A range of sauces and stocks form the base of a variety of recipes which cover starters, main courses, desserts, breads, ice-cream and preserves. The book also offers an explanation of basic food chemistry, to clarify the processes at work. Techniques such as roasting, poaching, microwave cooking, baking, mousse-making and souffle-making are described, to help readers to avoid failures, and Raymond Blanc explains how the size and thickness of cooking utensils and the variety of ovens affect the cooking time.