inductioncook

Does the Heston book tell you what to do if you DO have the equipment and chemicals he would use in the restaurant? In other words, simplified results, like the roast chicken example you gave, but not simplified technique. In other words, when he suggests a home procedure does he also tell what the original or state-of-the-art procedure would be?

I'll be looking too; I've ordered the UK edition. Years ago I translated a British book into American but did not try to change the units, just things like "aubergine" to "eggplant" or "Magimix" to "Cuisinart" where I thought terms or brands were unfamiliar. Jaymes, you might like Adria's older book on home cooking in Spanish, which is where the potato chip tortilla espanola comes from. Amazon Spain says it's currently unavailable but it may be available somewhere. http://www.amazon.es/Cocinar-casa-caprabo-bulli/dp/849331000X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1319641585&sr=8-2 Reading and using good books in the original is not hard and if you know a bit of the language it will quickly advance your knowledge. I learned so much about French cooking and language from Michel Guerard's Cuisine Gourmand, and he has a wonderful, beautifully written and illustrated book that came out last year: http://www.amazon.fr/Comment-briller-fourneaux-savoir-faire/dp/2353260756/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1319642231&sr=8-3 Lest this seem a little off topic, let me just add that Adria has said Michel Guerard was his greatest inspiration.

There is no Spanish (Castellano) or Catalan edition. The publisher explained to me that the original is the UK edition, and you can look in vain for anything like it on Amazon Spain's web site. Phaidon's own web site lists four editions: UK US, French and Italian.

I've received a response from the publisher noting the the UK edition is "the central edition, from which translations have been made." A review in a French publication has excerpts from the French edition: http://cuisine.elle.fr/Elle-a-Table/Les-dossiers-de-la-redaction/Dossier-de-la-redac/Repas-de-famille-avec-Ferran-Adria It includes(apparently as part of the excerpts)a list of Ferran Adria’s “preferred” restaurants in Barcelona and Paris, which was quite interesting to me since three of his four Paris restaurants are places I am devoted to. This list is not part of the US edition, and I don’t know about the UK one. There might be other things that are special to the French edition.

And it's some of the "tips" that vary by edition -- still curious to know why. Maybe coz will let us know -- or maybe one of the editors or translators will read this and tell us more!

nickrey is certainly right as to the measurements. Aside from measurements, I also noticed a lot of "translation" of text, and substitution of different text, among the snippets where I could see the UK, US and French editions, but I don't know which of these, if any, is the Urtext. Most of Phaidon's cookbooks do not have a separate UK and US edition. I sent two inquiries to the publisher asking which of the four editions (there is also one in Italian) is the Urtext or closest to it, but have received no reply.

I was actually able to see three recipes from the British edition on the video and it is facinating that there are so many differences: same pictures, but more vinegar on the fried fish and a note on the history of using iSi at El Bulli in British edition, different directions on the level of heat and the size of the basil leaves to use in the US edition . . . these were meticulous changes that somebody made -- working from what -- a Catalan original, with two different translators? Both English editions were released on Oct. 3.

If anyone has any information on what might be different between the French and the UK versions (other than the language) I would appreciate that.

Thanks for the UK edition information! It is very sad that for the US edition the publisher obliterated the weight measurements carefully done at El Bulli in favor of cups, etc., and where it did retain weight did conversions inaccurately. I guess I will now need to purchase either the UK or French editions and try to figure out what to do with my US edition.

This is a very good book -- But does anyone know which editions of the book use weight and not volume, and grams? There are pictures of thermometers in Celsius and then the text gives only Fahrenheit. Certainly the dishes were conceived in the metric system and to deprive American readers of the precision the original recipes provided is terrible. There is a French edition that is presumably better. The UK edition has a separate ISBN but it may still use Imperial measures.

Fascinating because this particular author, not known for his sensitivity, does not proceed the way he might think from the beginning of the article. It's also good to have any article that emphasizes that cuts of meat are not like manufactured assembly line goods and have natural variations and subtleties.

What do you mean by "splitting"? USually that happens with emulsions, or by curdling. "Jus" should just reduce and reduce until it becomes a glaze.

Spaghetti all gricia? Puttanesca? I doubt there is certainty about any Roman dishes, even the well known Alfredo saga.

Wine in tomato sauce is not very Italian and these two wines are in the French style, but have you considered Soave, a wonderful Italian wine?

I tried to buy spoon rests in Paris a couple of times and have come to the conclusion that there is not even a term for them in French.

Cooking in liquid will "dry out" meat, even though the moisture is not evaporating, if the temperature is too high for the amount of cooking time.

There is a lot written about this, and the sensation of moistness is very complex. See the many treatments of this subject by Harold McGee, Herve This, etc. Mostly you are trying to keep meat from drying out but some of the reactions from various treatment create moisture as collagen dissolves. Also, a lot of the sensation of "moistness" is not from water but from fat.

That's really a happy ending! Veal has a quality that is unique; that's why classic French cooking depnds so on veal stock, so I'm glad this worked ou so well!

145F (63 Celsius) has long been a suggestion from a lot of great chefs, for example, Eric Ripert, who is used to finding the optimal temperature for things that need only be barely cooked. 130F is awfully low for your tenderloins -- is that with a gradient so it is only that cool in the center and will continue to cook as it rises? Now that better thermometers and the sous vide movement have made people in the US so much more conscious of precise temperatures it sure would be nice if we would join the World and start using Celsius!

Weisswurst without veal is not weisswurst, just as turkey bacon is not bacon and a grilled lamb chop is not bistecca alla fiorentina. There are many small German pork sausages, such as the Nuremburger, but the texture is different. You could, though, look into the different methods of raising veal and might well discover that some might meet his standards.

You say, "I tried 140 for 2 hours and it was a little tough. I redid some of them at 140." Is there something missing or was this an error?

A common way this is done in Liguria, popularized by Alain Ducasse, is a little like risotto, where a sauce is built up around the cooking pasta and absorbs the sauce. The pasta absorbs a lot of sauce, not just water, so the dish is more integrally connected -- sometimes a good thing, sometimes not. So your technique does make a lot of sense.

What about the new Robuchon cookbook, published by Ducasse and sold for 250 Euros? It is available to be shipped throughout Europe EXCEPT France, and not to the US. http://www.alain-ducasse.com/fr

Has anyone seen these recently? No longer at D'Artagnan! (btw, the chapon de bresse mentioned is a capon.)

Sorry. Its purpose. Auto-correction got the better of me.