The French Laundry Cookbook
by Thomas Keller

	List Price: $50.00 Our Price: $26.13 You Save: $23.87 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $19.98 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions

Book Reviews of The French Laundry Cookbook

Book Review: All about food perfection and taking the time to do it right
Summary: 5 Stars

The pictures are beautiful. A lot of them are meant to evoke that psychology of food feeling, and there could be more of the finished product. Also be warned that the pictures are extremely close up, and the finished portions of the recipes are small/gourmet-sized. At his restaurant he serves 6 or 7 courses. To make 6 or 7 recipes from this book would probably keep you busy the entire week though unless you are highly organized!
If you're ambitious, follow a recipe through in its entirety including the garnish. Otherwise, try out just part of the recipe. Letting a tomato dry out (or he suggests the microwave) to the point where it can be ground in a spice grinder for tomato powder for the garnish on the plate may or may not be something you are interested in doing.

Be sure to read the recipes in their entirety before attempting any of them to be sure you can get all the ingredients and that you have all the equipment you need. (sometimes you don't really need the equipment he suggests, but it definitely makes life easier!) The book is a great excuse to go and buy more gadgets, so far a tamis was added to my collection, and now I'd love to get a mandolin to try out the recipes with paper-thin potatoes.

I've tried out the blini with eggplant caviar which was absolutely exquisite. There were about 4 hours worth of steps with the eggplant: letting it render its excess liquid for an hour, roasting for an hour, then wrapping in cheesecloth in the fridge for more liquid to drain - it may seem like an inordinate amount of time but it was well worth it. The lemon saboyan tart was fairly simple (relative to the other recipes) and quite good.

Agnolotti with fava beans started off fun, then became frustrating with all the time it took, then even though I'm sure I wrecked the recipe it still tasted quite good. He suggests making a well with the flour, then putting in the eggs and egg yolks etc. in the centre, and then twirling the eggs with your finger to slowly incorporate it with the flour. While this was fun at first, it takes a very long time to incorporate the flour this way, and at the end of it all (maybe I used the wrong sized eggs?) it was too dry and I had to try experimenting to get it to all stick together.

Some ingredients are difficult to find depending on where you live, such as creme fraiche, which is common in France. However I think the ingredient hunting is worth the effort and this is an amazing cookbook if only to dream. I found some of the recipes are not practical to make by the sheer expense of trying them out. He has several recipes with fresh truffles and while they sound fantastic, since fresh truffles cost over $1000 per pound I don't think its something I will be trying out anytime soon.

Book Review: All about food perfection and taking the time to do it right
Summary: 5 Stars

The pictures are beautiful. A lot of them are meant to evoke that psychology of food feeling, and there could be more of the finished product. Also be warned that the pictures are extremely close up, and the finished portions of the recipes are small/gourmet-sized. At his restaurant he serves 6 or 7 courses. To make 6 or 7 recipes from this book would probably keep you busy the entire week though unless you are highly organized!
If you're ambitious, follow a recipe through in its entirety including the garnish. Otherwise, try out just part of the recipe. Letting a tomato dry out (or he suggests the microwave) to the point where it can be ground in a spice grinder for tomato powder for the garnish on the plate may or may not be something you are interested in doing.

Be sure to read the recipes in their entirety before attempting any of them to be sure you can get all the ingredients and that you have all the equipment you need. (sometimes you don't really need the equipment he suggests, but it definitely makes life easier!) The book is a great excuse to go and buy more gadgets, so far a tamis was added to my collection, and now I'd love to get a mandolin to try out the recipes with paper-thin potatoes.

I've tried out the blini with eggplant caviar which was absolutely exquisite. There were about 4 hours worth of steps with the eggplant: letting it render its excess liquid for an hour, roasting for an hour, then wrapping in cheesecloth in the fridge for more liquid to drain - it may seem like an inordinate amount of time but it was well worth it. The lemon saboyan tart was fairly simple (relative to the other recipes) and quite good.

Agnolotti with fava beans started off fun, then became frustrating with all the time it took, then even though I'm sure I wrecked the recipe it still tasted quite good. He suggests making a well with the flour, then putting in the eggs and egg yolks etc. in the centre, and then twirling the eggs with your finger to slowly incorporate it with the flour. While this was fun at first, it takes a very long time to incorporate the flour this way, and at the end of it all (maybe I used the wrong sized eggs?) it was too dry and I had to try experimenting to get it to all stick together.

Some ingredients are difficult to find depending on where you live, such as creme fraiche, which is common in France. However I think the ingredient hunting is worth the effort and this is an amazing cookbook if only to dream. I found some of the recipes are not practical to make by the sheer expense of trying them out. He has several recipes with fresh truffles and while they sound fantastic, since fresh truffles cost over $1000 per pound I don't think its something I will be trying out anytime soon.

Book Review: Beautiful book, workable recipes, but some reservations
Summary: 3 Stars

Like many cookbooks from famous chefs and restaurants, this book is just as much a manifesto as it is a cookbook. A lot of chefs and restaurant owners like to pat themselves on the back or laud the way "they" do things, and The French Laundry is no exception. You'll read enough about their tuna appetizers, straining for texture, and beurre monte to feel like they are trying to make you a convert. I was however surprised to find how obtainable the recipes were though. Sure, some of them require special prepartions or ingredients, but for the most part the ingredients are those you can find in your supermarket. You will need a good butcher if you want the meats to match the recipe though -- I can think of few supermarkets whose meat department can give you a double-cut rib eye steak, frenched and tied. What I particularly enjoyed was the attention to detail on presentation. Often times, this is what separates the high end restaurant from a restaurant with good food; the food is as pretty as it is delicious. I give the book four stars on content.

There is however a very disturbing page in this book, so much so that I almost felt like cutting it out of the book. It describes, in gory detail, the slaughtering of rabbits. While anyone who eats meat has to come to grips with the fact that another animal died for your meal, most people do not keep steers, poultry, or deer as pets. Rabbits on the other hand are a rather mainstream pet, and I wonder if an Korean chef would dare to write a book with a section on killing dogs? I have plenty of other cookbooks that have rabbit recipes, but none that go into the detail The French Laundry Cookbook does; describing how the rabbit screamed loudly and broke it's leg trying to escape. The only thing that kept me from being completely outraged was that the point of the story was that the chef had slaughtered the rabbit himself and after seeing what it is like, made him realize that an animal did die for his meal and this gave him greater appreciation of that fact. His conclusion is that be respectful of what you cook with, because we tend to treat the cryovaced meat we get in the store as disposable if we over cook it or eat too much in one sitting. Personally, I could have gone without this passage though, because I'm greatly aware of it already.

All in all, it's got some good recipes, teaches presentation skills, is beautiful (to a fault), but I could have done with something easier to use in the kitchen without the rabbit story.

Book Review: Food As An Art, But Not For the Squeamish.
Summary: 5 Stars

And then there's the story of the rabbits.

This book has gotten some flak in the past about the gory details involved in the slaughter and prep of the rabbits. Many people are put off by this. It's not for the weak-jearted. At the same time, it does really help one appreciate that food comes from someplace other than the supermarket, and that any food item that gave up its existence to become dinner should be treated with reverence and respect in the kitchen. Getting hung-up on the perceived barbarism of the slaughter is missing the point - it's all about gaining a sense of perspective about where the food actually comes from. He also does the same sort of narrative for harvesting vegetables, there's just less blood involved.

Aside from that, there's a lot in this book that is probably beyond the capabilities of the average home chef, and probably even several classically trained restaurant chefs. This should not be off-putting, as there's plenty that isn't, and even the most exotic recipes have enough firm grounding in them that they can be modified to fit the average home kitchen provided you're still willing to put in some effort. Not everybody can make chips and dip out of creme fraiche, truffles, and potatoes sliced so thin you can see through them, but with a little experimentation a reasonable facsimile can be made at home, and still wow anyone who eats it. Other items, like the gazpacho, are simple and delicious - provided you put in the time and care recommended by the recipe. The book is all about care with ingredients and preparation, and that's really what elevates the recipes. It's not about a wild combination of new and exciting flavors (although there are plenty of those), it's about taking the time and effort to use ingredients to their fullest extent.

The writing style does border on the sort of ethereal purple prose usually reserved for people writing about violin concerti, but the writing really takes a back seat to the food and Keller's very obvious devotion and respect for the culinary arts. It's the kind of book that makes you love food all the more, and makes you want to experiment, even if you never expect to duplicate a Keller recipe.

Book Review: Great restaurant; great book
Summary: 5 Stars

Chef Keller offers three menus: a five-course dinner menu; a nine-course tasting of vegetables menu; and his 10-course prix fixe menu (which is currently $135). He follows the typical French format:

Amuse Bousche (His signature salmon tartar with sweet red onion crème fraîche)
1. Cold Hors d'ouevre
2. Vegetable or Foie Gras
3. Fish
4. Seafood (or second fish course)
5. Rabbit or Veal
6. Pork or Lamb
7. Cheese
8. Sorbet
9. Dessert
10. Mignardise (petit fours and candies)

Sometime in your life, you must experience this restaurant. It will be the best four-hour dinner of your life!

Now for the book review. The book is presented in a way that shows a lot of planning went into it. While the recipes have many ingredients and details, the instructions are written in a manner that everyone can follow. If you're an experienced cook, this may slow you down a bit.

There is plenty of background to the recipes that you won't find elsewhere; such as big pot blanching and how to handle your homemade stocks.

I've made about 10-15 recipes out of this book. All work... eventually. They require three or four read-throughs, full preparation of equipment and ingredients (mise en place) before starting, an understanding of what happens to food when heat is applied, and better-than-average knife skills.

Keep in mind there are a few bugs here and there. For example, the chive chips in the white truffle oil-infused custard recipe says to bake it at 275F for 20-25 minutes and to, "remove the chips when they are golden brown." This doesn't work. Golden brown is a term meaning that the product has reached caramelization (the sugars are browning). Browning does not begin until the product has reached a temperature of 338F - 350F, which will not occur in a 275F oven. I've had my chive chips in the oven for over an hour and they are, at best, an off-yellow color. Maybe they meant 375F? I've made adjustments by cooking them at 350F, but they don't turn out as nice as they do in the restaurant.

The point I'm trying to make is you have to practice. Don't try these recipes and expect them to turn out the first time. Your skill set, more than anything else, will determine the recipe's success. Nevertheless; if you're a foodie, this is a must-have book.

Of the 400 or so cookbooks I have, this is the one that I enjoy reading the most; it's the one that has the most prominent place in my kitchen bookshelf for everyone to see.