|
I bought this because I like Eric Ripert, but the is the second of his books that is very odd. The back to the kitchen concept is cute, many of the recipes are decent, but none are fantastic and none are especially relevant to the settings. The difference is that this one is odd by design. An artist, 2 photographers, a food writer/chef, and Ripert embark on a series of trips and cook/eat/paint/write/photograph there. We mostly learn of Ripert's likes and dislikes (he likes cured lemons and several other pantry items that probably are not in your pantry). In short, this book is not bad, but it's not a real home run on any level either.
Personally, I much prefer the photographs of the dishes. Most home cooks aren't going to have ingredients like truffles or osetra caviar on hand, nor would they be able to afford them. The others were all based on dishes served at his NYC restaurant, Le Bernardin. After all, this book was written while Chef Ripert was on vacation with friends.The photos in the book are striking. I know some people love the paintings. Most of his dishes make their impact with subtle flavors, with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients.In this book he still uses a harmonious blend of local, seasonal ingredients, but he creates recipes with big, bold flavors that really come together to deliver a dramatic flavor impact. I'm completely enamored of his clean style of cooking.
The boldness of these dishes is not your standard Eric Ripert fare. This book is all about him finding his passion for cooking real food again.If you've owned any of Chef Ripert's other books, you will notice the differences between this one and the others. While some of the recipes in this book would be fine as "everyday" food, most of them are not. But there are some that could definitely be duplicated at home. Not all of them use high-end, expensive ingredients or difficult techniques. I don't particularly like the artwork that is featured prominently throughout the book, but that just because it doesn't happen to appeal to my taste. But if you're a professional chef or a foodie, you will probably adore this book as much as I do. The stories and anecdotes about Chef Ripert, his trip, his friends, and the food and ingredients are absolutely delightful to read.I wouldn't advise buying this book if you want to get recipes for everyday dinners, because it's not likely to fulfil that role for you.
They also probably wouldn't have the time or patience to make homemade lemon confit or pique (the Puerto Rican spicy liquid seasoning).As a big fan of Eric Ripert, I may be a little biased. The photos of the ingredients used are nice, too.As much as I love this book, I just can't bring myself to deduct any points from the star total because of the paintings which feature so prominently. This book is a very interesting tour around various locations, with Chef Ripert making up dishes on the fly for his friends out of mostly local, seasonal ingredients. It's a big departure from his other books, but in a good way.Yes, most of the recipes aren't practical for home cooking. I would have preferred the book without them, but they certainly don't take much, if anything away from this phenomenal book.The book is also extremely interesting to just read and enjoy. If you're a fan of Chef Ripert, you will almost surely want to grab this book.
In many cases, he worked with ingredients which he had not ever heard of prior to the morning before cooking them.The asides and sotto voce comments that are sprinkled about are worth the purchase all on the own, never mind the incredible recipes. I've only had "A Return to Cooking" for a very short time and it is already one of my favorite kitchen references. You really get to see a great culinary mind at work as they move from season to season and venue to venue, trolling the local markets for goodies and *poof* improvising spectacular food. "A cook is an instrument of nature", goes one memorable line. That sums it up pretty well.
I would most strongly recommend this to anyone who wanted to expand his/her repertoire of fish and seafood recipes: you will find ideas here that are not duplicated elsewhere, and seafood is why Ripert is famous.If fish/seafood are not strong points of interest, but you are generally a good, well-budgeted and well-supplied cook, you'll probably enjoy this, but I wouldn't say it's an essential addition to your working library. Even the book says they are very difficult to find: Ripert special orders them from a supplier for $65 a pound. I say money and time first because he uses top-notch and/or esoteric ingredients, which will require some investment and shopping (eg: live pibales: I never heard of them anywhere else before or since. In case you are, I recommend you immediately look elsewhere and avoid this book entirely.Nonetheless, even if you're eating through a feeding tube, or never intend to cook a single thing in your life, but you really like looking at pictures of food, or reading about how people feel about food, you'll probably love this. I really like the paintings, and how they look like woodcuts, but sometimes the personalities can teeter on the precious or smug side (Though who can blame them: take a year off to paint/cook/eat and travel. Once you deduct recipes requiring specialty items, you're left with things ike "Figs Wrapped in Bacon" (and not in some ingenious Thomas Keller way; it's quite straightforward).Obviously, if you're a novice cook, or looking for fast/simple/cheap recipes, you're probably not even viewing this item.
But that's to be expected from any top-tier chef's book, so it's certainly no reason to knock this down.I'll leave it as established that the recipes are delicious and mouth-watering, etc., and intend to focus this review on who might consider this cookbook and whether or not I'd recommend it.Admittedly, I spent more time gazing longingly at this book than cooking from it. Perhaps there simply is none.). But, when I have cooked from it, I have always learned something about technique or ingredients, and for that, I rate this book 5 starts. The expense and general highly-demanding nature are irrelevant to rating, as I see it, because you can tell what you're getting into when you consider any book with this many artists and this size of pages involved. This may be Ripert's return to the kitchen (ie., this is arguably not "restaurant" food), but it's still demanding of money, time, and skill (probably in that order). The flavor combinations alone are eye-opening, and satisfyingly so.The artwork, photography, and other writings are, well, there, and how much you like them is up to your own taste. In that respect, you can approximate the book by its cover.
I'd feel pretty special too). I actually do not think I would want to have been part of this particular entourage. I've learned a lot of new sauces here, and I look to this almost every time I have a piece of fish in the fridge. No substitution is mentioned, and the description of them is too limited to make a guess at an acceptable sub. If you don't cook fish or seafood, I would buy something else.Also, if you don't live near good, extensively stocked grocery stores (especially fish markets and butcher's who can supply you with things like veal cheeks), I don't think this would have much value as a usable cookbook.
Like any chef's book, you have to be willing to take what you can use: if you can't commit yourself to preparing all the elaborate components of a dish, try making the sauce, or using the cooking method. To me, the most interesting part of his grand project is how he brings his background to bear on the different cuisines and traditions of the location (my favorite chapter is in Puerto Rice). Unlike game or foie gras, fish doesn't seem like a strong mail-order candidate. As an attractive coffee table/daydream cookbook, it's one of the best.
Ripert. As others have noted, the recipes are very good for a home cook: impressive, but not so complex as to deter a dedicated cook.Why 4 and not 5 stars. The book is beautiful: layout, photography, the food itself. In browsing the book, I found several grammar errors (minor irritance, but in a book of this quality, I find disappointing). Because I think Ruhlman is merely an average writer. He spends too much time cozying up to M. Ruhlman is no Reichl or Grimes -- but I think he tries to be. I think Ruhlman picks fascinating topics (I enjoyed Soul of a Chef immensely); it's just that, for me, his writing is a distraction from the content.
|
