New cookbooks
Posted by dastelsJan 7
I do love cookbooks.
| I stopped at Borders after lunch today to pick up a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. Which I did. I’m very happy to finally have a copy of this classic.
I can’t say I’ve been a big fan of French cooking in general… but that was before being exposed to Chef Balek at Google and before taking cooking seriously. I’m really looking forward to exploring this book. And it seems that several of my friends are also looking forward to my exploration of it. This is the classic book in America on the topic of French cooking. Also, if you’re a foodie and haven’t seen Julie & Julia, see it! It’s endearing, cute, and inspiring. It’s worth it just to see Julia Child (well, Meryl Streep) juggling hot cannelloni and commenting “these things are as hot as a stiff cock”. The Lobster Thermidor sequence is a comedic high point. More on the movie in another post. |
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Alas: bookstores, cookbooks, and I are a dangerous combination. Before I left, I’d also picked up a couple others that @daksis recommended.
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The Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali (from Babbo, his restaurant in NYC).
This book is insane. Production values are outstanding with gloss paper throughout. It appears that there is a vivid photo of every dish. This will be a pleasure to cook from. It’ll be a pleasure to read through: it’s pure, hardcore food porn. I have the feeling that I’ll be making Babbo a must-go-to stop the next time I’m in NYC. |
| The Silver Spoon, which is the English translation of Italy’s bestselling culinary “bible,” Il Cucchiaio d’argento.
This book looks absolutely, ridiculously incredible. I love how it’s structured around ingredients. It will make it easy to work with what’s locally in season. That’s one thing I want to do with my cooking… strive to be as seasonal and local as possible. I learned that from Chef Lucke, and was recently reminded of it by a friend. |
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Between The Babbo Cookbook and The Silver Spoon, I think we can look forward to some most excellent Italian themed blog posts and dinner parties.
3 comments
Comment by Lisa Crispin on January 8, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I have my mom’s copy of Mastering the Art which dates from when it first came out. Many of the recipes intimidated me for a long time, but experimentation has shown it’s ok to be a bit creative in following her instructions.
A couple months back I decided to make her potatoes gratinée recipe, but she calls for a baking dish that can also be used on the stovetop and I thought I didn’t have one. Finally I realized I could use my good old black cast iron frying pan. Doh. Now we make it all the time.
Comment by dastels on January 8, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Brilliant. Most baking dishes won’t do that.. as my daughter once learned by experience. I have another gratin recipe that has you do the bit on the stovetop then transfer to a baking dish. I’ll probably do that for the dinner party, as my cast iron skillet isn’t big enough. It’d work fine for a smaller dinner, though.
Comment by charley on January 8, 2010 at 4:36 pm
My wife took me to NYC for my 40ith birthday, and while we didn’t visit Babbos, we did go to Casa Mono which was right around the corner and well worth it. http://www.mariobatali.com/restaurants_barjamon.cfm
Batali is a great chef and even applauded by the ever cynical Anthony Bourdain after tasting his food. I’m sure Babbo is great as well, though hard to get a reservation in and a bit more pricey. I’d go for either.
Other great eats in NY are similar to SF – street vendors, and hole in the wall places where few go. If you do go, I’d recommend Sake Bar Hagi which is a great Japanese place right off of Times SQ.