Category — Cookbooks
The Big Fat Duck Cookbook by Heston Blumenthal
This is the biggest book I have ever seen. In fact, it doesn’t even fit on my book shelf! At over 500 pages and almost 12 pounds, it certainly is not a casual read.
Heston Blumenthal is the Executive Chef and owner of The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, England. The restaurant was opened in 1995 and is known for unusual dishes like egg and bacon ice cream and snail porridge. In 2005 The Fat Duck was voted best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine. Blumenthal himself is a rare combination of meticulous craftsman and creative genius. It is clear a few pages into the semi-autobiographical and extensive introduction to The Big Fat Duck Cookbook that he gains extreme pleasure from asking the “whys” and “hows” of cooking and re-writing the culinary rule book. The back of the book contains a detailed index of equipment used at The Fat Duck, including vacuum ovens, refractometers, dessicators, pH testers, and super high pressure cookers. This index also includes musings and studies on topics such as the cooking of potato starches as well as essays by leading experts on how, for example, the tongue and brain decode food and flavor.
Ironically, the recipes in this book are about quality over quantity. The recipes take you from the ala carte portion of the menu through the tasting. Each recipe begins with a stunning, full page photo and is prefaced with a brief introduction to the dishes concept and the creative process Blumenthal used to reach a final product. Scattered between these recipes are eye-catching prints and illustrations. The recipes include “Flaming Sorbet,” “Cinnamon and/or Vanilla Ice Cream,” and “Red Cabbage Gazpacho with Pommery Grain Mustard Ice Cream.” Each recipe contains meticulous instructions for the preparation of each component and the construction of the final dish. Even if you never attempt a recipe, or even attempt a component of one of the recipes, the photos are exciting to look at and the prefaces a joy to read.
Red Cabbage Gazpacho with Pommery Grain Mustard Ice Cream
The Big Fat Duck Cookbook contains about everything a cookbook could possibly offer, and it better considering the weight, page number, and price tag. I would highly recommend this book to any dedicated chef wanting to expand their repetoire and their mind. If that’s not you however, Bloomsbury USA recently published a smaller version of the book with a lighter price tag, simply called The Fat Duck Cookbook.
January 20, 2010 No Comments
Under Pressure by Thomas Keller
Thomas Keller, chef and owner of the famous French Laundry restaurant in Napa, California, released this book late last year. The book is dedicated to sous vide, a cooking technique involving sealing food in plastic then cooking at very precise temperatures in a heated water bath. This technique has many advantages. Foods are flavored better, achieve an even doneness throughout, and cannot lose much juice. This means you can cook a very juicy well done steak (whether you’d want to is beyond me). Under Pressure is a wealth of information and inspiration.
The book starts with a few essays about the history of sous vide, the implimentation of sous vide, and a defense of sous vide (although it needs not be defended). Keller points out the somewhat backward logic of cooking foods at temperatures higher than you want them to achieve. For example, if you roast a beef tenderloin that you want to be medium rare in a 375° oven, you must stop the cooking at a certain point when the roast reaches a temperature just before medium rare. By the time it’s done, the center is medium rare surrounded by rings of medium, medium well, well, and char and the dry heat of the oven has shrunken the tenderloin and dried it out. If you cook the same roast sous vide at 140° that roast CANNOT exceed 145° and the juices have nowhere to go. Simply remove the meat from the bag and sear quickly in hot fat. What you have is a perfectly cooked medium rare tenderloin with a browned, caramelized crust. The meat is medium rare from the center to the outside and unimaginably juicy.
Keller explains how sous vide allows tough cuts of meats that are usually braised, like spare ribs, to be cooked to temperatures below well done and still be soft and delicious. Normally when you braise a piece of meat you sear it then add liquid. The item is simmered for a few hours until the collagen in the meat is broken down into gelatin by moisture and heat. The once tough cut of meat is now soft and tender, but often braises can become dry. However, temperatures that high are not needed to convert collagen into gelatin. Keller explains how you can cook a tough cut of meat, let’s say short ribs at 140°, for a LONG time, about 48 hours. After that time you can sear the meat and you have delicious, medium rare short ribs.
The recipes are divided into 5 sections: Vegetables and fruits, fish and shellfish, poultry and meat, variety meats, and cheese and desserts. Almost all of the recipes are accompanied by stunning photos. The recipes are often composed of many recipes, which are each a component of the dish. Under Pressure delivers lots of inspiration and creative philosophy. It’s a book you can spend a year cooking from and gain years of inspiration. I highly recommend it.
January 23, 2009 47 Comments
Alinea by Grant Achatz
One word describes this book: intense. Alinea is certainly the most intimidating cook book I’ve ever read, if it can even be called a cookbook. Grantz Achatz and others have compiled a list of over 100 recipes (4 complete tours), along with various indexes and essays by guest writers, including Michael Ruhlman and Jeffrey Steingarten. All of the recipes in Alinea are verbatim what is used at the Lincoln Park restaurant. The quality and preparation of ingredients was not compromised for the home cook. In fact, this book really isn’t for the home kitchen. Many of the dishes require specialized (and expensive) equipment and an incredible amount of skill and patience. The dish “Rasperry; transparency, yogurt, rose petals” is one of the simpler preparations in the book, requiring only four smaller preparations and a food dehydrator. The dish, with the misleadingly simple name “Tomato,” is a monster which requires 13 complex preparations and nearly infinite patience to plate. It would be an impressive feat for any restaurant to pump out 70 “Tomato” courses in one night. Alinea manages to do it every night as one course among as many as 27. If you never complete a recipe exactly as written, this book gives crucial insight into the exciting new techniques and flavor combinations that has put Alinea on the map
Tomato-courtesy alinea-restaurant.com
Even if you never attempt to cook one of the many recipes in Alinea the book itself is beautiful to look at. The almost 400 page book contains hundreds of stunning photographs of the unique dishes and the restaurant and kitchen. This book is definitely a conversation starter and is pretty cheap on amazon.com (though ordering at alinea-book.com gives you access to the continuously updates online cookbook/forum alinea-mosaic.com).
October 14, 2008 55 Comments
The Japanese Kitchen by Hiroko Shimbo
I have always loved Japanese food, both in its traditional forms and its more western forms. For about a year now I have made Nori Maki rolls on a somewhat regular basis, but I’ve wanted to learn Japanese cooking more in depth. The Japanese Kitchen by Hiroko Shimbo is an exhaustive source of information on Japanese ingredients and cuisine and a comprehensive collection of traditional Japanese recipes. The book begins with an overview of ingredients, tools, and terms used in Japanese cooking. It then goes into a discussion of staple Japanese ingredients and how to make and use them. For example, there are a few recipes for different kinds of dashi, a delicate but nicely flavored fish stock made from kelp and dried bonito flakes that is used in Japanese cooking as often as chicken and veal stock are used in French cooking.
Shimbo explains how Japan is a country that, because of it’s weather, has always had an abundance of fresh ingredients, especially seafood and vegetables. As a result, Japanese cooks never had to heavily spice foods to disguise rotten flavors. The cuisine revolves around the freshness of ingredients, is minimalist yet discreetly complex in its preparation and presentation, and had plenty to offer in terms of techniques and interesting ingredients. Also, when you’re done eating a Japanese dinner, your body feels great. This is my biggest problem with French food and other cuisines that use large quantities of butter, cream, and meats. It tastes good when I’m eating it, but afterward I feel terrible. Japanese cuisine uses mostly seafood and vegetables, and preparations that offer plenty of interesting sensations without straining your body.
If you’re looking to explore Japanese cooking in depth this is definitely the book to get. It touches on all aspects of Japanese cooking and gives equal attention to all facets of the cuisine.
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July 29, 2008 61 Comments
Bobby Flay’s Boy Meets Grill
Bobby Flay’s Boy Meets Grill is one of the first cookbooks I ever remember reading. My dad picked it up for me when we went to Flay’s Mesa Grill in New York City. It’s a great book if you’re the type who likes to follow recipes and if you’re the type who looks for inspiration and ideas from cookbooks. Flay’s first chapter is on burgers and sausages, the two foods people most commonly associate with grilling. However, he offers very creative and unorthodox recipes like Turkey Burgers Filled With Brie and Grilled Granny Smith Apple Slices, and Tuna Burgers with Pineapple-Mustard Glaze and Green Chile-Pickle Relish. The book then delves into more atypical grilled food like Grilled Lobster Tails with Curry Mango Butter, Grilled Mozzarella and Black Pepper Quesadillas with Prosciutto di Parma, and Grilled Asparagus Risotto with White Truffle Oil.
Bobby Flay’s cooking appeals to me for many reasons. First, although his food often is a sort of southwestern cuisine, Flay does not allow himself to be bound to one particular cuisine or to traditional preparations. As an alum of the French Culinary institute, Bobby Flay is familiar with the classics, but he isn’t afraid to throw out the rule book and create a very individualized and exciting cuisine. Second, his cuisine is simple, but in a very good way. He rarely relies on more than two or three central flavor components, which in my opinion is a difficult but rewarding way to cook. Third, his cuisine is always very visually exciting. He uses bright and colorful presentations that often highlight the freshness and quality of the ingredients used. As I mentioned, this is one of the first cookbooks I remember reading cover to cover and Flay’s cooking has definitely influenced me as a cook. Two examples would be the fact that I like to use some of his favorite ingredients including chipotle and ancho chiles and honey, and that I like to incorporate a lot of color into my food. I would recommend this as a must read if you’re looking to go beyond burgers and dogs on the grill.
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June 9, 2008 66 Comments
