There are books that I think everyone should have, or at least every serious cook should have. The list is long, but I will start with one of my favorites.
The Fat Duck Cookbook.
Not only is this a great cookbook, it’s a great book to just keep on your coffee table or nightstand and read for fun every once in a while. It’s written by Chef Heston Blumenthal, who is pretty inspiring in and of himself. If you watch BBC, you will have seen Blumenthal on the air, either on his show In search of perfection, or getting interviewed about a dish of his. He never went to culinary school, but was self-taught, which is incredible considering where he is now. As he was learning his trade, he began to question the things that he was taught and ask why. Why sear meats? Why not wash mushrooms? What’s the best way to really do this? This led him to his style of cooking that Blumenthal calls “Classic cooking with a little science.”
The book starts with a lengthy (almost a third of the book) and intriguing history of Blumenthal and The Fat Duck, which is cool, because he shares with us what inspired him and how he came to have the number one restaurant one of the top restaurants in the world.
The next portion (about half the book) is full of Recipes from The Fat Duck. Not only are his recipes awesome, but also before each one there is a page or two explaining how the dish was created, beginning at conception and ending on the Fat Duck menu. Some recipes are complex, and most are very complex, oft times using equipment that makes it hard to do them at home. Even so, the ideas and concepts behind his recipes are astounding, and can certainly teach anyone a lot about cooking and creativity. As an added bonus, the photography and graphic design in this section is incredible. Lastly Blumenthal takes a chapter of his cookbook and dedicates it to the science behind his methods and ingredients, which is good to know if you are truly going to dive into his recipes.
Overall, The Fat Duck Cookbook is an amazing book that any aspiring chef should have.
As always thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more posts. I’m going to start updating the blog once a week!
-Tim
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