"Les Halles Cookbook" by Anthony Bourdain

[cookingwithamy]

I'm curious, has the book actually been banned or is it just destined to be banned? The quote from Bourdain speaks about articles being cut, not libraries. Just wondering here...can anyone confirm?

Edited October 19, 2004 by cookingwithamy (log)

[Bux]

I'm curious, has the book actually been banned or is it just destined to be banned? The quote from Bourdain speaks about articles being cut, not libraries. Just wondering here...can anyone confirm?

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I think we need to allow Ruhlman some artistic license. Books are rarely banned, and most libraries don't have a full selection of cookbooks published. So it will be dificult to determine if it'a banned, or just not selected. Junior High School libraries are generally weak on French cookbooks anyway.

The more interesting quote in this light is that Tony says "I didn't want food porn, I didn't want a cookbook that would sit on a cocktail table." That says a lot about either what's on his coffee table, or what he thinks is really pornographic in our society--or maybe both?

Edited October 19, 2004 by Bux (log)

[Suzanne F]

Maybe not quite pornographic, but the photo on page 132 is definitely beef-cake!

[ronnie_suburban]

The more interesting quote in this light is that Tony says "I didn't want food porn, I didn't want a cookbook that would sit on a cocktail table." That says a lot about either what's on his coffee table, or what he thinks is really pornographic in our society--or maybe both?

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LOL! At his signing at Blackbird Restaurant here in Chicago last week, Tony observed a few attendees removing the covers from their books in an effort to "preserve" them. He made a point of busting them on it right then and there, telling them that they were defeating the entire purpose of the butcher paper covers--and the concept of the book itself.

The book is beautiful in many ways. The page stock is quite heavy, and the pictures are fantastic in spite of the fact that no food stylist was used. There are countless other touches which further the individuate the book from others in its category. I have yet to cook from the book myself but I tasted several dishes last week which were made from the book's recipes and I'm very excited about giving a few of them a whirl.

=R=

[hathor]

LOL!  At his signing at Blackbird Restaurant here in Chicago last week, Tony observed a few attendees removing the covers from their books in an effort to "preserve" them.  He made a point of busting them on it right then and there, telling them that they were defeating the entire purpose of the butcher paper covers--and the concept of the book itself.

The book is beautiful in many ways.  The page stock is quite heavy, and the pictures are fantastic in spite of the fact that no food stylist was used.  There are countless other touches which further the individuate the book from others in its category.  I have yet to cook from the book myself but I tasted several dishes last week which were made from the book's recipes and I'm very excited about giving a few of them a whirl.

=R=

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I made a damn fine steak tartare from the book! Of all things to 'ban'....a cookbook? Good grief. I think it is a fanfuckingtastic cook book. so. there.

[suzilightning]

Library Journal gave it a less than enthusiastic review(can't find an online link) mentioning the language yet suggested it should be a purchase for public libraries because of demand. not at work otherwise i might be able to give you a better annotation

good point about selection vs. banning

[Vervain]

There's a pretty scathing review of some of the recipes in today's (October 20) L.A. Times food section by Leslie Brenner: "All Smoke and Swagger?". It hasn't yet been posted/pinned in the "California" forum, but you can go right to the Times' website to read it. According to jschyun: "Viewing the LA Times website, www.latimes.com requires registration, but you can log on with username 'egulleteer' and password 'lafood'. "

Have any of you tried the recipes she talks about yet? Is she right?

[hannnah]

I can't speak to the recipes, since I just got the book yesterday, but the reviewer's not exactly well-versed in food safety if this is any indication...

No cookbook is perfect. And some less so than others. Bourdain wants you to put raw pork fat on top of rillettes before letting it sit for three days. Trichinosis, anyone?

Trichina cysts don't live in pork fat, so even if you were unlucky enough to pick meat from one of the 0.013% of pigs in the US that might be infected, the fat still wouldn't be a problem.

And I'd also argue that you can caramelize onions well enough in 20 minutes if you're using a decent pan and the right kind of onions. I get the distinct feeling from this that she went into the review trying to find fault with the book, so she did.

[alikat]

...he could write like a bandit

fun with anagrams: ANTHONY BOURDAIN=A HORNY BANDITO,NU?

[Jason Perlow]

I made a damn fine steak tartare from the book!  Of all things to 'ban'....a cookbook? Good grief. I think it is a fanfuckingtastic cook book. so. there.

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I had Les Halles' steak tartare as well as their Beef Bourginon and their Pomme Frites last night. I agree, its outstanding.

I really wanted a whole basket of Pomme Frites to myself to dip into the Beef Bourginon sauce, but I think it would have made people mad with envy and the room even more crowded than it was.

[malcolmjolley]

This is not a nice review.

For the record, my wife cooked the Basque chicken from the book the other day and we were quite pleased.

[Suzanne F]

I seared the bone-in rib steaks on the grill pan and finished them in the oven, but first I made the béarnaise sauce. I wasn't afraid — despite the note that says, "Know this. If you haven't made béarnaise from scratch before, you will surely [expletive] this sauce up. Don't worry. Just do it again. This and hollandaise, more than any other sauces, seem to smell fear and uncertainty."

I can make hollandaise with my eyes closed. And I have made béarnaise before. If you cook it gently over a double-boiler, it's not hard.

But what happened here was utterly bizarre. It did seem like an awful lot of shallots and tarragon (1 bunch, leaves only, finely chopped) with the vinegar. I followed the directions, reducing the mixture "until nearly dry." I placed my egg yolks in a warm metal bowl. Then I added the reduction, a few drops of water, as Bourdain suggests "as a little insurance against curdling" and placed the bowl over simmering water. The instant I started to whisk, the thing seized up in a blob. It was downhill from there.

Well, clearly, the sauce sensed her fault-finding attitude.

Although, she's right: Les Halles is not the best anything. But what did she expect him to say? "Les Halles is an okay place to go, if you don't mind crowding and noise and can't find any better place to get into"?

[bourdain]

I'd be grateful for any feedback on the bernaise and coq au vin recipes from egulleteers.

[Michael Ruhlman]

Just read the Brenner review. She sounds kind of hysterical to me. Nothing wrong with the bearnaise recipe that I can see, but Tony, what's up with the raw pork fat on the rillettes? Not even cured? I love pork fat, but raw uncured is a little gung ho.

[bourdain]

Just read the Brenner review.  She sounds kind of hysterical to me.  Nothing wrong with the bearnaise recipe that I can see, but Tony, what's up with the raw pork fat on the rillettes?  Not even cured?  I love pork fat, but raw uncured is a little gung ho.

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What's wrong with raw pork fat? I've eaten it recently sliced thinly over croutons, melted raw onto pizza--and in thick hunks in Russia with vodka. Trichinosis pretty much disappeared from pork decades ago--when we stopped allowing them to eat garbage. So fear not the pig!

But if you ARE troubled by the cooked/raw contact in the rillettes recipe, you can simply render a little pork fat and pour a layer over the top then chill.

Whatever you think of the review--and however valid or invalid her critique of the recipes mentioned ( I await further egullet input) , I thought the trichinosis crack from Brenner was lazy-ass and ignorant. Raw--and barely cured pork fat is an increasingly popular ingredient here and in the UK.

One yearns for the heroically unsqueamish, un-nerdy Leibling..

[Mulcahy]

I thought the review was unecessarily mean. I certainly got the feeling that a) she never liked Bourdain and b) resents him for being, well, macho. I certainly get the feeling she might be offended in a restaurant kitchen with people swearing (gasp). And while it is possible that the recipes she tried don't work, I think she was looking for them to fail so that she could poke fun.

Also, I think she completely misses the mark with this quote:

Has this guy ever been to France? No, they don't wear Dockers or drive SUVs, and it's not easy to find organic produce. But the white asparagus in any grungy little village market blows the stuff we get from Chile out of the water, the vine-ripened tomatoes are indeed fire-engine red, and the Label Rouge chicken you find in any French supermarket is 10 times more flavorful than our best organic birds.

Despite Bourdain's diminishing authority as I continued reading, I continued cooking.

She is, for those of you who haven't read the review, excoriating Bourdain's theory that French country food developed as a result of having to cook with less than perfect food. She may be right that French ingredients are better, on the whole, than what is readily available in the US. But she's completely off the mark if she thinks that people started eating offal because they had access to those lovely Label Rouge chickens. Bistro food began as peasant food and poor people don't necessarily get to eat those fire engine red tomatoes. They eat the best tomatoes that they can afford, and those might be bruised, or one day short of bad. And the food that they created, which Bourdain is clearly devoted to, was intended to highlight the best aspects of those slightly soft tomatoes while disguising their worst attributes.

What a generally bitchy review.

[Michael Ruhlman]

What's wrong with raw pork fat? I've eaten it recently sliced thinly over croutons, melted raw onto pizza--and in thick  hunks in Russia with vodka. Trichinosis pretty much disappeared from pork decades ago--when we stopped allowing them to eat garbage.  So fear not the pig!

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Tony, you ignorant slut. You don't eat raw uncured pork fat because it doesn't TASTE good.

Trichinosis, as most people now know, has nothing to do with it.

[designchick88]

Also, I think she completely misses the mark with this quote:

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I wondered about that also. My take on it was that there was some sarcasm in Mr. Bourdain's remark that she completely missed, probably because she was seething with rage over the profanity/machismo/what-have-you and didn't read critically enough.

Maybe not, though. I wouldn't want to put words in anyone's mouth.

Haven't bought the book yet but my old man and I did chortle over a few pages in the bookstore. Next paycheck. (yes, I know that's sad :) ).

[Jason Perlow]

What's wrong with raw pork fat? I've eaten it recently sliced thinly over croutons, melted raw onto pizza--and in thick  hunks in Russia with vodka. /right]

Raw pork fat can be really tasty and is perfectly safe provided it comes from a good source. I was once offered some thinly sliced raw pork fat to taste in the kitchen at MIX when Doug Psaltis was chef. I thought it was a bit strange at first, but when I actually tasted it, it was excellent.

The Lardo pizza at Otto is also pretty kickass, and for all practical purposes thats raw pork fat too.

[gus_tatory]

so bottom line: should i buy this book? i want to.

but i just laid out 70$ for Shizuo Tsuji's "Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art", and i'm feeling cookbook guilt.

[Dr. Funk]

Go for it! On Amazon it's only about $28 including shipping.

[intraining]

But she's completely off the mark if she thinks that people started eating offal because they had access to those lovely Label Rouge chickens.

What a generally bitchy review.

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anyone for lamb's hearts? yummy

[malcolmjolley]

My 1961 edition of the Larrouse Gastronomique says simply to cover one's rillettes in lard. Not sure if 1961 lard is rendered or not, or whether they would edit this sort of thing for les rosbifs.

Anyway, I'm quite pleased to own a cookbook that exhorts me to use raw pork fat. Makes you pay more attention to the hygenic standards and standards of sourcing of your local butcher, if nothing else.

(Then again I'm waging a war against Ontario's pre-frozen sushi laws, so there you go.)

[Daddy-A]

LOL!  At his signing at Blackbird Restaurant here in Chicago last week, Tony observed a few attendees removing the covers from their books in an effort to "preserve" them.  He made a point of busting them on it right then and there, telling them that they were defeating the entire purpose of the butcher paper covers--and the concept of the book itself.

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So I'm thinking I need to get Tony to sign my book with some sort of sauce then. Any suggestions as to what a good food alternative to ink might be, appropriate to the book's author and contents?

A.

[malcolmjolley]

Lardo, stained with roasted beet.