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Heavy 🙂 My wife was very happy to find a Bday solution and ordered for me, proud owner of copy 7616, some new inspiration coming..

Chin chin looks like a lot of fun, but i don't think i will be able to find a reasonable source to order it online to my country..Great Australian cookbooks through the years but some are harder to source, like for eg Gingerboy from Teage Ezard that i really wanted for my collection but it turned out too complicated to order from abroad 🙂 Sepia by Martin Benn, Marque from Mark Best, Peter Gilmore books, all among my favorites..

Yep, it's on the radar for sure, but price is (still) a bit intimidating.. But i have to say that while first two books from EMP are surly impressive, don't think i would have bought them again, can't say i "dive" into them frequently, it didn't click for me, happens..

Thanks 🙂 We exchanged here posts in the past about Chihiro's books and i have most of the stuff she worked on, the missing ones became out of print and far too expensive to consider now. I collect the "heavy books" and raise this question every couple of years to try and fish for something unique and innovative that i might have missed.. In the past there used to be a dedicated yearly thread with great information and suggestions but lately things seem quieter 🙂 There are some things i consider currently but not sure if someone here bought and have experience with, like Jan : Labor Der Liebe from chef Jan Hartwig, in German.. The Korean cookbook by Junghyun Park seems very interesting but not sure how "innovative" it is vs traditional Korean.. Essence by gelato/pastry chef Jesus Escalera also of high interest, as i love all things gelato 🙂 Will see, maybe hints to something new soon also from Mrs. Masui..

Looking again for more ideas in this category 🙂 I try to follow closely but things seems to be a bit quiet lately, any interesting big and very heavy "coffee table candidates" published by brilliant chefs lately "-) ? Thx !

I went back to check both EMP books, to remember what's inside and how they are 🙂 While enjoying past visits to the restaurant, i cannot say i really connected to the books or open them much, seems like others bring more inspiration. If you are ok with a books in French or German and translating/googling(like i do..), Franzosische Kuche is the german version of Yannick Alleno's gigantically sized book, French version very hard to find and super expensive today, no English version i think. It has almost 900 pages and probably close to that number of recipes and condiments, can keep you busy for 20 years i think 🙂 It is very nice but i didn't have the time yet to put hard work and cook with.. Other 2 great books that i really enjoy currently, mainly for reading and inspiration, both have plenty of interesting recipes to work on - La Reserve Paris by the great Jerome Banctel, very clever cooking, doable recipes, plus some very good ice cream/sorbets recipes which is always a plus for me. The other book with a lot of interesting recipes - The Restaurant by Heiko Nieder, very nice "reading" and viewing till now. First one in French, secong in German, no English versions unfortunately. In English ? Alinea is another very heavy book with tons of ideas and combinations, a marvel of a book for the relatively early year it was published, i like it a lot. I like having Manresa but i cannot say it is on my high favorites list that i open frequently, but it is a very nice book, layout and pictures etc., i think some of the ingredients are more "local" and harder for me to find, but didn't open it for ages. Some great british chef books out there - Pollen street social by Jason Atherton is in my top 5-10 list, special book but it might seem just a bit "less modern" from others mentioned, but i think it is a fantastically made book. If you want to expand your home cooking towards ultra modern fusion/Japanese by non Japanese chefs - Sepia by Australian Martin benn is unbelievable for the genre, and Bau.Steine by the great German chef Christian Bau is very nice too.. Not a big admirer of Keller and Heston books, but worth checking, maybe it will suit you 🙂

Actually just checked it now and it's for sure not a "must" book, one part 100% history and vision, other part cooking of several younger chefs that probably trained under him or recreate his classics(?), didn't get it yet.. In the German category i totally love till now Flora that i mentioned, by Nils Henkel, very intelligent cooking and combinations, vegetarian.. Just need more time to make better use and develop inspiration from it etc..

For the chef books collectors, if someone interested, Amazon IT is listing lately interstingly priced used copies of master chef Eckart Witzigman's insanly, truly insanly heavy two parts life long summerizing book, mine got in actually new condiiton, maybe returned items when people realized the storage area needed for it.. Anyways, in German, did not open it yet, might take several years to review.. For the price and especially shipping, i'm most thankful for the transport services that handled it, i salut you guys..

Wanted Flora by Nils Henkel for some time, found used in ok condition, still quite pricy maybe possible to find better in the future.. Vegetarian modern "michelin style" in German that looks promising and interesting but will have a better clue later after reading and a lot of translating.. Quite a lot of interesting modern chef books in German only, published in recent years, hope to find some of them in nicer prices later..

Bday present arrived 🙂 Hope to open them and check someday soon

For some reason, those two Israeli books are selling for a ridiculous price (was 3$ when i ordered), price is still very low on Amazon, for those interested.

I wish i bought in the past Alleno's French cooking big book when price was nicer.. I'm really impressed with Banctel so that would be my choice, it does have some Japanese influence btw but i'm yet to go through everything there. Le Clarence is also very nice, might be a bit simpler/classic cooking from Banctel and there should be also an English version now.. For an exceptional coffee table and less cookbook, Kei 2, i got them from amazon uk as it was the cheapest for me and fortunately under my country tax limits.. It seems to be still the best price out there, as for most of the Chef books i order..

My main interest in the modern books category is exactly the style you mentioned, European with heavy Japanese influence (or other asian kitchens), a lot of Kaiseki inspiration, Yakitori and Sushi in home cooking in recent years. I do have i think most of Masui's books, i pretty much can't resist them 🙂 Altough last Kei 2 was a bit dissappointing, it's more of a very stunning pictures book and the recipes at the end are quite basic and confusing. Her latest Racine - Un Japonais a Reims is on the way and I regret not buying her past Yukawatan book when came out, as it seems to worth nowdays X10 (assuming there is someone willing to pay it "-)). I LOVE Sepia by Martin Benn, might be my favorite, bau.steine also very good, Dos Pallilos has fantastic recipes but leans more towards Chinese, My Way by Tim Rau nice and many recipes, Toyo and Sola bth from Masui, are quite nice, Toyo has that Kaiseki influence, i also want to purchase Donburi by Julien Lemarie, looks like a pretty simple Japanese influenced book..

Thanks, would love to read more of your thoughts on Frantzen, i asked about it in a different thread but didn't get much there 🙂 Some of my latest purchases - upper two found on abebooks used in great condition and a nice price, Jerome Banctel purchased new and at first glance really like it, very comprehensive on the recipes side and this is mainly what i like from the modern chef books (in french of course, no English version yet).

I don't think it will happen 🙂 It's different with "niche cookbooks".. But i will continue checking prices for sure and maybe something will fall sometime.. And now i see the Disfrutar launched a big volume lately, around 150 euro before shipping, another one to the wish list.. And some other interesting ones, hard self-restraint 🙂