Kulinariya (Culinary Art): A Book for the Chef / edited by M. O. Lifshits. First edition. Moscow, 1955. In Russian.

КУЛИНАРИЯ : книга для повара / под общей редакцией М. О. Лифшица ; коллектив авторов: П. В. Абатуров, Л. С. Акулов, А. А. Ананьев и другие ; Министерство торговли СССР. Издание первое.
Москва : Госторгиздат, 1955. 960 страниц, 106 листов иллюстраций (в том числе 196 страниц цветных иллюстраций) ; 26,5×22,5 см.
Издательский переплёт из золотистого кожзаменителя (ледерин) с блинтовым ромбовидным тиснением и рельефным золототиснёным картушем "КУЛИНАРИЯ" на передней крышке; орнаментальное золотое тиснение на корешке. Два шёлковых ляссе.
Переплёт очень хороший: лёгкая потёртость по краям корешка вверху и внизу, небольшое ржаво-рыжеватое пятнышко на передней крышке, уголки слегка обмяты. Блок хороший+: цветные иллюстрации яркие, полный комплект, оба ляссе на месте; небольшие надрывы страниц 323-324, 335-336, 661-664.
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Kulinariya (Culinary Art): A Book for the Chef / edited by M. O. Lifshits ; prepared by a collective of authors, P. V. Abaturov, L. S. Akulov, A. A. Ananyev, and others ; issued under the Ministry of Trade of the USSR. First edition.
Moscow: Gostorgizdat, 1955. 960 pp., 106 leaves of plates (including 196 pp. of color illustrations) ; 26.5×22.5 cm.
Publisher's gold-toned leatherette (lederin) binding with blind-stamped diamond-lattice pattern and a raised, gilt-lettered cartouche "KULINARIYA" on the front board; gilt ornamental tooling to the spine. Two silk ribbon page markers.
Binding very good: light rubbing at the head and tail of the spine, a small rust-colored spot on the front board, corners lightly bumped. Text block good+: color plates bright, complete, both ribbon markers present; small tears to pp. 323-324, 335-336, and 661-664.

The most celebrated and instantly recognizable Soviet cookbook of the twentieth century, known among collectors as the "Stalin-era Kulinariya." Commissioned by the USSR Ministry of Trade and issued under the general editorship of M. O. Lifshits, the volume was compiled by a collective of nearly twenty professional authors and reviewed by more than a dozen consultants drawn from the Institute of Nutrition of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences and other leading Soviet research institutes for meat, fish, dairy, and grain processing. Conceived as a professional manual to raise the qualifications of restaurant chefs, its first edition of 1955 contained 3,018 recipes, roughly double the number retained in every subsequent abridged reprint issued from 1959 onward, making this first edition the definitive and most complete text of the work. The book is equally celebrated for its 196 pages of lavish color plates: elaborately garnished banquet platters, diagrams of restaurant kitchen machinery, botanical illustrations of vegetable varieties, and a dedicated section of national dishes drawn from across the Soviet republics, including Georgian, Armenian, Uzbek, and Ukrainian specialties.