About This Edition

The Book

The Epicurean: A Complete Treatise of Analytical and Practical Studies on the Culinary Art was published in New York in 1894 by Charles Ranhofer, chef de cuisine of Delmonico’s. In it, the man who ran the grandest kitchen in America set down that kitchen’s whole art — every soup, sauce, roast and ice of the Gilded Age table, in 3,719 numbered recipes — together with the menus, wines, table settings and ceremonies that surrounded them, including the actual bills of fare served at Delmonico’s from 1862 to 1894.

This Edition

This site reproduces the complete text of the original 1894 printing. Nothing has been abridged, modernized or cleaned up: the period spelling, punctuation, measurements, remedies and opinions all stand exactly as Ranhofer printed them. Beyond the book itself, the site adds only navigation — the category shelves, a search box, and features like the Astonishing Table that point back into the text.

Editorial Policy

The book’s own words are never altered. Where we add anything of our own — context, a modern comparison, or a caution about a dated preparation or dated language — it appears as a clearly marked 2026 Editor’s Note, signed and dated, set apart from the original text. A book of 1894 occasionally reflects the attitudes of 1894; those passages are preserved unchanged as part of the historical record, with a note where one is warranted.

Citing This Edition

The underlying work is in the public domain and may be quoted, taught from and reused freely — see Rights & Reuse below.