My Favorite Cookbooks, Part 12, La Technique by Jacques Pepin

 

 

 

This book is a favorite among the old school crowd.  One of the best step-by-step cookbooks, La Technique, contains a plethora of black & white photos with very direct, concise directions.  I love my copy and refer to it often when doing a preparation I haven't tackled in a while.  It really helps me set my mise en place.  It also contains some interesting gems with napkin folding, paper pastry bag folding, freezing bottles of liquor in ice, and a few of the more rare ways of butchery... like my personal favorite, boning out a trout through the belly and removing the spine so you can stuff the tail through the mouth.  I've done it with petite rouget before, and I'll tell you, it makes for quite the show.

 

The cover of the book also inspired my first culinary-themed tattoo.  I figured everybody's been getting pig tats lately.  I opted for the lobster to define that I am not a simple pig cook (just ask my wife, I ain't no cheap date).  After the number I've killed, hopefully the lobster gods will take pity on my soul once they've seen the respect I've given them thus far.

 

 

 



My Favorite Cookbooks, Part 10, Terrines, Pates & Galantines

Shout out to: Omnivore Books on Food • 3885a Cesar Chavez Street • San Francisco, CA 94131
415.282.4712 • Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-6pm, Sun 12pm-5pm

It took me a long time to find this book in good condition.  I finally found it at Omnivore Books in San Francisco while on vacation.  The awesome owner, Ms. Celia Sack, had just gotten the copy in the day before our visit.  It was as if the tome itself knew who it's owner was going to be and was excited for the chance to become part of my collection.  Part of Time Life Books, The Good Cook Series, Terrines, Pates & Galantines, is the best text on it's subject that I've ever seen (in English).  I remember using it at Kendall College, photocopied notes sitting meat stained at our work stations while we hacked our way through the classics.

The best thing about Terrines... is the color, step-by-step recipes covering meat, vegetable & fish terrines, pates, and galantines & aspics.  It reminds me of Jacque Pepin's, Le Technique, in it's simplification of a detailed task without losing any specifics that would detract from the end product.  A perfectionist's book.  A labor of love.  I think for the next dinner I throw that I'll have to do some terrine-work.  The molds are getting dusty in my trunk.

Um, yes, I do have terrine molds in my car trunk, right next to the crepe pans.  Don't you?  No, I don't have a problem, and even if there was a 12 step program for it, do you think I have time with my Chef's schedule?  Who are you kidding?  :)

My Favorite Cookbooks, Pt. 7

There aren't many good fish cookbooks.  Trust me.  This one is priceless.

Buy & read this book.  It's that easy.  This is probably the best fish cookbook to have at your disposal.  I can count on one hand the number of seafood books that actually tackle the issues that matter to the professional chef.  Peterson is not afraid to address those issues and it shows in Fish & Shellfish.  Fish names alone can kill the normal text that tries to teach fish cookery.  Did you know the Chilean sea bass isn't even a bass?  It's real name is the Patagonian Toothfish.  Muliply that instance a hundredfold and you'll begin to see my point.

He takes a similar descriptive stance as he did in Sauces, with ethnic recipe breakdowns, generally starting with French or American, and then giving Italian, Asian, and others a healthy respect.  Coupled with his other books, it's very easy to improvise a meal with what you have on hand.  I'd dare someone to say something negative about this book, it's purely educational.

My Favorite Cookbooks, Pt. 6

This book both comforts & kills in the same breath.  While a fascinating read, it almost gives away too much detail when it comes to cooking, which contrary to popular belief is quite simple.  And after understanding the basics of food science, even a beginner has ammunition against the old guard.  That is if they keep from making simple mistakes.  But that's the issue with On Food & Cooking.  Knowing the "why's" lets the novice feel more comfortable and dispels some of the mystery.  Couple this with any detail focused fine dining cookbook, and it becomes easy copy a master. 

That might be the issue with the latest generation of cooks.  Books like this let them learn too much too fast.  There's something to be said about paying your dues.

My Favorite Cookbooks, Pt. 5... Combined Giradet!

This is both a double review and an ode to a chef that I wish I could've worked for.

Wikipedia quote:
Frédy Girardet (born 17 November 1936 in Lausanne) is a Swiss chef who cooks in the French tradition. Often considered one of the greatest chefs of the 20th Century, his self-named restaurant in Crissier, Switzerland (near Lausanne, Switzerland) earned three Michelin stars and before Giradet's retirement in 1996 was often called the greatest restaurant in the world.

Fredy's first book is a rarity to find.  They sold out of it's first printings very quickly and has become a cult classic amongst chefs.  Giradet went to show that improvision could be done at a very high level as long as the technique & quality of the ingredients at hand were of the highest level.  I've worked for one chef that came out of his kitchen and it was interesting to have Giradet's books while perusing that restaurant's recipe book.

If you see a copy of this in good condition, buy it!

Reading The Cuisine of Fredy Giradet gives you a look into the larder of an intelligent, opinionated chef with extremely high standards.  But his cooking wasn't supercomplex, just a reaction to the market with an extreme focus on palate and seasoning.  Words to live by.

His second book is pretty intense as well and was released after he'd left his restaurant.

This book has a slew of pictures, which makes it very different from the first.  I love the detail, the minutia of every single dish.  He insists on perfection more akin to a watchmaker than a chef.  The dish itself is simple, but the technique is complex.  Effing awesome.

His foie gras & game recipes are an incredible reference, as you know they're going to work.  Isn't that the best type of cookbook?  Honest & proven.  No bullshit.  I think the best thing is his philosophy of cooking... the complete opposite of the molecular gastronomy movement, which Giradet has actively spoken out against.  He doesn't agree with the fact the ingredients used aren't natural.  I think he views it as cheating or a fad.  I love the old schoolers, even if I can't completely agree with them, they don't back down. 

And Fredy Giradet was one of the best.

 

My Favorite Cookbooks, Pt. 3

James (Culinary Badass) Beards', American Cookery.  That's right, I'm busting out the Beard today.  Be warned.

James Beard is the reason why we should continue to read cookbooks.  American Cookery taught a bunch of us chefs that there was an American Cuisine out there and that we should take pride in it, polish it, and make a gem worthy of the world's notice.  Then climb the highest hill and scream that we should be paid attention to. 

His writing is extremely rich and descriptive, invoking spirits of hunger and tradition from the days before mass processing.  If it weren't for him, how much would've been lost?  Even now kids are less likely to learn traditional preservation and cooking methods from their family as the family just doesn't have one.  Fucking TV dinners and burger chains destroyed our food history.

Read Beard.  Cook the food.  Adapt his recipes.  And yell out to the void that we will continue to fight for our traditions!

Venison ham, anyone?

My Favorite Cookbooks, Pt. 2

James Peterson is the man when it comes to cookbooks.  Sauces remains one of those books that continues to inspire me on a daily level.  I've honestly read it straight through at least 6 times, and referenced it countlessly.  He has a concise, brilliant way of breaking down sauces by step and technique, making it easy to adapt, and often gives more than one way of making the same sauce instead of telling you there's only one way of doing anything.  That remains my philosophy on cooking, and is only heightened by my worship of Fredy Giradet's style... but more on that later.

This book is a must have for any serious cook.

My Favorite Cookbooks, Pt. 1

This book is incredible.  As you can tell by the dog ear on the top right, it's well used.  Jean Georges Vongerichten pioneered the use of juices and flavored oils in fine dining, and overall helped to change French & American cooking as a whole.  He likes to use the same ingredient multiple times in the same dish, often just dealing with technique & textural differences to excite the palate.  The section on foie gras is also quite useful.  His time spent in Asia really helped add another facet to his cooking, and he could be blamed for the profusion of Asian Fusion into our scene. 

Whenever I hit an artist's block when coming up with a menu or special, I look to the cooler, the season, & Vongerichten.