Starting with the famed publication by Taillevant (1486), which went into 21 editions, and that of Platina (1505), which reached 16 editions in the same period, Notaker identifies only four cookbook publications, described below, in the first half of the seventeenth century ( 3). In his comprehensive survey of cookbooks from 1470 to 1700, Notaker finds a paucity of French cookbooks prior to the midpoint of the seventeenth century ( 2). In the field of French culinary and gastronomic creativity, the beginnings of such singular influences emerged. Examples of this in physiology and medicine in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are Vesalius's De Humani corporis fabrica libri septem (1543), describing and illustrating human anatomy, and Harvey's De Motu Cordis (1628), describing for the first time the circulation of the blood ( 1). It is rare that a single publication can be shown to have influenced the historical course of a field of endeavor. Thus, rather than assuming that the enduring popularity of the book was due to its widespread use by culinary professionals, it is argued that its style and substance must have imparted a sense of empowerment and confidence in the home cook and that, in these terms, La Varenne's influence on culinary practice was far more widespread and truly transformative, accounting for the remarkable success of Le Cuisinier Francois. La Varenne initiated a departure from an earlier style of heavily spiced cooking to one that was based on natural flavors, a limited use of spices, and uncomplicated cooking methods. Furthermore, because Le Cuisinier Francois was laid out according to widely observed religious practices, finding the best options for the appropriate day of the month became an easy task for the user. This can be ascribed to (i) the fact that there had been no French cookbook describing novel culinary approaches in the preceding 50 years, (ii) La Varenne's concise, uncomplicated, and practical style of presentation of recipes, and (iii) his selection of principal ingredients, which were within the reach of the household cook and which reflected the availability of foods at the time of writing. However, it is hypothesized in this article that the widespread and enduring success of the book was due to its attraction to and acquisition by the general public, including household cooks.
#LE REPERTOIRE DE LA CUISINE 17TH EDITION PROFESSIONAL#
La Varenne stated clearly that his intent was to provide a guide for professional cooks. The book went into more than 50 subsequent editions in the second half of the century. However, when there was a historical absence of cookbooks for a half-century, as there was in France in the first half of the seventeenth century, it is argued herein that the advent of a single cookbook in 1651, Le Cuisinier Francois by La Varenne, could have had a transformational influence on culinary practice over the ensuing half-century. The current proliferation of modern cookbooks targeted to the public at large makes it impossible to conceive of there being any that could have had an overriding influence on culinary practice or eating preferences, even at a local level.
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