Bouchon

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: Ah, if only I had 5 hours on my hands to caramelize onions for the onion soup (p.47-50)...

The recipes are very well written. The instructions are written in sort of a conversational manner that make it seem more like someone is standing there telling you how to do what you're doing, and less like you're reading a cookbook. I don't know that I'd have time to make many of the dishes in the book (see above re: the onion soup), but they're certainly things I'd want to try doing given the time. And, since it's written conversationally, some of the more time-consuming recipes seem more like a fun project than a daunting task.

Even if you don't use it in the kitchen, it's a beautiful book. The photos are excellent. The text is well-written and informative. My only gripe is that the publisher left out part of a recipe and stuck in a "paste this here" card. It's not a big deal, but it sort of detracts from how lovely the book is. On the other hand, nobody would get anywhere with quiche without the quiche recipe. In any case, this was one of my favorite Christmas presents this year!

Rating:
Summary: Masterful Reference on Bistro Recipes. Highly Recommended
Review: Expectations for Thomas Keller's new book `Bouchon' are very high, and I firmly believe he has exceeded them. The book sets new standards for the foodie coffee table fare as well as confirming Keller's reputation as one of the country's foremost culinary artists. The book is larger, heavier, and better than his first cookbook on the cuisine of his flagship French Laundry. There are several things that make this an excellent book for all people who love to cook.

First, the book is a superior reference work of bistro dishes and how to prepare them. It is certainly not complete, but then I think no cookbook in the world will ever be a complete reference to any subject, as every culinary subject changes daily due to changes in provisions, historical research, and the enormous variety in how even one dish is made from place to place. For example, both `Bouchon' and Tony Bourdain's recent book on bistro recipes from Les Halle has five (5) dishes containing mussels, yet no two are the same dish. For all of the virtues of Bourdain's book, Keller's book is superior as a reference to the overall style of cooking if only because he and his editors rigorously give both French and English names to all dishes.

Second, as amazing as it is to say this, lots of dishes in `Bouchon' are actually easy to make. The initial roast chicken recipe is literally not much more complicated than carefully prepping the carcass and sticking it into the oven. Keller does not even baste the beast and it is done within an hour (for a 3-pound bird). And, all this with the cachet of making a Thomas Keller recipe. Almost all the salads and `openers' dishes are equally as simple, as long as you have high quality ingredients.

Third, the pantry chapter of recipes is a more complete reference for making stocks and other sauce bases than I have seen anywhere else. My former gold standard for stockmaking recipes was in `The Zuni Café Cookbook' by Judy Rodgers. This is better by giving recipes that are just as good, better written, and a more complete collection of stocks than I have seen anywhere else. The only thing I would possibly add to this chapter would be a recipe for a court bouillon. But, the recipe does appear in the book as a part of the recipe for a shellfish platter. Other sauces such as a mignonette sauce and a cocktail sauce also appear `in situ' along with appropriate dishes with which they are used.

Fourth, the book is simply packed with important culinary techniques. Most of these are not the sort of thing which will find their way to the quick tips pages of `Cooks Illustrated' or `Gourmet' as they are not shortcuts, but more painstaking ways to improve what is probably already an excellent dish. One dramatic example is Keller's twist on braising where he segregates his flavoring vegetables at the bottom of the Dutch oven under a layer of cheesecloth before adding the meat and the broth. In this way, it becomes very easy to remove the finished meat from the veg and retrieve the broth with little or no odd floating bits of celery leaf or thyme branch. A more simple technique is the recommendation to transfer finished stock to the filtering device with a ladle rather than simply pouring the stuff into the chinois. The force of the uncontrolled flow will force some unwanted particles into the filtered stock. It is all about little details piled up upon one another, which separates good from great cooking.

Fifth, Keller's interpretation of bistro cooking is uncompromising. One dramatic example of this is his claim that America has forgotten how to make a proper quiche, if it ever did know in the first place. The cardinal sin is to make a quiche in a pie pan. This is no surprise, as Julia Child in `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' gives the same warning. What is more surprising is that while most Americans probably use a tart pan with sides of no more than an inch and Child recommends a flan or cake pan with sides up to 11/2 inches, Keller states that you need a 2 inch tall pan to make a proper quiche. A more subtle difference is in his technique for preparing his pate brisee. Virtually every pie crust recipes I have ever seen calls for cutting in butter to leave lentil-sized bits of butter in the mix. Keller insists this is a mistake for a quiche with a wet custard filling, as the pockets of butter create weaknesses in the dough that may break through before the custard filling has firmed up.

Although the book contains many simple recipes, there are also many classic recipes such as boeuf bourguignon, which are literally essays in classic French cooking. Tony Bourdain's recipe for boeuf bourguignon requires 10 ingredients and two concise paragraphs to describe the method. Keller's recipe calls for 43 ingredients in 5 different component preparations, not including the veal stock preparation. This recipe is the poster boy for Keller's take on bistro cooking, which is technique and constant refinement by filtering, skimming, and straining. While the authors have been painstaking in translating the professional's practiced eye and nose into English, this cooking is still about constant attention to the state of the dish as it cooks, and of recognizing the right time to move from one stage to the other. It is this dish where if Bourdain did it at the French Laundry his way, he would be fired on the spot.

This book is so large that it will probably be unwieldy to cook from in the kitchen. Open, it is large than two of my cutting boards together. Still, I cannot overstate how valuable this book is to someone who loves to cook and to read about cooking.

Very highly recommended.


Rating:
Summary: Not just for the coffee table!
Review: I received this wonderful cookbook yesterday and spent two hours with it. Unlike The French Laundry cookbook, these recipes appear doable, with reasonably available ingredients. The photography and the commentary are also inspiring. If you enjoyed last year's Balthazar (as I did) you will like this even more.

My only critique is the author's use of some ingredients not easily available. I understand the necessity to remain faithful to the French origins of the plat, as well as it's representation at Bouchon, but footnotes on alternative preparation would be helpful. For example, the author substitutes duck for pork in some recipes, without providing the pork alternative. I will just have to figure that out myself.

Overall, I highly recommend Bouchon!

Rating:
Summary: Raising the Bistro Food Standards to High Level
Review: Keller is known as one who is serious about the best in food, both ingredients and technique joining to provide the ultimate culinary experience. From firsthand experience I will attest that until one trys his approach personally, the suspicion of why all this extreme effort and care will not pay off. However, attestation can also be given to once invoked, this guy's skill and attention does pay off: I tried his unique Bliny recipe with huge payoff! Never going to use another nor purhase Bliny again.

Here he shifts from the French Laundry approach to one his favorite ways of dining, French bistro style. For him bistro is about technique, so he refines and refines the refinement to a high standard which is provided here in this large format recipe collection.

Keller teamed up with Jeff Corciello to form Bouchon, dedicated to the best in bistro. Their outpouring here is enhanced by the same high standards of publishing which gave us the French Laundry Cookbook, huge format with rich photographay and grand wordsmithing by Michael Ruhlman. This collaborative team produces a huge resource that is magnificent in its style and layout, easy to keep spread open and cook with.

The recipes exude the bistro style of few, usually plain ingredients prepared in tried and true technique, here enhanced by Keller and associates to the ultimate level of richness and taste explosion.

An example of this care of prep can be exhibited by one of my favorites here taken to heights: Roasted Beet Salad. His tips of selection and prep are key, and for best results should be adhered to: buy beets with tops attached, utilizing fresh squeezed OJ. This is sensuous salad, which I can vouch even non-beet lovers will!

Second, if you're a afficianado of Onion Soup, here is the recipe, carefully crafted and layered for unbelievable result! How about two pages of intro about the vessel, carmelization, size of onion slices, broth vs. salt, etc. before even beginning? This is the care and extent to which this collection goes, so the naive cookbook owner who doesn't share this passion to truly turn out a work of love in an Onion Soup will be repelled by such. For those who love providing such, this recipe is typical of this collection. Rewarding will be the effort.

There are truly some true gems of recipes here! Try the likes of Duck Confit with Brussels Sprouts and Mustard Sauce. Or Cod with a Stew of Sweet Peppers. Braised Beef with Red Wine has been tried by this reviewer from many different sources in many different creations, but this one is special, due to the details here suggested in the Bouchon refinements of the classic.

For finisher, try the succulent Apple Ice Cream with Calvados, made with a creme fraiche base which gives it a richness level to delight! Also, the Profiteroles for the Cream Puffs with Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce will satisfy and excite the Chocolate Lover in your dining group!

There is a Basic Building Block Section for prep and technique as well as brief one page listing of sources.

This will remain untouched by many who buy or recieve this who are not yet to the point of taking time and patience of lavish food preparation with the best in ingredients. This book does have the distinct advantage though of not the exotic ingredients of the French Laundry fame, although it will be intimiating for many. For those however, this will be a beautiful coffeetable work.

Rating:
Summary: Simple doesn't mean fast
Review: Keller's homage to simple French bistro fare (after "The French Laundry Cookbook") wins the knock-your-chef's-hat-off prize for stunning presentation. For starters, you need to lift this oversized 6.5 pound book with both hands. Open it at random and you're likely to land on a two-page close-up of ingredients or finished presentation, or maybe Keller demonstrating technique. The recipes also spread across two pages

"I used to joke that I opened Bouchon, styled after the bistros of Paris, so that I'd have a place to eat after cooking all night at the French Laundry." (his elegant white-tablecloth restaurant next door in the Napa Valley). In this book he emphasizes technique above all, and interspersed in each chapter (organized by course) are brief essays on "The importance of" the pig, brown butter, slow cooking, glazing and more. He also gives brand and tool recommendations and includes a list of sources.

This may be "homey" fare, but most home cooks aren't going to caramelize the onions for their onion soup for five hours and frogs legs and stuffed duck neck aren't likely to appear at many New England tables. There is a tantalizing little section on potted foods, including a Foie Gras Terrine and Rabbit Pâté and recipes for Duck Confit and Rabbit Confit are simple, time-consuming dishes to warm up a gloomy weekend.

Most of the fare is classic, traditional and inspiring. Like Boeuf Bourguignon (Braised Beef with Red Wine), or several versions of Roast Chicken, and Crepes with Chicken and Morels to use up the leftovers. Salads include Lentils Vinaigrette and Roasted Beet; among the side dishes are Macaroni Gratin and Gnocchi with Mushroom and Butternut Squash, and Desserts include Profiteroles and French Toast with Apricots. The final chapter, Basic Preparations and Techniques, is the most important, including the "building blocks" of confits, sauces, and stocks and the all-important, patient, techniques.

This is a book for the home cook who enjoys spending weekends building the blocks for sumptuous weeknight fare. It also would look great on the coffee table.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book -- Just some poor printing by publisher
Review: Wonderful and fun book. Keller is back on his form with wonderful descriptions and receipts. His sources would have been better with full snail mail addresses for all. Also, the book has a printing error and for a $50 list price, one should not have to "paste" a sticker to a page about quiches. The publisher should be ashamed. Other than that, this is a shining example of one of America's premier chef's.