Do-It-Yourself French Laundry

[tanabutler]

Hello again, Michael,

I consumed The Soul of a Chef like a force-fed goose. Yum.

I bought the French Laundry cookbook for my best friend's fortieth birthday, and then got one for myself. It's beyond food porn: it's more like the Vatican's pornography collection. Absolutely beyond the beyond in design, in its clear, almost devotional language, and in every aspect. Congratulations on both books.

My question is, is there anything in TFL cookbook that you yourself have attempted at home? Were you successful? Did you install Persian rugs in your kitchen to create the necessary ambience necessary?

I belong to a group of people who have monthly dinner parties at a house with beautiful gardens (we're near Santa Cruz, California). Each month is a different theme; we've had three so far (Tuscany, Spain and Southern food). They're wonderful, though four or five of us take up the slack for most of the rest in the cooking department. It's fine: we enjoy it.

After the last dinner, three of us who own TFL cookbook posited the notion that we should do a very disciplined dinner, and only invite people who can actually prepare one of the dishes from TFL cookbook—with crackerjack timing and the whole thing. We have some real chefs in our number, and three of us have catered before, so it's not impossible to consider. That's why I ask my question of you. So when we invite you, we'll know what you're bringing.

Seriously, though. I'm wondering what level of cook one would need to be to bring off just one recipe "perfectly." And I know "perfectly" doesn't exist, so I'd settle for making people whimper and lick their plates.

Edit: P. S., I've said this many times to anyone who would listen, your website is beautiful.

Edited August 5, 2003 by tanabutler (log)

[Michael Ruhlman]

Thanks for all those comments. Very grateful for them.

Sure I do stuff from French Laundry Cookbook, but I don't think I ever do a whole dish, like rouget with the parsley coulis and garlic chips etc. That's restaurant food and not how I want to cook at home. But that book is also excellent on technique and the basics. I know one culinary school uses it as teach textbook because the basics are so on the money (and lucidly described, if I do say so myself). I'm most likely to make the angolotti dough and fill the pasta with what's on hand. I love to cook lobster that way and have done the lobster with leeks and beets which is awesome and not too difficult. Few things in that book are difficult--it's the quantity of steps involved that can make it so daunting. My advice is to pick and choose your elements and plan to take your time, leave a big expanse of time in front of you so you can enjoy the process.