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"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you."

 Mortimer J. Alder

                                              

 What David is thinking................

 

 japanese pub    

Review

Japanese pubs, called izakaya, are attracting growing attention in Japan and overseas. As a matter of fact, a recent article in The New York Times claimed that the izakaya is starting to shove the sushi bar off its pedestal. While Japan has many guidebooks and cookbooks, this is the first publication in English to delve into every aspect of a unique and vital cornerstone of Japanese food culture.

A venue for socializing and an increasingly innovative culinary influence, the izakaya serves mouth-watering and inexpensive small-plate cooking, along with free-flowing drinks. Readers of this essential book will be guided through the different styles of establishments and recipes that make izakaya such relaxing and appealing destinations. At the same time, they will learn to cook many delicious standards and specialties, and discover how to design a meal as the evening progresses.

Eight Tokyo pubs are introduced, ranging from those that serve the traditional Japanese comfort foods such as yakitori (barbequed chicken), to those offering highly innovative creations. Some of them have long histories; some are more recent players on the scene. All are quite familiar to the author, who has chosen them for the variety they represent: from the most venerated downtown pub to the new-style standing bar with French-influenced menu. Mark Robinson includes knowledgeable text on the social and cultural etiquette of visiting izakaya, so the book can used as a guide to entering the potentially daunting world of the pub. Besides the 60 detailed recipes, he also offers descriptions of Japanese ingredients and spices, a guide to the wide varieties of sake and other alcoholic drinks thatare served, how-to advice on menu ordering, and much more.

For the home chef, the hungry gourmet, the food professional, this is more than a cookbook. It is a unique peek at an important and exciting dining and cultural phenomenon.

 

 Ad Hoc at Home    

Review

The food in Ad Hoc is simple and elegant: full braised meats, hearty salads, and fruit cobblers. The flavors remind me of an updated version of The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and the late, great Sheila Lukins, but that comparison does not extend to technique. Where Silver Palate prioritized accessible, doable recipes, Ad Hoc's preparations complex, and they take considerably more time and skill than some cooks might want to expend on a simple family dinner. This is company food, holiday and special occasion dishes that take time to make but are worth every minute.

One of the most famous elements of Ad Hoc (the restaurant) is that diners don't get to choose what they eat: there's a daily fixed menu of four courses (salad, entree, cheese, and dessert), and the book reflects that attitude, although somewhat haphazardly. The recipes are arranged into menus of a sort: that is, at the end of each, Keller gives a few ideas for pairings with other dishes, and there's a discrete section on cheese pairings. Given the thought that must go into planning Ad Hoc's menu every night (taking into account the seasonality of ingredients, thematic connections, and general flavor harmony) it is odd that we aren't provided with more formalized menus. That's small beef, though: family meals should really be cook's choice, and everyone can either eat, starve, or feed it to the dog. (Pass on this food, and that would be one lucky dog.)

 

Thomas Keller's cookbooks are not known for being accessible. Gorgeous, inspirational, even heavy — but accessible? Doable? Replicable? Not exactly. The French Laundry Cookbook, Bouchon, and especially Under Pressure have all been criticized for being too complicated for home cooks, and while I am a firm believer that sophisticated, professional level cookbooks have their place in the lexicon, it's true that I've only made a handful of dishes from them.

But Keller's latest cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home, is based on the food produced in Keller's "casual eatery" in Yountville, California, and purports to "offer a huge collection of recipes for doable and beloved everyday meals." Much in the same way that the restaurant Ad Hoc is a casual complement to the upscale French Laundry and the French bistro Bouchon, so Ad Hoc at Home is a gateway drug to Keller cuisine: accessible, affordable, recognizable, and yet with subtleties in the food and philosophy that give rise to promises of much more to come. Ad Hoc goes out of its way to appeal to a slightly different audience than its older siblings: for example, scattered throughout the book are sidebars with tips and trick, denoted by light bulb graphics. It would all be a little too Food Network — if the food didn't work so well on so many levels.

 The Fat Duck Cookbook    

Review

sales of Japanese kitchen knives are booming in the U.S. But how many people have the skills to use these superbly-crafted tools to full advantage? Now, internationally renowned chef Hiromitsu Nozaki shares his expertise and insights in a book that will help anyone who owns a Japanese knife to maximize its performance.
In Japanese Kitchen Knives, Nozaki teaches the reader how to use usuba, deba and yanagiba, the three main traditional Japanese knives. He explains many essential techniques, such as the importance of understanding blade angle and point of force, and illustrates these lessons by working with ingredients familiar to western readers, like carrots and rainbow trout. Color photos and Nozaki's commentary further clarify the process, and the pictures are taken from the chef's perspective for easier understanding (most other books take photos from the reverse perspective). Each technique is accompanied by recipes that require its use, and all recipes are very simple, using easy-to-acquire ingredients. Other sections include a look at artisanal Japanese knife-making and information on sharpening, storing and identifying the variety of Japanese knives. Specialty knives are shown on location, from the unique unagi eel knife in an unagi specialty restaurant to the colossal tuna filleting knife in Tsukiji fish market.

Review

A thought-provoking, inspiring look at artistic and gastronomic creativity through the world's most revolutionary chef, Ferran Adria (elBulli).

Ferran Adria has revolutionized the world of gastronomy and elBulli is recognized as the world's best restaurant. So original and poetically sensible is Adria's approach to cooking that he is considered to be the greatest "artist of the kitchen." Food for Thought explores the essence of elBulli's creativity with hundreds of color photographs of Adria's creations including, for the first time ever, every single dish ever created by elBulli.

Inspired by Adria's controversial participation in Documenta 12, this seductive volume features lively dialogue between the most potent critics and creators of the art and gastronomic worlds, including Heston Blumenthal, Bill Burford, Jerry Saltz, Massmiliano Gioni, Anya Gallaccio, Peter Kubelka, Antoni Miralda, Carsten Holler, Bice Curiger, Adrian Searle, Davide Paolini.
"Professionally, I can die after this book." --Ferran Adria


 

 

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