Le Livre des menus

cookbook by Escoffier

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 30, 2026

Quick Summary

Le Livre des menus (1912), translated as "The Book of Menus," is a publication by Auguste Escoffier, a renowned French chef often called "the king of chefs and the chef of kings". This cookbook is part of Escoffier's significant contributions to codifying French cuisine in its modern form.12

Escoffier's work, including Le Livre des menus, aimed to organize and simplify classical French cooking. He is credited with refining culinary practices, shortening menus, and improving kitchen efficiency through the brigade system. His publications, such as Le Guide culinaire and Ma Cuisine, alongside Le Livre des menus, have been instrumental in establishing the principles of French gastronomy.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Auguste Escoffier
Publications
…first à la carte menus; Le Livre des menus (1912; “The Book of Menus”); and Ma cuisine (1934; “My Cuisine”). His ideas about the organization of professional kitchens were widely disseminated through Larousse Gastronomique (1938), a definitive work on classical French cuisine by Escoffier’s friend Prosper Montagné, a noted chef.…
Read More
…first à la carte menus; Le Livre des menus (1912; “The Book of Menus”); and Ma cuisine (1934; “My Cuisine”). His ideas about the organization of professional kitchens were widely disseminated through Larousse Gastronomique (1938), a definitive work on classical French cuisine by Escoffier’s friend Prosper Montagné, a noted chef.…
Read More

gastronomy
The great French chefs
…on the cookbooks he wrote—Le Livre des menus (1924), Ma Cuisine (1934), and Le Guide culinaire (1921), written in collaboration with Gilbert—in which he codified the French cuisine in its modern form, setting down thousands of menus and clarifying the principles of French gastronomy. With the great hotel entrepreneur…
Read More
…on the cookbooks he wrote—Le Livre des menus (1924), Ma Cuisine (1934), and Le Guide culinaire (1921), written in collaboration with Gilbert—in which he codified the French cuisine in its modern form, setting down thousands of menus and clarifying the principles of French gastronomy. With the great hotel entrepreneur…
Read More