[bwbmr]

Ehhhh- Mastering the Art of French Cooking though opens up with "This is a book for the servantless American cook who can be unconcerned on occasion with budgets, waistlines, time schedules, children’s meals, the parent-chauffeur-den-mother syndrome, or anything else which might interfere with the enjoyment of producing something wonderful to eat."

Today we tent to view Mastering the Art of the French Cooking as fussy (and her forward does acknowledge that ones schedule must be free), in no small part due to works like Julie & Julia, but the opening lines in the forward are counter to that (Key phrase being "servantless American.")- on the contrary _not_ fussy but demonstrative of good foundational technique. Pepin's La Methode and La Technique are comparable, if not more formal, though of course very much aimed at a different audience. Both chefs published more casual, everyday recipes later in their career.