Cookbooks 2021

heidih · February 9, 2021

This new release caught my eye. "How Wild Things Are" by Analiese Gregory

How Wild Things Are: Cooking, fishing and hunting at the bottom of the world (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

A look at it from Food 52 https://food52.com/blog/25956-tasmanian-chef-analiese-gregory

weinoo · March 22, 2021

New (used) books purchased and one has been received...

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And...

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paul o' vendange · March 22, 2021

6 hours ago, weinoo said:

New (used) books purchased and one has been received...

And...

I have the Brazier but like so many others a mountain ahead of it. Such an important chef I need to move her to what I call my “speed rail”, a few shelves of books bedside I feel are fundamental and/or important in a way central to me. (Useless, since my “speed rail” is ever growing - looking at another 5-shelf bookcase across the foot of my bed loaded with “highest priority” texts meant to take up the “speed rail” back flow). Going to grab La Mere and move her close bedside.

The Lisbon book looks great. My FIL loves Portuguese cuisine. Somewhere we have a small book on cooking in the Algarve we got from him. Your book goes to my cart. I have a similar “speed rail” of books on my cart. Only hundreds long, lol. It’s how I remember them.🤔

gfweb · March 23, 2021

8 hours ago, weinoo said:

New (used) books purchased and one has been received...

And...

That's effing pricey.

weinoo · March 23, 2021

11 hours ago, paul o' vendange said:

The Lisbon book looks great. My FIL loves Portuguese cuisine. Somewhere we have a small book on cooking in the Algarve we got from him. Your book goes to my cart. I have a similar “speed rail” of books on my cart. Only hundreds long, lol. It’s how I remember them.🤔

I do have one or two other Portuguese cookbooks, though one of them might be a Spain and Portugal thing.

10 hours ago, gfweb said:

That's effing pricey.

No - is it? I paid under $20?

gfweb · March 23, 2021

27 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I do have one or two other Portuguese cookbooks, though one of them might be a Spain and Portugal thing.

No - is it? I paid under $20?

That's better.

The prices I saw were 3 and 4 times that.

Maison Rustique · March 23, 2021

I am coveting both of those books!

paul o' vendange · March 23, 2021

I went down a Mere Brazier rabbit hole, and picked up a number of other books on her contributions, as well as Lyonnaise culinary history, culture and cuisine.

gfweb · March 28, 2021

Any opinions on the French Culinary Institute books? eg https://smile.amazon.com/Fundamental-Techniques-Classic-Italian-Cuisine/dp/1584799900/ref=sr_1_35?dchild=1&keywords=fundamental+techniques&qid=1616894396&sr=8-35

I bought the CIA book years ago and was a little disappointed.

JoNorvelleWalker · March 28, 2021

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

Any opinions on the French Culinary Institute books? eg https://smile.amazon.com/Fundamental-Techniques-Classic-Italian-Cuisine/dp/1584799900/ref=sr_1_35?dchild=1&keywords=fundamental+techniques&qid=1616894396&sr=8-35

I bought the CIA book years ago and was a little disappointed.

I don't own any but I've read at least one. Can't say I was disappointed as best I can remember.

weinoo · March 28, 2021

9 hours ago, gfweb said:

Any opinions on the French Culinary Institute books? eg https://smile.amazon.com/Fundamental-Techniques-Classic-Italian-Cuisine/dp/1584799900/ref=sr_1_35?dchild=1&keywords=fundamental+techniques&qid=1616894396&sr=8-35

I bought the CIA book years ago and was a little disappointed.

I just think you can do so much better with Italian cookbooks by Italian authors. Hazan, Bugialli, Boni, Artusi, Simeti, et al. Shit - even Waverly Root, Lidia and that other fat bastard.

gfweb · March 28, 2021

7 hours ago, weinoo said:

I just think you can do so much better with Italian cookbooks by Italian authors. Hazan, Bugialli, Boni, Artusi, Simeti, et al. Shit - even Waverly Root, Lidia and that other fat bastard.

Thanks!

What about the Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)?

After three shitty meals at Lidia's restaurant in Pittsburgh I think I'll try one of the other ones.

weinoo · March 28, 2021

Can’t comment directly on that one, as I don’t think I own it. But those are the type of books I tend to read through once or twice, and then never pick up again. I pick up Marcella, Julia et al. time and time again. Cause they’re fun to read.

AAQuesada · March 28, 2021

15 hours ago, gfweb said:

Any opinions on the French Culinary Institute books?

I had the Fundamentals of Classic cuisine book and thought it was very good! lots of pictures, very good technique with clear explanations and terms. Gave it to a young sous chef who was leaving me and never went to culinary school. My guess is that it would make a great reference

Edited March 28, 2021 by AAQuesada
thats a nice price btw (log)

paul o' vendange · March 30, 2021

On 3/27/2021 at 8:30 PM, gfweb said:

Any opinions on the French Culinary Institute books? eg https://smile.amazon.com/Fundamental-Techniques-Classic-Italian-Cuisine/dp/1584799900/ref=sr_1_35?dchild=1&keywords=fundamental+techniques&qid=1616894396&sr=8-35

I bought the CIA book years ago and was a little disappointed.

I think they are good enough books respecting their core emphasis, which is the French curriculum that has been in place with Ferrandi for a century. Nothing really bad to say for what they offer but eventually, if you’re like me, there are a million “fundamentals” books - my deepest appreciation, mon Cher Jacques; L’Institut Bocuse, Ducasse, many others that cover similar fundamentals in similar ways. It’s easy, at least for me, to love shelf space taken up with books, even if they cover very similar ground.

FCI takes the Ferrandi approach (you will see it in Jacques Pepin’s earliest books as well), namely, learning a mastery of 400 or so fundamental techniques considered necessary for entry into the profession via your “C.A.P.”

If this is what you are interested in, I’d recommend more you obtain - and work cover to cover - Pepin’s flagship books, as well as the Ferrandi books, which I consider pretty top notch. Their “Grand Cours de la Cuisine” (only available in French, unfortunately), as well as their Patisserie and Chocolate texts. If nothing else, work off your pains au chocolats by lifting these things, as they are massive and imo more bang for your buck.

My appreciation for the Ferrandi materials notwithstanding, a valid complaint is that they just sort of begin, throwing you in to fonds, jus, fumets, etc., with very little explanation or background info to each technique. However, the books really excel in giving bona fide recipes from MOF and other chefs at each of three levels of difficulty. Essentially, études of a central ingredient - the apple; John Dory; Saddle of lamb.

One other I recommend in this vein is La Cuisine de Référence, which is sort of the national standard for young French cooking students, all over France. It is not as sophisticated as the Ferrandi materials - think exceedingly elegant old-school - but the techniques and information learned within are gold standard. The aim of this text, too, is to enable the culinary student testers to pass their CAP’s. Orthodox in the extreme - but I see only virtue in that for the purposes of training and building a foundation. The French has now been translated into English as The French Chef Handbook: La Cuisine de Reference. I am assured from the publisher the English is in every way a faithful translation of the original:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/2857086954?pf_rd_r=QSZBS6DN9ZGX166XF54R&pf_rd_p=5ae2c7f8-e0c6-4f35-9071-dc3240e894a8&pd_rd_r=01933476-554f-437b-bc1b-b368ee7ea8fd&pd_rd_w=qqU01&pd_rd_wg=bFno8&ref_=pd_gw_unk

On FCI’s Italian materials, in full agreement with weinoo. Personally, I think Hazan and Buglialli are fantastic primary texts.

oh, LaRousse Gastronomique.

Oh, and Great Chefs of France.

Oh, and a Cook’s Tour of France.

Oh, and Anne-Sophie Pic’s book, Paul Bocuse’s “Market” bible, and the “recettes originales” séries of the frères Troisgros, Haeberlun, Meneau, Blanc, Robuchon, Chapel..,

Oh, and Point, and Bocuse, and Verge, and Guerard, and Escoffier, and Nignon, and Careme, and Taillevent, and Waverly Root (France; Italy), and... and ...

CAS. Cookbook Acquisition Syndrome. An ancient and virulent form of acquisition syndrome, wherein the cook finds comfort in the promise of mastery in the kitchen, measured by how many fundamentals texts she or he can amass in one’s cooking library. Terminal condition, I’m afraid.

Edited March 30, 2021 by paul o' vendange (log)

weinoo · March 30, 2021

6 hours ago, paul o' vendange said:

If this is what you are interested in, I’d recommend more you obtain - and work cover to cover - Pepin’s flagship books, as well as the Ferrandi books, which I consider pretty top notch.

The Pepin books are wonderful; I don't own the Ferrandi books, and I don't know if I should thank you or curse you for pointing them out to me!

weinoo · March 30, 2021

6 hours ago, paul o' vendange said:

On FCI’s Italian materials, in full agreement with weinoo. Personally, I think Hazan and Buglialli are fantastic primary texts.

Interestingly, and in the same vein, I'd venture a guess that a book by Penelope Casas, or Claudia Roden, or Colman Andrews or Paula Wolfert, each in their own specific subject matter, is going to be more useful to one trying to learn about a specific cuisine, rather than reading about what technique might be best for, say, making brandade. They just delve way more deeply into the subject matter than a technique book does.

That said, while it's wonderful to have the knowledge Escoffier and Point et al. offer, I think Richard Olney does a pretty damn good job of helping me cook like someone in the countryside of France might.

And @paul o' vendange - I really like the Verge books! Do you have an opinion about Michel Guérard, who basically started a pretty important movement in cooking? Not that we cook like that!

Margaret Pilgrim · March 30, 2021

More a reference than a cookbook or reader, La Bonne Cuisine is a worthwhile addition to a kitchen library. It has been a guide for many familiar chefs/writers.

Anna N · March 30, 2021

This one caught my attention and I have put it on my wish list. It will be released In Canada in a Kindle edition on April 6, 2021.

The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart,, Tender and Unruly. The author is a Kate Lebo.
it is more of a miscellany than a recipe book.

paul o' vendange · March 30, 2021

8 hours ago, weinoo said:

Interestingly, and in the same vein, I'd venture a guess that a book by Penelope Casas, or Claudia Roden, or Colman Andrews or Paula Wolfert, each in their own specific subject matter, is going to be more useful to one trying to learn about a specific cuisine, rather than reading about what technique might be best for, say, making brandade. They just delve way more deeply into the subject matter than a technique book does.

That said, while it's wonderful to have the knowledge Escoffier and Point et al. offer, I think Richard Olney does a pretty damn good job of helping me cook like someone in the countryside of France might.

And @paul o' vendange - I really like the Verge books! Do you have an opinion about Michel Guérard, who basically started a pretty important movement in cooking? Not that we cook like that!

+1. I have a few by Paula and they are fantastic.

Guerard - what a nut (in a good way. He and Bocuse in drag screwing around with the rest of the nouvelle crew. Cultural artifact!).

I have his Cuisine Minceur and Cuisine Gourmande. Extraordinary how he used all his skill to devise a spa cuisine that didn’t suck. Vegetable purées as sauce thickeners in lieu of flour, butter, cream, etc. Truly ahead of his time, as far as I’ve been able to tell. Never cooked from it but hope to.

Verge - love him! His fruit and vegetable books are gems and his « Entertaining in the French Style, » man, love that. Sumptuous when it calls for it, true light, vibrant, dancing, for other occasions.

ALWAYS love menus from French Chefs (Olney; yes, love him. Have his Simple, Lulu, Menus. All, yum) and his Menys doesn’t disappoint.

weinoo · March 30, 2021

2 hours ago, paul o' vendange said:

I have his Cuisine Minceur and Cuisine Gourmande. Extraordinary how he used all his skill to devise a spa cuisine that didn’t suck. Vegetable purées as sauce thickeners in lieu of flour, butter, cream, etc. Truly ahead of his time, as far as I’ve been able to tell. Never cooked from it but hope to.

Verge - love him! His fruit and vegetable books are gems and his « Entertaining in the French Style, » man, love that. Sumptuous when it calls for it, true light, vibrant, dancing, for other occasions.

These are certainly the 3 I was referring to...just great stuff.

AAQuesada · March 31, 2021

On 3/29/2021 at 9:18 PM, paul o' vendange said:

Grand Cours de la Cuisine

@paul o' vendange You are a bad influence! my case of CAS is severe lol -I ordered the Ferrandi book (found it used for 80ish) keep in mind all the French I know I learned following French Chefs on Instagram 😂 *sigh*