Americans embrace fat French cookbook - 48 years later: USA

By FoodWeek Online

A cookbook extolling the virtues of butter-laden French cuisine has become a surprise US bestseller, 48 years after being published.

Shedding their growing fear of obesity and heart disease, US cooking enthusiasts are snapping up Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The book, first published in 1961 and co-written with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, will top the New York Times' best-seller list in the advice and how-to category from August 30.

The book is filled with recipes calling for wads of butter, goose fat, bacon and other delicious ingredients that have become taboo in health-conscious US kitchens.

The New York Times said that 22,000 copies had been sold in the most recent week tracked, which was more than the number sold in any full year since original publication.

The boost is likely due to the recent release of the movie Julie and Julia, the Times said. The film tells the story of Child's discovery of cooking while in France and a modern blogger attempting to work through the book's recipes.

Child, who died in 2004 aged 91, might not be surprised that her vision finally got through.

"Oh, butter never hurts you," she liked to say, according to the Times.

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