COOKING à la Ritz; Chef, RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL, NEW YORK
New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1941. First Edition. Hardcover. 524 pages. 22 x 15.5 cm. Signed on the front free end paper by the author: "Best Wishes, Louis Diat". This copy has two important book plates, that of Phil Townsend Hanna and Marcus Crahan. Both Hanna and Townsend were members of the Zamarano Club - both active in the same Los Angeles bibliophilic circle. As Hanna passed away before Crahan, we believe this book went from Hanna's library to Crahan's. Crahan's bookplate was made for him in the 1930s by Hungarian-born designer Franz Geritz (1895-1945).
Louis Diat (1885-1957) was born in Montmarault, France and spent many hours in the kitchen at his mother's side. Later, Diat trained in Paris and London under the famous chef Caesar Ritz. Diat was then sent to New York to oversee the opening of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel's restaurant. From opening day in 1910 to the closing day in 1951, Louis Diat held the title of chef de cuisine. In 1917 he popularized vichyssoise, the creamy soup made of leeks and potatoes that became a twentieth century menu staple in American restaurants. Diat remembers: "In the summer of 1917, when I had been at the Ritz seven years, I reflected upon the potato-and-leek soup of my childhood, which my mother and grandmother used to make. I recalled how, during the summer, my older brother and I used to cool it off by pouring in cold milk, and how delicious it was. I resolved to make something of the sort for the patrons of the Ritz."
Diat was a genius at capturing classic French recipes and reworking them for the American palate. Here, in this extensive cookbook, Diat guides the home cook in each branch of cooking: Appetizers, Salad Dressings and Salads, Soups, Hot and Cold Sauces, Fish and Shellfish, Meats, Poultry, Game, Cold Meat Dishes, Eggs and Rarebits, Vegetables, Rice and Spaghetti, Breads and Rolls, Desserts, Wines, Menus, and a Glossary of Cookery Terms. Interior clean, lightly toned. Boards rubbed at the edges, Dust wrapper heavily rubbed at edges with some small chips. Covered in protective mylar. Brown illustrated cloth covered boards. Very good, in good dust wrapper. Item #4789
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