Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck (Knopf, $28, www.amazon.com)

FIRST PUBLISHED: 1961. A second volume was added in 1970.
WHY: Classic French cooking — the don't-skimp-on-the-cream, don't-skip-any-steps variety — is not the kind of food that often turns up on today's dinner tables. But when they're in the market for beef bourguignon, coq au vin, quiche, a souffle, or anything else old-school French, culinary professionals turn repeatedly to Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This book made French cuisine accessible to the Campbell's-soup-casserole cook of the 1950s and as a result revolutionized the way Americans thought about cooking. It taught them primarily to care about it. Referring to common corner-cutting excuses, Child writes in her introduction: "Too much trouble,' 'Too expensive,' or 'Who will know the difference' are death knells for good food."
"It serves as a monument on every new household's bookshelf," says Nach Waxman, owner of Kitchen Arts & Letters, a cookbook store in New York City.
TRY THESE FIRST: Boeuf Bourguignon, Coq au Vin, Quiche Lorraine, Pate Brisee.