The French Laundry Cookbook

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Summary: The French Laundry Cookbook
Review: Chef Thomas Keller's first cookbook The French Laundry ia a beautiful book and a must read for any professional cook.While so many celebrity chefs try to cash in on their fame with a quick restaurant cookbook, Thomas Keller seems to be trying to do something much different.His book is more about how cooking "feels" rather than the actual physical process itself. The recipes are all very workable for a professional chef but would be difficult for home cooks to execute. It really doesn't seem to matter though, because just reading it is enough. The photographs are wonderful and the "zen like" narratives about food from the Chef and his support staff are fascinating. His love and respect for what he does certainly shines through. I think this cookbook is a definite classic and well worth the price. A absolute must-read for anyone interested in food.

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Summary: for those who love to cook
Review: A beautiful book that is nice to browse through for the non-culinary inclined and inspirational to those who love to cook. Keller is a genius, that is evident in the recipes. However, to successfully recreate a French Laundry meal from this book will be a daunting task for the more experienced home cook and virtually impossible for a beginner. The small portion sizes require at least 4 or 5 dishes to comprise an entire meal (although the recipes may be scaled up to more typical serving sizes without much problem). The book can be pretentious (witness the blurb entitled 'the importance of offal'), includes recipes that 99.9% of readers will not bother to attempt (stuffed pigs heads, for example) and more than a few recipes require a very well equipped kitchen to pull off (juicers, mandolines, silipat baking sheets, variety of strainers, etc...), but all seem accessible if you take your time and have mastered some basic cooking skills. A very fun and informative book for those who love to cook and enjoy a challenge in the kitchen. If you are serious, you will have a blast, learn a lot, and eat some spectacular food. If the food tastes this good when I make it, I can only imagine how good it is at the restaurant.

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Summary: Food As An Art, But Not For the Squeamish.
Review: Simply put, this book is beautiful. It's a rare look inside the secrets of a craftsman at the top of his trade. while there are many, many haute cuisine/california cuisine cookbooks on the market, very few refuse to simplify their recipes for the home. This is a book that recommends straining every stock through a chinois, a book that's more generous in its use of truffles and the foie gras than the average episode of Iron Chef. It makes no comprimises and spells out the fact that something as simple as their tomato "consomme" takes two days to prepare.

And then there's the story of the rabbits.

This book has gotten some flak in the past about the gory details involved in the slaughter and prep of the rabbits. Many people are put off by this. It's not for the weak-jearted. At the same time, it does really help one appreciate that food comes from someplace other than the supermarket, and that any food item that gave up its existence to become dinner should be treated with reverence and respect in the kitchen. Getting hung-up on the perceived barbarism of the slaughter is missing the point - it's all about gaining a sense of perspective about where the food actually comes from. He also does the same sort of narrative for harvesting vegetables, there's just less blood involved.

Aside from that, there's a lot in this book that is probably beyond the capabilities of the average home chef, and probably even several classically trained restaurant chefs. This should not be off-putting, as there's plenty that isn't, and even the most exotic recipes have enough firm grounding in them that they can be modified to fit the average home kitchen provided you're still willing to put in some effort. Not everybody can make chips and dip out of creme fraiche, truffles, and potatoes sliced so thin you can see through them, but with a little experimentation a reasonable facsimile can be made at home, and still wow anyone who eats it. Other items, like the gazpacho, are simple and delicious - provided you put in the time and care recommended by the recipe. The book is all about care with ingredients and preparation, and that's really what elevates the recipes. It's not about a wild combination of new and exciting flavors (although there are plenty of those), it's about taking the time and effort to use ingredients to their fullest extent.

The writing style does border on the sort of ethereal purple prose usually reserved for people writing about violin concerti, but the writing really takes a back seat to the food and Keller's very obvious devotion and respect for the culinary arts. It's the kind of book that makes you love food all the more, and makes you want to experiment, even if you never expect to duplicate a Keller recipe.

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Summary: All about food perfection and taking the time to do it right
Review: If you are passionate about food, and the cooking process this is an amazing book to drool over. If you are a cook in a hurry, you will find this book extremely frustrating. Keller points out himself that his book is about cooking with cutting any corners at all.

The pictures are beautiful. A lot of them are meant to evoke that psychology of food feeling, and there could be more of the finished product. Also be warned that the pictures are extremely close up, and the finished portions of the recipes are small/gourmet-sized. At his restaurant he serves 6 or 7 courses. To make 6 or 7 recipes from this book would probably keep you busy the entire week though unless you are highly organized!
If you're ambitious, follow a recipe through in its entirety including the garnish. Otherwise, try out just part of the recipe. Letting a tomato dry out (or he suggests the microwave) to the point where it can be ground in a spice grinder for tomato powder for the garnish on the plate may or may not be something you are interested in doing.

Be sure to read the recipes in their entirety before attempting any of them to be sure you can get all the ingredients and that you have all the equipment you need. (sometimes you don't really need the equipment he suggests, but it definitely makes life easier!) The book is a great excuse to go and buy more gadgets, so far a tamis was added to my collection, and now I'd love to get a mandolin to try out the recipes with paper-thin potatoes.

I've tried out the blini with eggplant caviar which was absolutely exquisite. There were about 4 hours worth of steps with the eggplant: letting it render its excess liquid for an hour, roasting for an hour, then wrapping in cheesecloth in the fridge for more liquid to drain - it may seem like an inordinate amount of time but it was well worth it. The lemon saboyan tart was fairly simple (relative to the other recipes) and quite good.

Agnolotti with fava beans started off fun, then became frustrating with all the time it took, then even though I'm sure I wrecked the recipe it still tasted quite good. He suggests making a well with the flour, then putting in the eggs and egg yolks etc. in the centre, and then twirling the eggs with your finger to slowly incorporate it with the flour. While this was fun at first, it takes a very long time to incorporate the flour this way, and at the end of it all (maybe I used the wrong sized eggs?) it was too dry and I had to try experimenting to get it to all stick together.

Some ingredients are difficult to find depending on where you live, such as creme fraiche, which is common in France. However I think the ingredient hunting is worth the effort and this is an amazing cookbook if only to dream. I found some of the recipes are not practical to make by the sheer expense of trying them out. He has several recipes with fresh truffles and while they sound fantastic, since fresh truffles cost over $1000 per pound I don't think its something I will be trying out anytime soon.

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Summary: This is my bible
Review: Yes, this book in not for the cook who wants to grab a few recipes and try to reproduce food from arguably one of the best restaruants in this country. Nor should it be. Yes, this book may not be for the average cook at first glance because a lot of the recipes are time consumming and require a solid foundation in classical cooking, but this book is not about recipes. It is all about the personal approach one takes on cooking and the willingness to make the best food you can possibly make in any situation. The choices a cook makes when he or she cooks is all about who they are as a cook. In a world of fast food and cooking shortcuts Thomas Kellar emplores us to make the effort to cook again. I am a professional chef of 27 years and a culinary instructor and I refer young cooks to this book all the time. They may not always have the abilty to do what is in the book, but they have the ability to try. They learn about the possibilities they have. That is all Thomas Kellar asks of us, to cook no matter what level one is at. If this book inspires you to learn one thing from it or to even pick up another book and learn something or to cook with just a little more care it will be well served. This is not some recipe cookbook that will fade away with the trends and the passing of time. It is a book that your cooking soul can return to for nourishment time and time again.

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Summary: PERFECTION
Review: The French Laundry Cookbook is perfect in every way. Thomas Keller is at the peak of the culinary Mt. Olympus, a gastronomic god of the food world. For anyone interested, I mean really interested, in the perfection of food this book is a must-have. Forget all the people who say that the recipes are too difficult or pretentious; those people simply do not understand food. Did they expect French Laundry recipes to be easy, or even attainable to them, mere amateurs? A children's book? No. Sorry kids, soccer-moms, and Emeril-wannabes around the globe - this book is not for you. It is us cooks, and that makes me happy.

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Summary: Perfection in the Kitchen- Experts Only
Review: Thomas Keller is cleary both a genius and a perfectionist in the kitchen. The recipes require special equipment, such as pastry rings, a tamis, a china cap, a chinois, a silpat, squeeze bottles, and others. Most of the recipes involve 3 or 4 or 5 parts, some recipes take multiple days to complete.

The photography is beautiful, and might inspire you to visit his restaurant, as it did for me.

He explains his philosophy about cooking, and includes some personal stories, all which I found to be very good. Keller explains salt and pepper, the importance of respecting meat, the importance of straining and skimming, and others.

The clean design of the book focuses on the food, their are no distractions.

Recipes I have made with success
-Black Sea Bass with Parsnip Puree, Arrowleaf Spinach and Saffron Vanilla Sauce
-Comice Pear "Strudel" with Chestnut Cream, Pear Syrup, Creme Anglaise and Pear Chips (this one takes forever, but is worth it)
-Sweet Potato Agnolotti with Sage Cream, Brown Butter, Prosciutto and Fried Sage Leaves (Agnolotti are similar to ravioli)
-Creamy Maine Lobster Broth
-Parmesan Lace Baskets with Goat Cheese

Overall, a fantastic book for serious chefs who are in no rush whatsoever.

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Summary: A bible
Review: The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller is a bible in my opinion. It is a must have for any serious chef that loves food.

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Summary: Reflections on America's Culinary Philosopher King
Review: I always like to see the Yankees win the World Series and Tiger Woods win a major tournament. This confirmations that there is someone who is certifiably the best at what they do. For the same reason, after reading the pieces about Thomas Keller and the French Laundry written by Tony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman, I am happy to believe that Keller is simply the best chef there is in the United States.

Reading 'The French Laundry Cookbook' by Keller, Ruhlman, and the French Laundry staff and 'family' does nothing to detract from that opinion. Keller's words enhance my opinion of him as the ultimate culinary artist.

Most successful culinary educators from Martha Stewart to Alton Brown to James Peterson deal primarily with technique. Even major successful chefs who write or demonstrate on TV such as Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, and Jaques Pepin deal primarily with techniques with a background doctrine of using fresh, high quality ingredients. The occasional references by Mario or Sara Moulton or Emeril to smells and sounds and tastes often get lost in the woods of prep and firing techniques.

Keller is all about smell and taste and what may seem like totally over the edge concentration on respect for materials. One example is when he insists on storing fresh fish on ice in the same position as they swim so the muscles in the flesh are not stressed out of shape. He is all about providing service and pleasure to his patrons by excellence in the kitchen. One professional observer says the French Laundry kitchen is as quiet as a watchmaker's workshop. This simply fits into Keller's need to have an environment where his staff can experience their preparations with as few distractions as possible.

This, for example is one of the things which separates Rocco DeSpirito from Jamie Oliver in their shows on the opening of their respective restaurants. While Rocco was in the front of the house smoozing with customers, Jamie was in the kitchen at the expediter's table keeping tabs on the quality of what was leaving the kitchen. It was a revelation to see the superficially sloppy Oliver exhort his staff to use gentleness in cooking and plating and his focus on tastes and smells. Needless to say, Rocco has redeemed himself when he did a book, which focused on taste. But, with Rocco, it was reduced to a system understandable by the layman. Keller remains the ultimate empiricist.

This book contains the very first aesthetic justification for small portions at high-end restaurants. The theory is that the patron's first taste senses something wonderful. The second bite confirms the initial reaction, but the reaction is less dramatic. The third bite simply confirms that more of the same is on the way. Keller would rather provide a large number of dishes, each of a few bites, and each providing an exquisitely prepared experience. His doctrine with luxury ingredients such as truffles, foie gras, and caviar is to not skimp on the amount placed on each serving. The rationale is that without that second confirming taste of truffle, the patron may not really know what all the excitement is all about. (I have no idea what the French Laundry charges for a dinner seating, but I'm willing to believe it is pretty expensive. From the evidence of this book, I believe it is worth every penny.)

The book contains recipes actually prepared at the French Laundry. They include all of the whimsically titled dishes reported by Ruhlman and Bourdain, including 'Bacon and Eggs', 'Macaroni and Cheese', and 'Coffee and Doughnuts'. In spite of the fact that some of these recipes are some of the longest I have seen in print, Keller says there is no guarantee this is exactly how they prepare them every day. This harks back to his primary doctrine that the soul of cooking is attention to the individual material in front of you and it's qualities, rather than what is written on a piece of paper. That doesn't mean these recipes will not work in a home kitchen. Madame Keller has in fact, tested them in a home kitchen by her own staff. The recipes in fact elaborate on a number of techniques I have seen before and introduce some which are new to me. The most important is the use of the beurre monte emulsion of melted butter in a very little amount of water. The technique and its uses appear very similar to the beurre fondue technique reported by Tom Colicchio. Both are media for holding or conditioning food in the kitchen rather than sauces used during plating. (I guess it's time I finally read Escoffier). Keller's techniques for shellfish are totally new to me as well. His discussion on cooking lobster is a demonstration of extraordinary sensitivity to his raw material. It easily equals the fussiness of Paul Bertolli in his latest book.
The cuisine is almost entirely based on classic French technique, so it will not be totally foreign to someone schooled by Julia Child and Jaques Pepin. While many recipes are daunting, most are doable by a dedicated amateur and even those recipes which may be beyond ones patience will contain useful techniques.

This is an early celebrity chef coffee table book format, and the photography is worthy of the price. The index is very good and the book includes a good list of sources. The editors have also included a complete list of recipes. The publisher did Eric Rippert's book and with this book they did not make the same mistake of using a font too small. The book also contains a lot more than lip service to the restaurant's suppliers, as it includes several two page essays by Ruhlman on some of the French Laundry's more interesting purveyors.

This book is one of the most lucid characterizations I have seen of the chef's art. This is one source for reading about the very best in American culinary thought and skill.

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Summary: Too much!
Review: This book could have been useable and interesting, but as a well turned out cook myself. these recipes were too much. The etherial and gourmet spiritual pomposity really turned me away. For example, he gives a butter sauce recipe of sorts, but never really spells it out. The rabbit passage was the final straw. For this chef to consider himself a "god" ! of food, rabbit spirits, etc... thanks for reminding me to stay vegetarian. How totally unappetizing!! I burned the book I was so mad.