Le Code de la bonne chère: 700 recettes simples publiées sous les auspices de la Société scientifique d'hygiène alimentaire

Title: Le Code de la bonne chère: 700 recettes simples publiées sous les auspices de la Société scientifique d'hygiène alimentaire

Author: Pomiane, Edouard de

Publication: Paris: Albin Michel, 1924.

Description: First edition of Edouard de Pomiane's first cookbook, containing 700 recipes, this copy belonging to celebrated French chef Prosper Montagné, inscribed by the author to Montagné, along with two letters from the author to Montagné and Montagné's notes about the book.

Inscribed on the half-title: "Au grand Maitre, Prosper Montagné, cordial hommage, Edouard de Pomiane." Laid in are two letters to Montagné by the author on Institut Pasteur letterhead (each 1 sheet; [2] pages; 8.25 x 5.25 inches). In the first letter, Pomiane introduces the book to Montagné and notes that he will also send a copy to Philéas Gilbert. In the second letter, Pomiane responds to Montagné's negative feedback about the book and admits to his ignorance: "Je rougis devant mon ignorance sur la teneur exacte de la garniture Mirabeau...J'aurais bien voulu faire un livre parfait. Il est médiocre... je le sais." ("I blush at my ignorance on the exact contents of the Mirabeau garnish...I would have liked to make a perfect book. It is mediocre...I know it."). Also laid-in are Montagné's notes about the recipes in the book (2 sheets; 8.5 x 6.5 inches). They begin with questions ("Page 56. Boeuf Mode. - du lard fumé?") and become increasingly indignant exclamations ("Page 120. Sauce Madere - avec Sauce Piquante!").

The book bears no publication date, but the date of printing ("25-8-24"), list of author's previously published works (only his 1922 book of gastronomic theory "Bien manger pour bien vivre"), and tipped-in advertisement for the book, all point to this being a 1924 first edition. Original wrappers wanting. In custom binding of half blue cloth with marbled paper over boards and printed paper label on the spine. 7.5 x 4.75 inches; 527, [1] pages. The text rather toned and somewhat brittle at the edges, with a few spots of soiling and chipping, and a professional repair in the lower margin of the title page; the binding clean and sound; the laid-in materials toned, with repairs at the fold of one sheet. Very Good. 

Edouard de Pomiane (1875-1964) was a doctor, biologist, and food scientist, who despite not being a trained chef, also became a successful food writer and broadcaster. He was the first food writer to host a culinary radio show and was a founding member of the Académie des Gastronomes. Pomiane rejected the rules of classical French cuisine and suggested updates to address its excesses. Prosper Montagné (1865-1948) was one of the most influential French chefs of the twentieth century and is best known for creating the Larousse Gastronomique (1938), a comprehensive encyclopedia of French gastronomy. Worldcat shows one copy of this edition, at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. An enlightening piece of French culinary history, displaying the tension between a classically trained chef and a food scientist without culinary training.