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Does anyone know the status of Trotter's new books that were suppose to come out last fall? I believe one was called: "Lessons in Wine Service" and the other was a wholesale re-write of his original cookbook.

Anyone have this book? I read about it over on the Cook's Illustrated Boards. I started a batch of the dough this afternoon based on information I gleaned from the boards and some articles I googled. Here is a link to the author's website.

I sold three copies of this cookbook in two days, when I've never sold another before. Does anyone know why this book has gotten so popular all of a sudden? I'm curious. I figure if anyone would know, you guys would.

Hello, Everyone! I am so excited to tell you about "Olivier Roellinger's Contemporary French Cuisine". Isn't she gorgeous to look at? Well, before going any further... Do you ever drive you car and imagine yourself flying a plane? Do you ever use professional slang of those who work the job you always wanted to have? Are you familiar with the feeling of an emerging romance? Or do you, perhaps, enjoy the closeness and affection of someone, and can't get enough of it, no matter how much time has gone by since your first date, or since your last touch? If you gave a positive answer to any of these questions - this book is for you, my Dear Friend. OR's book is quite unique in many ways. More than anything else, it's a book written by someone who seeks to merge two seemingly unrelated, but extreme passions. The author is all about his food, and equally is all about his love for sailing in the open sea. In fact, they apply sailing lingo to ingredients, as well as prep and cooking techniques. How is that for unique? Or, don't some of us borrow a word or two from pilots and air traffic controllers, while sitting at a red light? I do... Also, most cookbooks are written "around" service (e.g. amuse-bouche, starters, main courses, etc.), or even more often about main food groups - produce, fish, meat and so on, so forth. Not this book - every chapter is about ... drums, please ... spices! Have you ever read a "Pepper" or a "Turmeric" chapter? You will when you dive into OR's writing. Wait, I just used a marine term... Is it rubbing off on me already? It's hardly surprising... Curiously enough, this book is full of pictures, but the photography is that of the open sea and food still-life - there isn't one picture of a plated item of any kind. Instead, there are black and white plating diagrams with detailed legends. Interesting. Overall, I would rate this book as "Very Good/Highly Recommended". It deserves it. On a personal note: the object of my affection is not anywhere near me right now, but thinking of her inspired this review. Wish she was here to taste the food…

I received this book for christmas, having made some hints before. It is a monster book in coffe table format documenting the dishes in his three star flagship resturant in Royal Hospital Road, London. This is not "Gordon cooks at home" or something similar. This is a hardcore book that presents and explain the actual dishes served at the resturant. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Recipes-Star-Chef-...99651590&sr=8-3 (Note to editor: please feel free to eGullet-ize the link and/or add link to US Amazon) It only costs GBP 20, which is amazingly low considering the production values. The first half of the book is just photos of the various dishes and comments about them from (presumably) the man himself. The second half is the actual recipes. The presentation/photos of the dishes are absolutely stunning. Many of the dishes looks like work of art, especially in the pastry/desserts section. The recipes (at least some of them) actually looks doable, surprisingly enough. Only a very foolish or very experienced amateur cook would attempt to recreate an entire menu in a home kitchen, but borrowing a single dish (especially a main course) is definitely doable if you have reasonable experience and some time to devote. The recipes are very well written and some though has definitely gone into making them possible to execute in a home kitchen (no sous vide machinery...). My usual approach when attempting fine dining cooking is to simplify, like pair the protein and sauce in one dish with the (simpler) starch from somewhere else and/or remove some of the garnishes. This would work well with this book. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in fine dining. Either just as a documentation of dishes from one of the worlds top resturants or to actually try to cook from. Yesterdays Financial Times had an article where one of their writers tried to execute an entire three course menu from the book. To summarize, the main course was on the table three hours late, but the results were stunning. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2d21f2b0-ba6b-11...?nclick_check=1 Note: I haven't yet tried any of the recipes (but I'm definitely eyeing that foie gras filled pidgeon breast roulade with confited pigeon legs...) and I like fine dining cook books, mostly for inspiration, sometimes for actual cooking.

Don't see a dedicated thread to this book. Does anyone have Jean-Pierre Wybauw's book on the art of making chocolate decorations? If so, how do you like it and how does it compare to similar texts on the subject? TIA

I am looking to compile a list of dessert books that have their recipes written in metric. I am sick of converting from "housewife" measurements, and I know that metric recipes are more likely to turn out as the author intended.

I picked up a cookbook named "The Best Bread Ever." I was curious -- can it REALLY be the BEST?? Julia Child's french bread, Mark Patent's whole wheat bread, the Fleishmann's Yeast honey wheat bread -- those are really good. How does this book live up to it's title? The bread is yummy (isn't just about all homemade bread?), and has that crisp crust and fluffy inside that I love. That is really great considering I use a buillt-in oven from 1968. The book emphasizes precise measurement of the flour, careful monitoring of temperatures (water, flour, dough), uses the food processor to quickly knead the bread, and s-l-o-w, cool rising. There's no sugar in the basic bread recipe, so the yeast is gently awakened by the interaction with the flour. The author carefully explains each process. So what makes this book great? The combination of techniques plus simplicity -- back to the basics of breadmaking. Is it the BEST? Well that is up to each reader and cook. Post Script: My daughter, a 20 year old total bread novice liked the loaf I made so much that she decided to make another the next night. She thought the cookbook was great.

I had the chance to see it at the Salon du Chocolat in Paris and it seemed good. I'm thinking about ordering it now but am reconsidering it because of the hefty price tag. Has anyone else seen it? What do you think? Here's the link for information about it on chips books: http://chipsbooks.com/chocramn.htm

Has anyone used Walter's latest baking book and do you have an opinion on whether it is worth adding to an already extensive baking collection? Particularly interested in the yeasted bread sections--danish, etc. Thanks.

Has anyone noticed that Google has released a beta recipe search? http://www.google.com/base/search?a_n0=rec...2=Course&a_y2=1 I wish there was some way of grading recioes, If I search for, say, goose soup, I don't need 58 recipes but 3 or 4 "best" ones...

Can anyone suggest a few good ones? I searched through this forum and only saw a few mentioned. Is there a Diana Kennedy type authority on Chinese food?

Books that I'm interested in for 2008: Ma Gastronomie by Fernand Point How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table by Russ Parsons A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France by Georgeanne Brennan Garde Manger: The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen by The Culinary Institute of America Artichoke to Za'atar: Modern Middle Eastern Food by Greg Malouf The Lebanese Cookbook by Hussein Dekmak The Belarusian Cookbook by Alexander Bely Classic German Cookbook: 70 traditional recipes from Germany, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, shown step-by-step in 300 photographs by Lesley Chamberlain What are you looking forward to?

I just received an Amazon gc, so I searched for any new dessert and pastry books coming out in 2008, and here's some that got me curious (in order of preference): Chocolate Epiphany: Exceptional Cookies, Cakes, and Confections for Everyone (Hardcover), by Francois Payard, Anne E. Mcbride Decadent Desserts: Recipes from Vaux-le-Vicomte (Hardcover) by Cristina De Vogue , Thomas Dhellhemmes, Delphine De Montalier The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehnsive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional by Glenn Rinsky, Laura Halpin Rinsky The Modern Baker: Time-Saving Techniques for Breads, Tarts, Pies, Cakes and Cookies by Nick Malgieri Ice Cream: From Cassata Semi-Freddo to Cider Apple Sorbet (The Small Book of Good Taste Series) by The Tanner Brothers Italian Ice Cream: Gelato, Sorbetto, Granita and Semifreddi by Carla Bardi, Emilia Onesti Advanced Bread and Pastry by Michel Suas Any advanced news on these? Others that you're watching?

...is it possible to store all of my cookbooks in one place? As someone who has a huge collection of cookbooks I use for reference on a daily basis, these new e-book readers seem like they'd be incredible for chefs to have all of their resources / recipes / etc in a neat little 10 oz. device. Does anyone know if cookbooks will be made available on these devices, or if we can copy the ones we have onto them?

I had never really heard of Loiseau, only having just gotten interested in food/cooking/restaurants just about the year he died. I picked up a copy of Chelminski's "The Perfectionist", and really enjoyed his story (Save the end of course). Didn't 100% love the writing, but I can ignore that for topics I want to learn about. As a result, I've now become interested in getting a cookbook by Loiseau. It looks like they're all in French from my research so far, and out of print to boot. I have no problem with it being in French (unless someone knows of a good English translation), but I'm having trouble finding them, and for affordable prices if I can. Anyone know of a source or way to get these? Am I just crazy and some are still in print?

So, it's that time of year for lists -- "The 10 Best Cookbooks," "What Every Foodie Must Read" etc. -- and frankly, they get tiresome. Some publisher feels it's necessary, and the same old standbys are trotted out. Not that the standbys can't be good, of course. There are classics that show up on these lists for good reason. But still, it's refreshing to read Slate's version of the end-of-the-year list. Slate asked a variety of food people -- chefs, historians, writers and editors -- for their personal and quirky choices, and they came up with a great list. Some are classics, some obscure; all sound like they're worth looking for. It's cool (to me, at least) that The River Cottage Meat Book shows up twice (chef Dan Barber and Matt Sartwell, manager, Kitchen Arts & Letters, both recommend it). I think it's great that Mimi Sheraton's entry probably can't be found without scouring second-hand book stores. Julie Powell, Christopher Kimball, Ming Tsai and our own Steven Shaw also add their choices. Here's the entire list. What do you think? What would you add?

Just got an e-mail from C.H.I.P.S. notifying me of another $100+ book that I'm sure I can't live without. I really just love Jean-Pierre Wybauw, so I guess I have to buy this book... It looks like it focuses on ganaches. The above is from C.H.I.P.S.

Love this recipie, calls for prunes, green olives, capers and a dry white wine, but which moderately priced and accessable wine would you serve with it?

Picked this up at the thrift store today--it looks pretty neat--originally published in 1972-- this is a reprint in 1983--it is bi-lingual which led me to think it would be authentic. It has what you would call the basics in it--appears to be mostly Cantonese, but there's some Szechuan, too. I love the pictures--thay are glaringly bright--like what you'd see in a strip mall chinese restaurant, but each recipe has a picture which is certainly helpful--this really could serve as a cooking course in Chinese food. Can't wait to try a few recipes out. Zoe

I have recently purchased "Welcome to My Kitchen" by Tom Valenti and Andrew Friedman. I've been reading it page by page; I'm only halfway through. So far, I love this cookbook! I'm really impressed with the way it is put together. In the introduction to the book, Tom points out that he is a "big proponent of make-ahead cooking." I'd like to try many of the recipes in this book for special occasion dinners; his notes would help me to do this. I'd like to know if anyone has tried any of the recipes in this book. Please share successes as well as failures.

The James Beard Foundation recently listed the following 20 books as essential to every cook's library, whether expert or novice. Press release here, and the list is below: James Beard, American Cookery Rick Bayless, Authentic Mexican Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck, Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume One Julia Child, The Way to Cook Marcella Hazan, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts Sharon Tyler Herbst, The New Food Lover’s Companion The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso, The Silver Palate Cookbook Deborah Madison, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone Jacques Pépin and Léon Pererr, Complete Techniques Jancis Robinson, The Oxford Companion to Wine Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, The Joy of Cooking Julie Sahni, Classic Indian Cooking Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, The Thrill of the Grill Rick Stein’s Complete Seafood Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook Barbara Tropp, The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking Have at it, friends. What's missing? (As this is a marketing gambit, only currently in print books need apply.) What's there that ought not be?

Used to be, my first instinct upon seeing an advertorial cookbook -- in other words a cookbook sponsored by a food company or companies and designed to sell product -- was to distrust it. But lately I've been questioning that reaction. Just as many good recipes can be found on food-company websites and on the backs of boxes and sides of cans, good recipes can be published in these blatantly commercial cookbooks. Advertorial cookbooks, when done well, can be valuable sources of information. It wouldn't surprise me if the resources behind them, in terms of research and recipe testing, are superior to those invested in a standard cookbook. The journalistic value of objectivity doesn't seem particularly important when it comes to recipes. I'm fine with them as long as they make sense. And when such a book is free, what is there to complain about? Over the weekend, on the way out of Costco, I was handed this year's edition of "Favorite Recipes the Costco Way." Each recipe uses a brand-name product or products sold at Costco. It's a pretty nice book: 280 recipes and a lot of tips, many of them by big-name chefs like Mario Batali and Rocco DiSpirito, with full-color photos throughout. I found more recipes in the Costco book that gave me ideas for things I'd actually cook in real life than I have in the last couple of dozen "real" cookbooks to come across my desk. Any one of those ideas would be worth, well, more than the price of the book.

Here's the link to the cookbook: http://books.boomerangbooks.com/featuredbo...921259760&db=au I spotted Holiday at the bookstore a couple of days ago and while flipping through, thought it looked well presented and filled with recipes that are reasonable enough for me to do. Who here has bought this book and tried any of the recipes? I'd love to hear whether you suggest (or not) buying it

If so, how are the recipes? I'm mainly interested in the vegetarian, fish, and dessert recipes. http://www.amazon.com/Isabels-Cantina-Flav...95371904&sr=8-1