这本书全面介绍了法国丰富的烹饪史，不只讲到高级美食的故事，而且还融合了来自不同时代和不同地方的神话和故事； 讲勃艮第的抓蜗牛，讲里昂的女大厨，讲罗马高卢的奶酪鉴赏，也讲从中世纪到现在的面包辩论。 本书研究了一般人比较少入菜或不熟悉的食材，像是栗子、库斯库斯（北非粗麦粉）与生蚝等。书中也讲述了出现在文学和电影中的法国食物，法国海外领土对当今法国菜式的影响，另外还收录了读者可以在家中尝试的历史食谱。
 
本书好评
‘The book is admirably ambitious, crisply written and lively . . .It brims with an abundance of varied information . . . A very readable, wide-ranging and original synthesis on the subject.’ – Michael D. Garval, Associate Professor of French Studies, North Carolina State University 
 
‘Both producers and consumers – in Metropolitan France as well as in the far-flung colonies – hold center stage in an unfolding story told with verve. And, throughout this narrative, emerges the centuries-long ability of French culture to write about and represent food, turning it into one of the most easily recognized cuisinesin the world.’ – Allen J. Grieco, co-editor-in-chief of Food & History 
‘Savoir-Faire is a superbly researched and extremely comprehensive history of the complex food of France. Maryann Tebben’s exhaustive documentation takes us from the salted pork of the Gauls to the bread of the middle ages, the 19th-century opulence of Carème’s buffet to the cuisine bourgeoise and les méres de Lyon. An all- encompassing work for anyone interested in the importance of cuisine in French culture.’ – Chef Jacques Pépin 
 
关于作者
Maryann Tebben是一位法语教授也是美国巴德西蒙洛克学院食物研究中心的主任。她的著作有：Sauces: A Global History (Reaktion, 2014)。