Medieval France became one of the first European countries in which cookbooks were created - and this made it possible to maintain the continuity of the gastronomic tradition, dating back to the time of Roman Gaul. It is not surprising that the influence of this national cuisine on the pan-European and especially Russian gastronomic culture is very great. In his book, V. Zadvorny traces this influence on the material of Russian classical literature, analyzing how Pushkin, Vyazemsky, Tolstoy, Goncharov, Leskov, Chekhov and many others wrote about French dishes. Separate chapters are devoted to the history of the French cookbook, dining tradition, wines, restaurants in St. Petersburg and Moscow, as well as French gastronomic terms that have entered the Russian language. Vitaly Zadvorny - candidate of philosophical sciences, translator, editor-in-chief of the Catholic Encyclopedia.