James Peterson's Sauces, 4th Edition

[paulraphael]

Anyone have this? Comparisons with earlier editions?

 

The 2nd edition is my all-time favorite cookbook. But it predates all the good stuff of the 21st century ... pressure cooker and sous-vide extractions, modern hydrocolloids, whipping siphons, etc. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

25 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

Anyone have this? Comparisons with earlier editions?

 

The 2nd edition is my all-time favorite cookbook. But it predates all the good stuff of the 21st century ... pressure cooker and sous-vide extractions, modern hydrocolloids, whipping siphons, etc. 

 

I have the 4th edition on Kindle.  Sadly I tend not to read eBooks.

 

[Maison Rustique]

That looks like a great book! Now I need to buy another cookbook. Darn it!!

[rotuts]

all of Perterson's books are top notch.

 

they are a bit dated in terms of modern-rsh technique

 

but remain outstanding.

 

I have the 4th , ebook

 

but have not looked at it closely as I have 2 previous HB editions

 

which I love

 

here is the intro for the 4th ed, , for review purposes 

 

[hotsaucerman]

i'm pretty late to this thread but i've got the 4th edition and i'd say it's VERY clued into modernist trends.

 

from what i remember, almost everything has a traditional approach and two modernist approaches: a quickish/easyish version and a hardcore verison. or at least thats the idea.

 

lots of discussion of different hydrocolloids/stabilizers etc. i feel like the book is incredible overkill for most home chefs buuuut i found my copy on ebay for like 20 bucks so maybe at that price i'd req it? :shrug:

[Kerry Beal]

Bloody enablers!

[gfweb]

I think @Kerry Beal got the last cheap one!

[Kerry Beal]

5 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I think @Kerry Beal got the last cheap one!

Sadly it wasn't that cheap!

 

I've been making batches of BBQ sauce for my recently housed fellow - I have been trying to find the perfect combination of gums to thicken it to the way he would like it. I have a book on hydrocolloids but it really isn't all that helpful to make decisions around combinations of gums. My suspicion is that half guar and half xantham might be what I'm after - but I suspect the answer is in this book where someone else has done the research and I can just sit back and take advantage of that. Much like I rely on @paulraphael's gum combinations for ice creams and sorbets. 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Kerry Beal (log)

[gfweb]

I settled on a $5 2nd edition as an appetizer.

[Kerry Beal]

I have an earlier edition - looking in Abebooks - looks like it's the first edition. 

 

By far my favourite sauce book is the Sauciers Apprentice though!

[gfweb]

7 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I have an earlier edition - looking in Abebooks - looks like it's the first edition. 

 

By far my favourite sauce book is the Sauciers Apprentice though!

 

I'd buy it for the title alone

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On 12/28/2023 at 10:03 PM, Kerry Beal said:

I have an earlier edition - looking in Abebooks - looks like it's the first edition. 

 

By far my favourite sauce book is the Sauciers Apprentice though!

 

Mine too!

 

[paulraphael]

I've had a chance to look through the 4th edition, and I'm impressed. Also surprised ... several years ago I wrote to Peterson, half fan mail and half proposition. I'd been immersed in Planet Modernist Cuisine, and had been rejiggering all my sauces and stocks and glaces with new ingredients and techniques, and thought maybe the sauce guru himself would like some help updating the classic. Or at least some encouragement.

 

He said he liked the idea, but would need someone to pay for it. He sounded more tired than enthusiastic. I didn't hear anything more from him. And then the 4th edition came out less than a year later! With zero input from me. I have a sense of how long publishing takes, and have no idea how he pulled this off. Unless it was already in the works when we talked, and he was keeping it a secret ...