before we begin -- things worthy of mention

• I am going to cook every recipe in Larousse Gastronomique. Factors that will determine the order in which I cook the recipes:
• Time.
• Whether I need to have prepared two or three other recipes in advance, as is the case with many of the classical sauces.
• Seasonal avaliability of ingredients.
• Mood.
• Difficulty.
• This is meant to be an educational experience for me. I chose Larousse Gastronomique over other books as I felt it was going to give me a grounding in classical French technique. There's Escoffier, of course--and Larousse Gastronomique draws heavily from his work--but I think his book is too dated to serve as a launching point.
• I am working with the 2009 UK edition of Larousse Gastronomique. Larousse Gastronomique, for the unwashed, is a cooking encyclopaedia. As the title suggests, it's very, very, very French. It's an interesting book. It has a lot of personality. Recipes are delivered in the old school French way and can occasionally be vague. They assume a bit of knowledge of classical French technique. Most of the techniques you'll need to complete Larousse Gastronomique recipes are described, to varying degrees of detail, in the book itself.
• If Larousse Gastronomique does not provide me with enough information on a particular subject, I will defer to other tomes including, but not limited to, the works of Auguste Escoffier, Jacques Pepin, Ian Hemphill (Herb & Spice Notes) and Alan Davidson.
• The 2009 UK edition of Larousse Gastronomique was published in the UK, oddly enough, and is a translation of the 2007 French edition. Therein we encounter a small problem: I am in Australia and unable (due to geography/laws/etc) to access some of the ingredients used in Larousse Gastronomique. So, a solution: I intend to stay true to the intent of the recipes--if I can't find a particular ingredient, I'll make a well-informed substitution.
• I am not a trained cook or anything of the sort. I am, however, qualified as a shit photographer.
• The title of this blog, 'abaisse to zuppa inglese', refers, respectively, to the first and last entries of Larousse Gastronomique. Neither entry features a recipe.
• I am rather chuffed at how often Larousse Gastronomique asks the reader to open bottles of Cognac. It's not alcoholism if it's educational.
• Auguste Escoffier was partly responsible for the stock cube.