Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide
by Thomas Keller
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Book Reviews of Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide
Book Review: Fine for what it is
Summary: 3 Stars
If what you're looking for is a compendium of recipes from French Laundry and per se that make use of sous vide techniques, this is the book for you. The recipes are all there, along with beautiful photographs. For that market, the book deserves five stars.
Be warned, however, the recipes are quite complicated, often require exotic ingredients and molecular gastronomy chemicals, and generally necessitate use of a chamber vacuum sealing machine (usually $2000 and up) instead of the more common consumer-level vacuum sealers. (An immersion heater is also required for sous vide, or a gadget that accomplishes the same result, but you already knew that.)
For the home cook who's interested in sous vide, has invested in an immersion heater and FoodSaver, and wants some good recipes that can be accomplished with supermarket ingredients, this is not the book. For those readers, it deserves only one or two stars. Sadly, no cookbook on the market today addresses sous vide in a true home cooking context, and that's a pity, because it's a technique that can be used to great advantage without necessarily having to replicate the offerings in a world-class restaurant.
Book Review: Nature abhors a vacuum
Summary: 3 Stars
"Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide" is Thomas Keller's latest coffee table book/cookbook. While "French Laundry" showed innovative takes on classic dishes and "Bouchon" offers everyday French bistro fare,"Under Pressure" takes cooking in another direction. It's a technique known as "bain marie" among the French. It's a more sophisticated version of the "boil in the bag" technique.
"Under Pressure" is fascinating when Keller discusses the science behind it. One can have superb vegetables and meat... in a matter of hours. The method itself isn't glamorous,but the science is interesting. The final recipes-the chosen few that are actually depicted--look beautiful.
"Under Pressure" is more useful to the restaurateur than the home cook. After all,does one really have thousands of dollars to blow on vacuum equipment? At least "Bouchon" had doable recipes for someone wanting to recreate the flavors of a Parisian bistro.
As food science,"Under Pressure" works. Not so much so as a cookbook--nor it is as visually beautiful as Keller's previous works.
On "Under Pressure",the barometer drops.
Book Review: Professional and Prophetic
Summary: 5 Stars
You know the pleasure you get from standing behind the stove while the aromas of -let's say- sweating onions and garlic wrap around you? Well those great cooking smells and all of their kin come at the expense of flavor in your food when it hits the plate. Suppose you could somehow trap all those aromas and taste them all it once, wouldn't you want to?
That's the promise of sous vide cooking. For most of us, this beautiful book will have to be like a catalog of sensations that we can look forward to. Right now, this technique remains (pretty much) in the realm of professional kitchens. Imagine being able to bring a steak up to serving temperature and have the entire piece of meat be medium rare. Or imagine short ribs that aren't gray and carrots that taste raw and chew cooked.
In a few years, the equipment and supplies necessary to vacuum-pack food and then cook it precisely will be available for the home kitchen. In the meantime, these recipes stand like luscious fables for the amateur and a call to action for the pro.
Lynn Hoffman, author of the highly pressured novel, bang BANG
Book Review: I love his books but this one is a miss!
Summary: 3 Stars
Thomas Keller is a ledged; sadly I found this book to be a bit of a miss. The recipes and information are ok, but not great! This is not typical of his other books, and I was a bit disappointed that the information was not as cutting edge as some of his other works. Thomas Keller basically introduced Sous Vide cooking into this country, so you would think it would be the standard by which all other Sous Vide books were judged, I just didn't find this to be the case. The recipes are somewhat inventive and cutting edge, just not the information that goes along with it. I think this is a good reference, but you will need other books if you want to master the art and craft. The book seems like it may have been rushed and not as well laid out as some of his other books. I prefer French laundry and Bouchon both are excellent!
Now to say Sous Vide is not for the home cook, well I think that goes without saying, unless you are a real foodie or have professional training most likely you haven't even herd of Sous Vide!
If I was buying this get it used and don't pay full price!
Book Review: Not for the home cook
Summary: 2 Stars
I am happy I checked this book out of the local library rather than spending $50 to purchase it on amazon. While it is a beautiful book, with full-page, artsy color photographs, that is probably more at home on a coffee table than in the kitchen, it is clearly written with the professional chef in mind. You may think you are really fancy for knowing what sous vide is and even be willing to give it a try, but ask yourself this: Do you really see yourself making an "Andante dairy acapella, compressed silverado trail strawberries and sicilian pistachio sable" or a "quail stuffed with moulard duck foie grass, cipollini, and port wine glaze"? These are the recipes the authors use at their own restaurants, the French Laundry (San Francisco) and Per Se (NYC), where a degustation menu will set you back $300 (sans wine). It has an introduction to sous vide an goes a bit into a technique and safety, but only a few pages. If you want to learn how to make salmon mi-cuit or how to make short ribs, this is not the book for you.