The French Laundry Cookbook
by Thomas Keller
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Description
The most transformative cookbook of the century celebrates this milestone by showcasing the genius of chef/proprietor Thomas Keller himself. Keller is a wizard, a purist, a man obsessed with getting it right. And this, his first cookbook, is every bit as satisfying as a French Laundry meal itself: a series of small, impeccable, highly refined, intensely focused courses. Most dazzling is how simple Keller's methods are: squeegeeing the moisture from the skin on fish so it sautées show more beautifully; poaching eggs in a deep pot of water for perfect shape; the initial steeping in the shell that makes cooking raw lobster out of the shell a cinch; using vinegar as a flavor enhancer; the repeated washing of bones for stock for the cleanest, clearest tastes. From innovative soup techniques, to the proper way to cook green vegetables, to secrets of great fish cookery, to the creation of breathtaking desserts; from beurre monté to foie gras au torchon, to a wild and thoroughly unexpected take on coffee and doughnuts, "The French Laundry Cookbook" captures, through recipes, essays, profiles, and extraordinary photography, one of America's great restaurants, its great chef, and the food that makes both unique. One hundred and fifty superlative recipes are exact recipes from the French Laundry kitchen-no shortcuts have been taken, no critical steps ignored, all have been thoroughly tested in home kitchens. If you can't get to "The French Laundry", you can now re-create at home the very experience. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
DWWilkin Great food in a restaurant surrounded by a great setting
Member Reviews
I liked looking through this but after looking at all the labor that goes into some of the recipes I don't think I will ever use it. The small essays about some of the food purveyors was very interesting.
The rare chefbook which manages to capture the soul of its subject as well as just the recipes. Read the passage of rabbits and you will learn a new respect for what you cook.
If you are a professional chef, it is awash in this magician's (Keller) philosophy and technique which are fascinating. If you are a home cook, the food may be a little complex but if you read the book as a text rather than a collection of recipes I think you may find it full of information that you can use in your own style of cooking. Like the restaurant, it is about as good as it gets.
Not really for a home/non-professional cook. But it sure is beautiful.
High end fusion cooking, which has given American cuisine its present mish-mash approach. Here is one of the sources for this miasma.
There is some gorgeous photography; however, I do not think it will help with cooking. The recipes seem very complicated (not for beginners I imagine). I will be saving this one for special occasions, although I do want to go through a few recipes to learn some techniques.
Gorgeous! I may never make a thing from this book, the one that started it all with big, beautiful food porn, but it sure is fun to look at.
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The 2015 Epicurious Cookbook Canon
55 works; 1 member
Author Information
15+ Works 3,299 Members
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Awards and Honors
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The French Laundry Cookbook
- Original publication date
- 1999-11-01
- Important places
- Yountville, California, USA
- Dedication
- To the memory of my mother, Elizabeth Marie
and
For my Father, Edward James - First words
- When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear, to make people happy.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Vale tongues, beef cheeks, pigs' heads, pigs' feet, sweetbreads, and caul fat are available at ethnic butcher shops.
- Blurbers
- Reichl, Ruth; Virbila, S. Irene
Classifications
- Genres
- Food & Cooking, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 641.50979419 — Technology Home economics & family management Food and drink Cooking; cookbooks > Biography And History North America Great Basin and West Coast U.S. California
- LCC
- TX719 .K35 — Technology Home economics Home economics Cooking
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 1,126
- Popularity
- 22,306
- Reviews
- 9
- Rating
- (4.03)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 2