Simone Beck; America's French Chef

PARIS - Simone Beck, whose cookbooks helped bring French cuisine alive in American kitchens, died yesterday, family and friends said. She was 87.

Ms. Beck, known as "Simca," died at her home in Chateauneuf-de-Grasse, near Nice.

Little known in her native France, Ms. Beck built a reputation over three decades as America's French chef.

"I always preferred to write for Americans," Ms. Beck said in an interview last year. "French people think they already know everything about cooking."

She gained celebrity status in cooking circles 33 years ago with the publication of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," which she wrote with Julia Child and Louisette Bertholle. The book became a bible of French cuisine, unlocking the secrets of Hollandaise, Bordelaise and bechamel sauces for Americans.

Child, her friend and cooking colleague, described her as "the very essence of `la belle France' " in the introduction to Ms. Beck's fifth and final book, published by Viking this year.

"She has been teacher and ambassador of French taste and culture to so many of us in this country, including myself," Child wrote.