Le Guide Culinaire: A Guide to Modern Cookery by Auguste Escoffier is THE classic cookbook.

Escoffier will always be remembered as one of the greatest chefs and one of the greatest food writers of all time. Yet he is more than that as he played a major part in redefining French cuisine and ensuring that it became internationalised - particularly through his association with classy hotels and great hotel restaurants and his long, fruitful association with luxury hotel magnate Cesar Ritz.