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I agree with Angela, below. I was pleased to see so many old favorites in your list, David, including especially the oft overlooked Mireille Johnston, ultra-scrupulous Madeleine Kamman, and delightful Lydia Marshall, all three, if I'm not mistaken, born, raised and schooled in French culture and cuisine, unlike many of the others on your…
I agree with Angela, below. I was pleased to see so many old favorites in your list, David, including especially the oft overlooked Mireille Johnston, ultra-scrupulous Madeleine Kamman, and delightful Lydia Marshall, all three, if I'm not mistaken, born, raised and schooled in French culture and cuisine, unlike many of the others on your list. But the omission of Elizabeth David is indeed surprising. She introduced me to the food of all of France and her French Provincial Cooking was a landmark--and to just for me--Alice Waters has frequently talked about what an important influence it was for her.
She's mentioned at the end. It's hard to come up with a comprehensive list (I left off the great Gaston Lenôtre) who changed the face of modern French pastry (and whose books were translated into English) but appreciate and encouraged readers to chime in, in the comments, with their favorites.
It is hard. You are inspiring me to come up with a similar list of Italian books and of course one would have to begin with Marcella. (And maybe end with her too.) But there were so many chefs and restaurateurs and Mamma Leone types you put out cookbooks over the years! One of the things I find curious is how the language changes from, e.g., Marcella's first cookbook (where she encourages cooks to use red cabbage in place of cavolo nero--yikes!) to the present when so much that was unavailable or really unknown 40 years ago is common in US supermarkets.
I have several dozen Italian cookbooks, but it's Marcella's to which I return repeatedly. Sadly I feel she is being forgotten, at least here in the US. I love starting a meal with her Limone sauce over linguine. But when I serve it my guests rarely recognize her name.
Sad, Gloria. Of course she never had a television show (never wanted one, I believe), never had an Instagram account, was never on TikTok. And the culinary world would be much the poorer if she were to be truly forgotten.