Most for your money cookbook

A life-loving genius like Brancusi gets as much kudos in Paris for his creative cooking as for his modern sculpture. He assembles whatever he has in the cupboard when guests arrive, and beginning with a deftness worthy ofa,coj'don bleu^ molds and slaps the ingredients together into an original dish which is said never to be a duplicate of any other he has made. He, like so many other artists, is a one-dish-is-a-meal cook, and when that dish is done everyone eats of it ecstatically. And because of such creative achievements, cooking in France has been officially recognized as the eighth art. And here is a small gallery of Gallic culinary cornerstones, quite as perfect in their v/ay as the classic sculptures and columns of ancient Greece. POT AU FEU Any of the cheaper cuts of beef will serve, but rump and shoulder are the preferred pieces, with a length of marrow bone to give richness. Rump takes the longest cooking, approximately one third more time than brisket, or other cut from the fore quarter of the animal. For each 2 pounds of beef: lyi QUARTS COLD WATER 2 CARROTS, QUARTERED SALT yi PARSNIP (oPTIONAL) . 3 LEEKS I SPRIG THYME I ONION I SPRIG OF PARSLEY 3 CLOVES I BAY LEAF 6-IO PEPPERCORNS Place meat in cold water over moderate fire and heat 35-40 minutes without allowing it to reach boiling point. Skim every few minutes. Increase heat and add i tablespoon salt, which will bring remaining scum to the surface so it can be removed. Cut leeks into finger lengths and wind with thread so they will not fall apart in cooking; pierce onion with cloves and add with remaining ingredients. Skim again when vegetables begin to cook. Reduce heat, cover closely and keep barely at the boiling point until done. The four essential points are: (i) careful skimming; (2) slow even heat; (3) a close-fitting cover that does not allow the aroma to escape; (4) never add more water to the pot while cooking or the flavor will be ruined. Taste of the pot during the last half-hour of cooking and add additional salt if necessary. Take up meat and vegetables, and keep them hot. Skim fat from soup, strain, and reheat; pour it over sip- ;pets of toasted or fried bread. At the French family table the platter [of sliced meat and vegetables is passed for each person to choose what he likes to put into his soup plate, then the solid portions are eaten with knife and fork, and the liquid with a whopping big soup spoon, and the more spoon music the better, though the polite French never go as far as Orientals who belch loudly and smack their lips like firecrackers to show full appreciation of food. A big enamelware saucepan will turn out a fair pot au feu, an iron kettle is better, but the choice of all cooking utensils for this is an earthenware pot set on an asbestos ring to protect it from direct flame. Aluminum is the most unwholesome material in which to prepare any food, especially if it is to be cooked for a long time while chemical action is taking place on the metal. RAGOUT A ragout is simply a refined French name for a mulligan or Irish stew made with any kind of meat, cooked or fresh, left-over tidbits of fowl, and always potatoes, with any other vegetables, of course, and one clove of garlic, minced.