OP: Encyclopedia of Practical Gastronomy

McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1974. Hardcover. Very Good Plus. First English edition.

The author of this monumental treatise on gastronomy, Henri Babinski (1855–1931), was a mining engineer and the child of Polish émigrés to Paris. In his fifties, after a successful career and early retirement, he explored what had been a growing interest in food and wine. Taking the pen-name Ali-Bab, he produced this highly influential work.

First published in 1907 under the name Gastronomie Pratique: Études Culinaires, the book was primarily intended as a systematic treatment of cuisine and its history, covering all of the fundamental techniques and operations to be carried out in the kitchen, as well as providing instructions for basic cooking preparations such as stocks and spice mixtures. 

It was translated for the first time in 1974. Though heavily abridged, and the translation not quite doing justice to the original, it was the only way to access Ali-Bab's work in English. We are pleased to offer that edition here.

This copy is the US first printing in Very Good condition, showing minimal shelfwear. Otherwise appearing unused.