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Alex Guarnaschelli is pretty impressive in the culinary world. She’s a Food Network star, Iron Chef, and New York Times bestselling cookbook author. But just because Guarnaschelli is a big deal doesn’t mean she foregoes inspiration from her esteemed colleagues. The television personality previously shared that one of her favorite cookbooks is “The Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook” by Dione Lucas — and there’s a really good reason it’s a favorite of many women in the industry today.
Dione Lucas was the first female graduate of the famous Le Cordon Bleu and taught Americans about French cooking before Julia Child’s iconic French staple took the country by storm. Guarnaschelli told Food Network Lucas’ book is a vital source of inspiration, calling the recipes unusual and exciting.
Of course, a vintage copy of the influential chef’s 1964 tome isn’t exactly easy to find. You can check the usual suspects: Amazon, Thriftbooks, Etsy, and eBay. But you can also peruse its French gourmet recipes via the Internet Archive.
What’s special about Dione Lucas’ cookbook
The recipes in “The Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook” are the ones Lucas used in the classes she taught at her Le Cordon Bleu restaurant and school. Notably, Lucas’ classes were attended by celebrities of the day, like British stage and screen actor Brian Aherne, silent film comedian and stunt legend Harold Lloyd, and Oscar-winner Joan Fontaine.
The book goes into great detail about useful kitchen utensils and the reasoning for certain preparation methods. It’s comprised of 29 menus with suggested wine pairings for each. But the menus may be a bit extravagant (and dated) for weeknight meals. For example, one of the menus consists of braised endive, hot chicken mousse with hollandaise sauce, hot dilled cucumbers, home-baked white bread, and praline ice cream. But that doesn’t mean the cookbook doesn’t provide plenty of good info for modern home cooks. There are all kinds of breads to choose from, and that never goes out of style. Plus, the book contains wonderful classic and retro recipes like iced tomato and dill soup, quiche Lorraine, and boeuf Stroganoff.
