
A cookbook by the author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo may seen an improbability. Yet Alexandre Dumas was an expert cook — -his love of food was said to be equalled only by his love of women—and his Great Dictionary of Cuisine, written "to be read by worldly people and used by professionals" and published posthumously in 1873, is a masterpiece in its own right. This abridged version of the Dictionary is designed to be both useful and entertaining. There are hundreds of recipes for sauces, soups, meat, fish, eggs, poultry and game well within the scope of an experienced and imaginative cook.
Author

This note regards Alexandre Dumas, père, the father of Alexandre Dumas, fils (son). For the son, see Alexandre Dumas fils. Alexandre Dumas, père (French for "father", akin to Senior in English), born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. Many of his novels, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne were serialized. Dumas also wrote plays and magazine articles, and was a prolific correspondent. Dumas was of Haitian descent and mixed-race. His father, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) to Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a French nobleman, and Marie-Cessette Dumas, a black slave. At age 14 Thomas-Alexandre was taken by his father to France, where he was educated in a military academy and entered the military for what became an illustrious career. Dumas' father's aristocratic rank helped young Alexandre Dumas acquire work with Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, then as a writer, finding early success. He became one of the leading authors of the French Romantic Movement, in Paris. Excerpted from Wikipedia.