Chez Panisse Fruit
by Alice L. Waters
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Book Reviews of Chez Panisse Fruit
Book Review: Some Brilliance, Some Disappointment
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this book at a friend's recommendation primarily for the Lamb & Quince Tagine recipe. That recipe was superb! Since then, I've routinely turned to this book looking for innovative ways to use less-common fruits. Recently, pomegranate and persimmon.
Pomegranate is in season here in Texas and I wasn't aware of anything terribly clever to do with the seeds, short of tossing them in a salad (which, sure, it's great, but man can't live on salad alone! Or at least, I can't.) You can do lots with the juice, but you don't need fresh pomegranates for that. I wanted something that highlighted the fresh fruit itself. Her recipes? Any that used the actual seeds put them... on a salad. Come on, Alice!
Then it was persimmon. Persimmons are in season here now too and are dirt cheap and delicious. I also recently had a soup at the French Laundry that consisted of a parsnip, compressed Fuyu persimmon, black truffle puree, and pine nuts, and it was outstanding. So, again, I opened CP Fruit hoping for some really novel flavor combinations with the persimmon. The recipes? The obligatory persimmon cookies, a persimmon pudding recipe that looks fine but very simple, and then some salads. Again, nothing too bold.
Maybe that's Alice's style, although I've eaten a few times at the Chez Panisse cafe (upstairs) and had some really creative and novel things. So I know her penchant for fresh, local ingredients isn't necessarily also about such simple preparations.
As a final note, incidental except that it does affect my use of the book, it's a beautiful book but will not stay open at all. It's the worst of all my cookbooks for that. I brought a squeeze-clamp in from my toolshed to my kitchen explicitly to hold this book open when I use it.
Not to put it down too much, like I said, there are certainly great recipes in here, and even the simple ones are definitely delicious. Plus, each fruit-chapter begins with a few pages of history and usage notes that are interesting and sometimes useful.
I'll put it this way: Don't get this book expecting to have your eyes opened to startling new ways to put fruit to use in cooking. Instead, expect a solid set of relatively simple (and often classic) recipes for using that fruit. Valuable to some, maybe, but not usually what I'm looking for when I head for my cookbook shelf.
Book Review: A Big Morsel for Repertoire and Soul
Summary: 5 Stars
Alice Waters and the staff at Chez Panisse forged the standard for fresh cuisine. Instead of an overwhelming emphasis on abstract-innovations and culinary interpretations, Panisse offered diners a glorious showcase of products at their best, in the most bare and most essential. This cookbook offers home cooks and curious readers insight into the ground-breaking process that changed the way we think about produce. From the get-go, the book's appeal is not in its starkly modern and sophisticated food styling or photography. Rather, the visual impact imparts a sense of familiarity and comfort; as if it were a relative's old cookbook to rummage through, full of beautifully printed fruit.
Listed alphabetically, each chapter offers practical information such as the history, popular use, and general availability of the fruit. Keep in mind (as Waters does) that much of the produce available to Panisse is do to the abundance in agricultural activity around the Berkeley area. However, this should not sway readers and cooks toward the negative. On the contrary. More knowledge of certain produce, local or exotic, continually empowers the curious foodie to venture into new unknown territory and inquire for it at farmer's markets, the road side stand, or supermarket.
In other words, demand what you can get, appreciate what's available to you, and use it wisely, letting the fullest flavor come through. Berries in New England, citrus in California, or peaches in Georgia, the book offers a well-spring of knowledge and recipes that follow the Panisse dictum.
The fact that the book isn't jam-packed with recipes I view as a positive. Waters offers a taste of what can be done. The rest, the new, can be devised by the Panisse chefs AND the home cook thanks to an arsenal of knowledge.
Book Review: Good recipes but difficult book layout
Summary: 3 Stars
First off, the recipes themselves in Chez Panisse Fruit are great. But the book itself seems more like an art piece than a book that's intended for frequent use in the kitchen.
Most importantly, the book is impossible to keep open, even if it's open to the very middle pages. If you want to keep it open while cooking, you'll need to weigh down the pages with another heavy book. Or photocopy the pages for the given recipe, which is a bit silly if you've bought the book.
Also, I have perfectly good vision, but I think the print is excessively small compared to the page size. The text only takes up the center 50% of the page, making it difficult to read if you're standing in the kitchen and the book is on the counter.
If you're just reading the text from an armchair, I'm sure it's a lovely book as-is. But I don't think it's at all well designed for someone wanting to cook with it.
Book Review: Sets The Standard for Cooking with Fruit
Summary: 5 Stars
What a lovely, thorough book. The illustrations alone are so well done, one wants to cut them out and frame them. They are just outstanding, done by Patricia Curtan.They support an encyclopedic presentation alphabetically of cooking with fruits, from apples to strawberries. On each fruit there is generally an essay on its history, purchase helps, prep, storage and of course, recipes.
Here there is a wonderful bevy of things to use fruit, from cobblers, sherberts, jams, appetizers, entrees, drinks, etc.
Some that will find their place in my recipe collection to prepare and serve include: Pork Loin Stuffed with Wild Plums and Rosemary, Tangerine and Chocolate Semifreddo, Sauteed Scallops with Citron.
Being my first Alice Waters cookbook, one can easily see why she is recognized as one of our best gourmets.
Book Review: Excellent Reference
Summary: 4 Stars
This book provides an excellent reference guide for learning about different varieties of fruits, the cooking methods they are best suited for, and how to look for and purchase the best fruits. The recipes are simple, designed to showcase the flavor of the fruit, not to disguise it. The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful, I would love to have them framed for my kitchen walls! This book would make a wonderful gift for any cook, but particularly those who enjoy shopping the local farmers markets for seasonal produce.