For amateur and professional chefs alike, ability to prepare French cuisine is considered a hallmark of kitchen talent. French food is intricate, delicate, refined and quite frankly easy to get wrong. In her bestselling book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” Julia Child dove headlong into the often pretentious but frequently delicious culinary heritage in France. Since the 1960s, generations of would-be chefs have referred to Child’s cookbook as a veritable gospel.

As recipe books go, Child’s work stands out for being both an enjoyable read and a precise instruction manual. Beginners should work on mastering Mexican, American and Italian cuisines before graduating to French, but the important thing is that you challenge yourself. Even if you attempts at French cooking don’t turn out picture perfect on your first attempt, that’s no reason to give up.