The French Laundry Cookbook

Rating:
Summary: I went to culinary school so I know
Review: Despite the beauty of the photos and layout, this book is only usable if you have all day to spend in a professional or gourment home kitchen. I mean really, who has time to spend hours making stock for one recipe, that you don't have use for the next day or a good freezer to store it in? I live in NYC and certainly don't have the space to do the food in this book. I am sure that the food at Thomas Keller's restaurant is wonderful but they are trained chefs and do this every day. Eat there and enjoy, but don't buy this book unless you just like to read cookbooks. I am glad this was a gift and that I didn't waste my own money on it.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful book, workable recipes, but some reservations
Review: This recipe book could easily be a coffee table book, it is that beautiful in both photography and design. Because of this though, it is not really suited to the kitchen, given it's size and price, I would find it awkward to work from and I would be afraid of spilling on it. On looks, this book gets five stars, practicality of use, two stars.

Like many cookbooks from famous chefs and restaurants, this book is just as much a manifesto as it is a cookbook. A lot of chefs and restaurant owners like to pat themselves on the back or laud the way "they" do things, and The French Laundry is no exception. You'll read enough about their tuna appetizers, straining for texture, and beurre monte to feel like they are trying to make you a convert. I was however surprised to find how obtainable the recipes were though. Sure, some of them require special prepartions or ingredients, but for the most part the ingredients are those you can find in your supermarket. You will need a good butcher if you want the meats to match the recipe though -- I can think of few supermarkets whose meat department can give you a double-cut rib eye steak, frenched and tied. What I particularly enjoyed was the attention to detail on presentation. Often times, this is what separates the high end restaurant from a restaurant with good food; the food is as pretty as it is delicious. I give the book four stars on content.

There is however a very disturbing page in this book, so much so that I almost felt like cutting it out of the book. It describes, in gory detail, the slaughtering of rabbits. While anyone who eats meat has to come to grips with the fact that another animal died for your meal, most people do not keep steers, poultry, or deer as pets. Rabbits on the other hand are a rather mainstream pet, and I wonder if an Korean chef would dare to write a book with a section on killing dogs? I have plenty of other cookbooks that have rabbit recipes, but none that go into the detail The French Laundry Cookbook does; describing how the rabbit screamed loudly and broke it's leg trying to escape. The only thing that kept me from being completely outraged was that the point of the story was that the chef had slaughtered the rabbit himself and after seeing what it is like, made him realize that an animal did die for his meal and this gave him greater appreciation of that fact. His conclusion is that be respectful of what you cook with, because we tend to treat the cryovaced meat we get in the store as disposable if we over cook it or eat too much in one sitting. Personally, I could have gone without this passage though, because I'm greatly aware of it already.

All in all, it's got some good recipes, teaches presentation skills, is beautiful (to a fault), but I could have done with something easier to use in the kitchen without the rabbit story.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful restaurant, wonderful book
Review: This is surely the best restaurant in which I have ever eaten and the cook book lives up to the reputation. It is full of stories and great recipes. However, do not expect these recipes to all be easy. They aren't!

Rating:
Summary: Stunning and surprisingly attainable.
Review: Well, I could complain about the elitist No Californian who mocked all us from "Wash" for hailing Keller but that would be boorish and unsportsmanlike.

As a Californian transplant to Washington State I will say this, Northwesterners know their food.
As far as Keller, he knows food and French Laundry isn't a California-typical thing, it's a French Laundry thing.

I received this book as a gift, I have known of Keller's work and of him as a chef for some time.
The recipes and techniques in the book are actually very attainable, it isn't for your basic meat and potatoes quick meal, but if you want to take the time, and shop at higher end markets and get to know your purveyors you will be surprised how easy it is to pull these meals off.

Given you aren't the Executive Chef of a world reknown restaurant, but to the layman that you serve these recipes to, you may as well be.

Cooking is paying attention, loving the craft and having the ingredients on hand. This book makes it one step closer for you.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Book. Incredible food.
Review: This book is not for the tame of heart. However, if you carefully follow the recipes you'll have earth shatteringly delicious food. Most recipes are fairly complex, time consuming and expensive to prepare. However, the steps are all very clearly stated. Some recipes, like the Moi, are simple and easy. The Haricort Verts salad is a favorite too.

I've eaten at the French Laundry and I'm thrilled that I've been make Mr. Keller's dishes at home. Cook from this book when you have a lot of time and want to knock their socks off.

Rating:
Summary: Food for the palate and for thought
Review: Thomas Keller pulls you into his palace of Haute Cuisine, revealing the not-so-secrets that are the essence and genius of his food.

The photography is eye-candy; it is simply inspiring in its own right. Keller truly dazzles with bright splashes of color, meticulously sculpted towers of food, and artful applications of infused oils and powders. I have never seen food more artistically presented or aesthetically pleasing.

The food itself ranges from the obscure, like the "Head to Toe" (Braised stuffed pig's head and pig feet) to the luxurious: "Whole roasted duck foie gras with apples and black truffles." While some of the food might seem intimidating (albeit inviting), there are some very straightforward recipes as well as complex ones that are easily simplified (i.e. "Salad of haricot verts, tomato tartare,..."). Flavor combinations and preparations are both original and clever. Keller has a flair for articulating an ingredient and evoking pleasure through not only taste, but through the senses of smell, sight, and even memory. His donut and coffe dessert is an up-scale version of something that will surely send a nostalgic pang. In addition, the explanations of technique possibly eclipse the value of the actual recipes. Keller does not catch you the proverbial "fish" (although he does cook quite a lot of it), but teaches you how to catch it yourself. With explanations of how to make stock and blanch vegetables as well as the proper handling of fish, Thomas Keller evinces his thorough understanding and expertise in French cuisine.

His vignettes on purveyors show his respect for food, nature, and art. As well, his philosophy is clear and well articulated. The writing is for the most part lucid, and even if you never attempt to make your own puff pastry (I surely won't) you may still garner great skills.

One caviat is for those who read cookbooks to learn new recipes for the everyday meal: this is not for you. The book gives recipes in their unaltered, unabridged form. You may be able to find shortcuts for yourself, but for the most part, many of these recipes will require you to take your time (which may be a good thing).

Overall, this book is extensive its coverage, enlightening in its scope (few cookbooks for the home delve into the realm of foie gras and truffles), and colorful at the same time. It is highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: horrible
Review: My wife received this book as a gift and thought it was horrible. She cooks alot and found this to be very disappointing, both practically and visually. It doesn't work in the kitchen or the living room
Buy something else!

Rating:
Summary: Precision modern food with deep foundations
Review: Thomas Keller brings to food what the modernists such as van der Rohe and Le Corbusier brought to architecture: a disciplined geometry that distills classical elements to their pureset forms. Eggplant is reduced to its essence in a quenelle of Keller's "caviar". The accompanying potato "blini" are as light as air yet provide an intense potato flavor. Gazpacho is refined to a clear perfectly balanced nectar, peas to a verdant spring broth. Keller, like the modernists, is focused on bending ingredients to his will rather than presenting them in their natural form.

Whether you prefer Keller's platonic food or more rustic bistro fare, his cookbook is worth studying for the clinic it provides on basic French technique. As with most brilliant artists with a clearly articulated vision, Keller first mastered the basics. Tom Collichio, who was Keller's sous chef at Rakel in New York, presents a more down-to-earth version of much of the same technique in his "Think Like a Chef". I now consult Keller and Collichio on everything from vegetable stock to bordelaise sauce.

Surprisingly, there are many recipes, such as the gazpacho or bordelaise sauce, which are not at all difficult to make, and many others that can be easily simplified. Others start with ingredients like whole lobes of foie gras.

Deborah Jones's photographs are wonderful, ranging from black and white photojournalism in the kitchen through architectural renderings of Keller's food to still lifes of the restaurant and grounds awash in warm California light. The combination of huge format, high quality paper and fine printing make this book ideal for browsing, but difficult to fit in my tiny kitchen.

A worthwhile companion to this cookbook is the third of Michael Ruhlman's book "The Soul of a Chef" devoted to Ruhlman's experience of being introduced to Keller and the French Laundry prior to co-authoring the French Laundry Cookbook.

Rating:
Summary: Simply beautiful ...
Review: This is an elegant and artistic book rather than your average "how to" type of instructional menu. The stories are insightful and engaging. The photographs and the design of the book are superb. And it's true; most of the recipes are fairly complicated, which require multiple steps and exotic ingredients. Some people may think that he is too fussy, but maybe it's his careful planning and attention to details had made him so special. These are definitely not the kind of food that you wish to gorge down after three days starvation. Try the cinnamon doughnuts, they are simply beautiful, delicious, and light as the air.

I found it to be extremely helpful to make a copy of the recipe I liked, this way I do not have to worry about making the book dirty, plus it can save a lot of counter space in my kitchen while I am cooking.

Rating:
Summary: Coffee table cookbook
Review: Too glossy, too large, and too well done to be shelved in the kitchen, this book deserves to be on display on your coffee table. Visitors will be enthralled by the photographs and captivated by the recipes. Anyone who picks it up long enough will be drawn into the engaging stories.

And most importantly this is the only cookbook I've found with a recipe for tomato sorbet (seriously, try it on top of chilled cucumber soup.)