Renn

To borrow from Ferran...I think of plating like I think of clothing. Depending on the context/occasion how a dish is plated up should be appropriate to that occasion. Both on the low and and high end, things can either be wonderful or sloppy, can make perfect sense or be horridly ridiculous. But I certainly agree that as a culture we now place emphasis on the visual to the detriment of the tangible...Certainly more folks would benefit from paying attention to how a dish "eats"

And since I brought up that dish: BTW, great DVD series if you haven't already seen it. Rasmus as he prepared for the Bocuse d'Or 2011: Granted, my list is almost all fine dining...but I'd love to find examples of amazing technique in all manner of cooking.

I've only started watching this series, but seeing the Roux brothers make puff pastry is pretty amazing: Again, another fun series, but this episode of MPW cooking for Raymond Blanc is my favorite: A huge repository of videos...mostly of plate ups rather than actual cooking technique, but I hope to dig through it sometime and find favorites. One with promise is the one with Michel and Seb Bras making the gargaillou: http://www.youtube.c...ser/wbpstarscom

I would've thought that there would already be a listing somewhere of the most elegant cooking technique on the internet...but if there is, I wasn't able to find it. So, why not make this thread a little library of some of the best internet cooking videos you've ever seen? There are quite a few videos out there that are amazing from an entertainment or showmanship standpoint, but for now I'm going to focus on videos that show great skill in service to deliciousness: First, something that has been covered elsewhere on egullet...itasan's series of videos showing the processing of all maner of fish: http://www.youtube.c...feature=g-all-f Fugu: Great videos of Tempura and Dashimaki: http://www.youtube.c...r/KaitenSushiTV The whole Ryugin channel is fascinating, but their bbq eel video is probably my favorite:

Growing up in the South Bay area of CA, I'll also report that maggi's a pretty essential part of the bahn mi here. Here's my experience with it: french roll: reheated in a toaster oven, so that the crust gets overly crunchy and is likely to cut the roof of your mouth (not my favorite part of the experience, but essential nonetheless) meat: any number of things but typically a choice between...combo (pate, cold cuts), roast pork, bbq pork(char siu), meatball pickled julienne of carrots and daikon jalapenos sliced thin lengthwise coriander leaves mayo maggi

cayson's right in our back yard...they're great coats and folks.

I might suggest cooking your bird whole to obtain the skin exterior that you want...then carve up the bird and finish in the fricasee sauce.

Kiin Kiin is a great restaurant, and Henrik is about as chill as they come. Of course, quite a few of the common copenhagen fine-dining conventions are in place, but I had a wonderful time there. Then again, I've never had Thai cooking in a more formal setting, so it's tough to draw comparisons to other Thai food. Regardless, I loved the food, flavors and experience.

Just to add a different perspective on things... Given that you've included that this young lady is both a budding physician and olympian...perhaps she won't be intimidated by much! Regardless, Jacques Pepin's complete techniques/La Technique will always be a great start. If she's got a strong academic slant even in her "hobbies", I'd also suggest Labensky and Hause's on Cooking. It's the book I most dug through when I was just starting to dig into cooking. McGee if you think she wants a deeper level of ingredient knowledge. For something more homey, ad hoc at home would be a great addition. And if she's interested in being very organized while being limited in time, Adria's The Family Meal is a great way to go. Who knows...maybe even if you throw her the noma cookbook, she'd be sharp enough to make great use of it at home.

Hello! I may have only spent one week in Helsinki, but I must say that I loved my time there, and happen to be a big fan of Kimi Raikkonen. I still have fond memories of the soup stand at the market hall, the Arabia factory, restaurant olo, and the amazing hobby bookshop around the corner from Stockmann. What you describe would be "pastry chef" in english. Also, please do tell us about the pastry items you work on from time to time. I'm very curious as to what is Finnish Pastry.

I'd have to say that the brilliance of this book is that the recipes themselves are nothing special. There is no dish meant to wow or impress in the entire book. However, the best part about the book is that it is a lesson in applying restaurant style organization and *thrift* in the home kitchen. I emphasize the thrift, since conventional wisdom in home kitchens is to make judicious use of convenience, store bought products. And while this book hardly shies away from store-bought finished foods...it does make some purposeful choices about what is worth your while to make from scratch. I think that it's a pretty great tool for actually getting hesitant home cooks to cook on a regular basis...and to cook well. The compromises suggested aren't borne out of the desire to pander to a wider audience...but an attempt to explain how elBulli can nourish their staff on a limited budget of time and money. As Chef himself is fond of telling...it's not about who made the first omelette (or mini-skirt) it's about the person who can conceptualize it and take it somewhere interesting. Like many of you here, my shelves are full of more "adventurous" or "advanced" cookbooks, but I'd have to say that I've never seen a home cookbook like this one. I'm definitely feeling it.

Just to add what I've personally observed from cooks in their native countries.... 1. Europeans (at least those in some of the best kitchens) generally don't give much a damn about their knives. Sure, there are occasional cooks/chefs with razor sharp, well cared for blades, but for the most part, most of us Americans might be shocked at how little attention is put towards their blades. A friend staged in Spain, and every time he would break out his stone, the Spanish cooks would beg him to sharpen their knives...Accordingly, they generally stick to European blades. It's purely a functional perspective for the most part. Western-style Japanese knives are known and desired...however, the cost of any Japanese good in the EU tends to make it out of budget for most cooks. 2. The Japanese in the best kitchens (and perhaps even not the best kitchens) do indeed care for their blades as we might expect....Though I can't really comment on the specific culture of how they think about their knives since I've never really talked to any of them about it. Anecdotally, I've been told that outside of the handmade japanese blades, Misono tends to be fairly common. 3. Americans seem to obsess the most about the selection of the knife...at least from a "car buying" perspective. Most cooks that I run into tend to use japanese knives with western shapes, with some opting for traditional Japanese blade shapes. For the most part, we tend to mix up our knife selections (Gyuto, plastic pairing knife, European Bread knife, western fillet knife...etc)

I guess, here in the US, we also have a tendency to prefer ice creams that are bigger, richer, and have stronger flavors. All of which makes sense considering that more and more people grow up with grocery store/baskin robbins ice cream, then move on to "discover" ice creams that are just the opposite of the high-overrun, lots of stabilizer styles. So then folks either tend to like the punch of mix ins...or the richness of low overrun, higher fat ice creams. But Soft-serve, inherently, is an excellent platform for a lighter style of ice cream. If we can let go of richness as the only measuring stick (kind of like letting go of marbling as the only measuring stick for beef), there are some pretty exciting soft serves out there. A few more local places that do well with soft serve are Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur, Zero Zero in SF, and Hawker Fare in Oakland... The first two being in the same restaurant group have chocolate and vanilla available with differing sets of toppings. And HF, has condensed milk flavor with more South East Asian toppings.

While soft serve generally gets short shrift in the US...it's not the case in Japan, where it is the dominant ice cream style. Yes, there still are plenty of places that also use some sort of powder + liquid mix, but there are also a number of folks who give the form a bit more respect. One of my favorites is Barnes in Sapporo: Here, the owner only offers 2 flavors at any time. One of them is always milk to highlight the quality of the local diary. Closer to home, sketch ice cream in Berkeley used to make wonderful, very carefully made soft serve. Unfortunately for us, they closed down shop as they decided to focus on their family. (I'm still hoping for their return one day)

they should...but don't. Or refuse to...you never can tell with those sneaky bastards!

I find it hilariously puzzling when the french cook shouts "Chaud!" while carrying the LN2

I've eaten once at Mission Chinese...and I'm in no rush to go back. Honestly, while I can appreciate the approach, effort and contribution that Mission Chinese makes, in the end I'm more satisfied by and a regular at China First (just a regular greasy spoon cantonese place vs a new perspective in chinese food) in the inner richmond. That being said, another friend of mine, whose palate and tastes I definitely trust, loves MCF to death and is excited by what they're doing.

No doubt. But we're not going to be doing the schlep to Los Gatos. In that case, in the city, I'd go for: Sons & Daughters: Guys without the "pedigree" that makes for great PR, but none the less are pushing themselves to create their own cuisine. Frances: Melissa's food is delicious, and the restaurant might be considered the "favored daughter" of San Francisco right now...the "favored son" analog would be Flour + Water, but since you're coming from NYC, I'd likely avoid the popular (though often quite good) Cal-Ital options (e.g. Cotogna, Perbacco) Benu: simply Corey's food...definitely cooks with precision and a unique voice. you'll know if its for you or not.. if Oakland's not too much of a hike: Commis (full disclosure, these are friends of mine)...or the newly opened Hawker Fare Definitely seek out Scream Sorbet...as far as I know still nothing like it in NYC. MHO of course, but I'm not a fan of many of the other new hotspots....if you insist on getting my "avoid and why" list, it is available to you. For inexpensive options, there's always Old Mandarin Islamic (hot pot and unique noodle options), Kingdom of Dumpling, Kasa, Riverside for dim sum, Lime Tree (Southeast Asian neighborhood spot), Halu, Hog Island Oyster Co. (oysters, chowder, grilled cheese & pickles)

Manresa in Los Gatos is my favorite place in the bay area. I think Chefs Kinch and JP are at the top of their game.

Is it too late for a dinner at Castagna? If not...go!

June 7th over here...first 500 or not, I think our patience will be amply rewarded no matter when it gets to our doors! Saddest part is...while I will be receiving the book it will be a tortuous several months before I come back home to open it for the first time. (I suppose there are definitely sadder stories out there =D). Thanks for egullet and the rest of the internet! At least I'm sure there will be a wealth of peeks here and there to tide me over

This one is an essential classic: http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=gCIEAAAAYAAJ&num=10&source=gbs_slider_cls_metadata_7_mylibrary

In the first part of a two-part interview with Stephen Dubner (of Freakonomics fame), Waters said of the modernist movement: Wow. Her comments really make no sense. They just show that she has no idea about what the "Modernist" in Modernist Cuisine stands for. Someone like her (ie a prominent food industry figure) should take the time to actually pay attention what these modern cooks are doing. I'll take from Chef Redzepi quoting Schopenhauer: "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."

Is there any way to cook cranberry beans without losing their awesome coloration?

I think this video does a lot to explain the Bocuse d'Or.