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Pink Pastry Book-Pastry In Europe 2009


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I don't know, hadn't heard about it. I'll have to check it out.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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I'll wait for your report Rob. Sounds interesting but I'm so backed up on books I've bought and not worked with now that by the time I'm current I'll be way behind. :raz:

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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Hello everybody,

We are the publishers of Pastry in Europe 2009. I really hope you don't think this book is a hype, because it isn't. We are going to publish this book every year with the best from the pastryfield in Europe. It's not a magazine, it's a real book with indepth articles about products, a lot of recipes and information. All from the European classics to the most hypermodern things that come from Spain. On our website you can find out more about it and see some of the articles that are in there allready.

http://www.PastryInEurope.com

If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me.

With the sweetest regards,

Joost van Roosmalen

joost@pastryineurope.com

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Its in my hot little hands (actually my hands are fairly large, but that's another story). And, I was expecting to either love or hate it instantly. On the contrary, I'm going to have to really give it a good read and try a few recipes before I can decide - its...dense. So hold your marzipan horses and I'll get a post up in just a few days.

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Its in my hot little hands (actually my hands are fairly large, but that's another story).  And, I was expecting to either love or hate it instantly.  On the contrary, I'm going to have to really give it a good read and try a few recipes before I can decide - its...dense.  So hold your marzipan horses and I'll get a post up in just a few days.

Nice one, can't wait!

2317/5000

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gallery_41282_4652_27130.jpg

(Note the wrinkle in my brand new cover)

Pastry in Europe: 2009, aka The Big Pink Book is Big. Glossy. Pricey. It reminds me of a Hermè cookbook or possibly Alinea, but it is neither. However, this is a good book, and so the question becomes, “For whom is this book best suited?”

PIE is a self-published product of Culibooks Inc., which has been around since 1996. Their most well known magazines are Culinaire Saisonnier and Pâtisserie & Desserts. At 255 pages with glossy color photos on nearly ever page, there is plenty of eye candy. At $119.95US on Amazon the book moves out of the price range of most frugal bakers. I have been told that the book can be purchased for only $67 (Chocolate World) if bought in Euros (plane ticket to Europe not included).

This book is not published by the big name publishers (Wiley, 10 Speed, etc). However, self-published is not an apt description either since Culibooks, Inc. is a publisher, but many of the industry standards are not met in this book. The paper quality is high gloss, but has already warped in my copy. A lack of an index is a severe downside for me as I have already wanted to look up recipes that required me flipping through numerous pages. (Note: The publishers call the Table of Contents “The Index,” but there is no listing of subjects, recipes or ingredients at the end of the book which would have been extremely useful.)

Pastry in Europe 2009 feels like one of those hard-bound glossy books you find in finer hotel rooms that is seeking to serve the Edward Behr (Art of Eating) audience. By that I mean, we have a beautiful, densely packed book full of wonderful material, and not just recipes, but articles about culture, people, technique, yet they are abbreviated articles that leave you wanting more. As an example, there is a nice discussion of cactus fig (prickly pear tuna in my parlance), but I was left with more questions than answers: “What are they using them for?” “The picture of liquor on the side page – is that a cactus fig liquor? “Where can I get more information about the producers?”

gallery_41282_4652_15157.jpg

(The poor image quality is my poor photography skills, not the books)

The idea behind those glossy hotel books is to get a tourist to go shopping or eating at a restaurant – PIE is not a shilling book. There are no ads. I read the book more as a celebration of what’s on the minds of European pastry chefs right now. So the abbreviated article format doesn’t work for me. I would prefer a more Behr-esque treatment where we get in-depth on the subjects, and recognizing my comments about the photos (which please don’t misconstrue my comments as the photos are very beautiful), I would suggest that the audience could do with a less expensive, less flashy, more informative book.

So then who should buy this book? If you have knocked out some killer mousse or chocolate bon bons, and have a fairly solid grasp of the concept and techniques, and you have a varied interest in pastries (not just one item such as gelato), and you won’t be frustrated when the 2010 edition comes out leaving your 2009 edition feeling a bit dated, then grab the book. It is unique, informative and well…quite interesting to me. I am enjoying it.

The book was worth the investment for me as someone who is constantly seeking new techniques, ideas and flavor combinations, although it certainly won’t get the mileage of my Hermè or Amernick books or my Art of Eating magazine.

As I make a few more of the recipes I’ll post results at my blog since this is the Cooking and References Forum and I want to stay on topic, and I will alert you to those posts when it happens. I hope this has been helpful.

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Hello Rob,

Thanks for your post about the book, it's a big story and I will spend some time this afternoon looking at it. I want you all to know that there are huge prices for Pastry in Europe 2009 on the Internet, like on Amazon or on E-bay. If you order the book through our website or at one of the bookshops listed on our site at Related Links, you can be sure that you only pay € 49,- or USD 59,-.

See http://www.pastryineurope.com

Joost

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Wow. I just did a fake order through PIE's site assuming shipping would make it about the same. The cost for the book and to ship to the US is 46.23EU which is currently $56.23US, that is before any credit card currency fees. In other words, the one seller on Amazon needs a good baguette to the side of the head...and so do I now.

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Most of the time ordering European books thru the internet will result in money saved, with the euro being down now, etc.

Cheapest US price I've seen is JBPrince at 63.00 USD or so.

If people end up ordering thru Europe ship thru Chronopost or whatever high end delivery system.

You'll wait forever, literally months, ordering regular post.

RE: Binding, paper:Since moving to New Mexico 9 years ago or so, I've noticed my euro books don't like the dryness here.

PH10, Macaron, Bau, quite a few.

Thanks for the report!

2317/5000

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A lack of an index is a severe downside for me as I have already wanted to look up recipes that required me flipping through numerous pages.  (Note: The publishers call the Table of Contents “The Index,” but there is no listing of subjects, recipes or ingredients at the end of the book which would have been extremely useful.)

Euro books (including cookbooks) usually have the TOC at the back, where we Americans would look for the Index. Hopefully the publisher, who posted above, will take your comments into account when preparing other books like this for the North American market. :smile:

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK did a quick check: jbprince 71.55 (63.70 + 7.85 shipping)

PIE website 46.23 euro(book) + 2.77 euro (VAT) + 10euro (shipping) = 59 euros = 83.68

I'll prob try to pick up a copy when I get on a more reliable connection.

Edited by ejw50 (log)
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gallery_41282_4652_27130.jpg

(Note the wrinkle in my brand new cover)

Pastry in Europe: 2009, aka The Big Pink Book is Big.  Glossy.  Pricey.  It reminds me of a Hermè cookbook or possibly Alinea, but it is neither.  However, this is a good book, and so the question becomes, “For whom is this book best suited?”

PIE is a self-published product of Culibooks Inc., which has been around since 1996.  Their most well known magazines are Culinaire Saisonnier and Pâtisserie & Desserts.  At 255 pages with glossy color photos on nearly ever page, there is plenty of eye candy.  At $119.95US on Amazon the book moves out of the price range of most frugal bakers.  I have been told that the book can be purchased for only $67 (Chocolate World) if bought in Euros (plane ticket to Europe not included).

This book is not published by the big name publishers (Wiley, 10 Speed, etc).  However, self-published is not an apt description either since Culibooks, Inc. is a publisher, but many of the industry standards are not met in this book.  The paper quality is high gloss, but has already warped in my copy.  A lack of an index is a severe downside for me as I have already wanted to look up recipes that required me flipping through numerous pages.  (Note: The publishers call the Table of Contents “The Index,” but there is no listing of subjects, recipes or ingredients at the end of the book which would have been extremely useful.)

Pastry in Europe 2009 feels like one of those hard-bound glossy books you find in finer hotel rooms that is seeking to serve the Edward Behr (Art of Eating) audience.  By that I mean, we have a beautiful, densely packed book full of wonderful material, and not just recipes, but articles about culture, people, technique, yet they are abbreviated articles that leave you wanting more.  As an example, there is a nice discussion of cactus fig (prickly pear tuna in my parlance), but I was left with more questions than answers: “What are they using them for?” “The picture of liquor on the side page – is that a cactus fig liquor?  “Where can I get more information about the producers?”

gallery_41282_4652_15157.jpg

(The poor image quality is my poor photography skills, not the books)

The idea behind those glossy hotel books is to get a tourist to go shopping or eating at a restaurant – PIE is not a shilling book.  There are no ads.  I read the book more as a celebration of what’s on the minds of European pastry chefs right now.  So the abbreviated article format doesn’t work for me.  I would prefer a more Behr-esque treatment where we get in-depth on the subjects, and recognizing my comments about the photos (which please don’t misconstrue my comments as the photos are very beautiful), I would suggest that the audience could do with a less expensive, less flashy, more informative book.

So then who should buy this book?  If you have knocked out some killer mousse or chocolate bon bons, and have a fairly solid grasp of the concept and techniques, and you have a varied interest in pastries (not just one item such as gelato), and you won’t be frustrated when the 2010 edition comes out leaving your 2009 edition feeling a bit dated, then grab the book.  It is unique, informative and well…quite interesting to me.  I am enjoying it.

The book was worth the investment for me as someone who is constantly seeking new techniques, ideas and flavor combinations, although it certainly won’t get the mileage of my Hermè or Amernick books or my Art of Eating magazine.

As I make a few more of the recipes I’ll post results at my blog since this is the Cooking and References Forum and I want to stay on topic, and I will alert you to those posts when it happens.  I hope this has been helpful.

Thanks for the quick overview. I do have a few questions, if I may.

What is the ratio between articles and recipes?

Are the formulas in weight or volume, imperial or metric?

How often do the formulas call for unusual ingredients or equipment?

Thanks

Dan

"Salt is born of the purest of parents: the sun and the sea." --Pythagoras.

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Dan - my guess is about 40% recipes to 60% articles. That's an interesting question because the articles will only get read once, but it is an annual book, so maybe that's okay.

And the recipes are mostly in metric. I have only run into a couple of ingredients that I couldn't source, but it depends on your determination and access. That shouldn't be a barrier however to buying the book if you're inclined.

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There  has also been a big demand from the States to include the popular cups and spoon , this will be considered for the next edition.

But please don't take out the mass measurements!

MelissaH

MelissaH

Oswego, NY

Chemist, writer, hired gun

Say this five times fast: "A big blue bucket of blue blueberries."

foodblog1 | kitchen reno | foodblog2

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There  has also been a big demand from the States to include the popular cups and spoon , this will be considered for the next edition.

That's a shame...

You would figure people would get a scale some century.

2317/5000

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There has also been a big demand from the States to include the popular cups and spoon , this will be considered for the next edition.

That's odd. At this price range and with the type of material it seems to cover (I haven't seen it), I wouldn't think it would appeal to the type of baker still wedded to cups and spoons. Still, I suppose it would broaden the appeal.

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There  has also been a big demand from the States to include the popular cups and spoon , this will be considered for the next edition.

Let me guess, would that 'demand' be from the book trade?

I sincerely doubt that, even in the USA, there would be such a demand from the pro's who would be considering buying at this price level (several times the price of a digital scale).

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch ... you must first invent the universe." - Carl Sagan

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It's also going to add considerably to the price, all that metric to volume conversion.

I find all of this "catering to the North Americans" with table of contents placing and the ongoing scale wars embarrassing.

I mean, this brand is so ridiculously cheap, accurate enough to make anyone look like a pro, and all of that cups measurement testing, there's about 3 people on the planet I would trust to convert a book from metric to volume.

2317/5000

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