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The back to the kitchen concept is cute, many of the recipes are decent, but none are fantastic and none are especially relevant to the settings. I bought this because I like Eric Ripert, but the is the second of his books that is very odd. In short, this book is not bad, but it's not a real home run on any level either. We mostly learn of Ripert's likes and dislikes (he likes cured lemons and several other pantry items that probably are not in your pantry). The difference is that this one is odd by design. An artist, 2 photographers, a food writer/chef, and Ripert embark on a series of trips and cook/eat/paint/write/photograph there.
I would have preferred the book without them, but they certainly don't take much, if anything away from this phenomenal book.The book is also extremely interesting to just read and enjoy. The boldness of these dishes is not your standard Eric Ripert fare. If you're a fan of Chef Ripert, you will almost surely want to grab this book. Not all of them use high-end, expensive ingredients or difficult techniques.
I'm completely enamored of his clean style of cooking. But if you're a professional chef or a foodie, you will probably adore this book as much as I do. While some of the recipes in this book would be fine as "everyday" food, most of them are not. Most home cooks aren't going to have ingredients like truffles or osetra caviar on hand, nor would they be able to afford them. This book is all about him finding his passion for cooking real food again.If you've owned any of Chef Ripert's other books, you will notice the differences between this one and the others. But there are some that could definitely be duplicated at home.
The stories and anecdotes about Chef Ripert, his trip, his friends, and the food and ingredients are absolutely delightful to read.I wouldn't advise buying this book if you want to get recipes for everyday dinners, because it's not likely to fulfil that role for you. After all, this book was written while Chef Ripert was on vacation with friends.The photos in the book are striking. I know some people love the paintings. The photos of the ingredients used are nice, too.As much as I love this book, I just can't bring myself to deduct any points from the star total because of the paintings which feature so prominently. The others were all based on dishes served at his NYC restaurant, Le Bernardin. Personally, I much prefer the photographs of the dishes. They also probably wouldn't have the time or patience to make homemade lemon confit or pique (the Puerto Rican spicy liquid seasoning).As a big fan of Eric Ripert, I may be a little biased.
I don't particularly like the artwork that is featured prominently throughout the book, but that just because it doesn't happen to appeal to my taste. It's a big departure from his other books, but in a good way.Yes, most of the recipes aren't practical for home cooking. Most of his dishes make their impact with subtle flavors, with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients.In this book he still uses a harmonious blend of local, seasonal ingredients, but he creates recipes with big, bold flavors that really come together to deliver a dramatic flavor impact. This book is a very interesting tour around various locations, with Chef Ripert making up dishes on the fly for his friends out of mostly local, seasonal ingredients.
"A cook is an instrument of nature", goes one memorable line. In many cases, he worked with ingredients which he had not ever heard of prior to the morning before cooking them.The asides and sotto voce comments that are sprinkled about are worth the purchase all on the own, never mind the incredible recipes. That sums it up pretty well. I've only had "A Return to Cooking" for a very short time and it is already one of my favorite kitchen references. You really get to see a great culinary mind at work as they move from season to season and venue to venue, trolling the local markets for goodies and *poof* improvising spectacular food.
No substitution is mentioned, and the description of them is too limited to make a guess at an acceptable sub. Once you deduct recipes requiring specialty items, you're left with things ike "Figs Wrapped in Bacon" (and not in some ingenious Thomas Keller way; it's quite straightforward).Obviously, if you're a novice cook, or looking for fast/simple/cheap recipes, you're probably not even viewing this item. Unlike game or foie gras, fish doesn't seem like a strong mail-order candidate. But, when I have cooked from it, I have always learned something about technique or ingredients, and for that, I rate this book 5 starts. I really like the paintings, and how they look like woodcuts, but sometimes the personalities can teeter on the precious or smug side (Though who can blame them: take a year off to paint/cook/eat and travel. Perhaps there simply is none.).
In case you are, I recommend you immediately look elsewhere and avoid this book entirely.Nonetheless, even if you're eating through a feeding tube, or never intend to cook a single thing in your life, but you really like looking at pictures of food, or reading about how people feel about food, you'll probably love this. This may be Ripert's return to the kitchen (ie., this is arguably not "restaurant" food), but it's still demanding of money, time, and skill (probably in that order). I say money and time first because he uses top-notch and/or esoteric ingredients, which will require some investment and shopping (eg: live pibales: I never heard of them anywhere else before or since. In that respect, you can approximate the book by its cover.
The flavor combinations alone are eye-opening, and satisfyingly so.The artwork, photography, and other writings are, well, there, and how much you like them is up to your own taste. To me, the most interesting part of his grand project is how he brings his background to bear on the different cuisines and traditions of the location (my favorite chapter is in Puerto Rice). I actually do not think I would want to have been part of this particular entourage. As an attractive coffee table/daydream cookbook, it's one of the best.
If you don't cook fish or seafood, I would buy something else.Also, if you don't live near good, extensively stocked grocery stores (especially fish markets and butcher's who can supply you with things like veal cheeks), I don't think this would have much value as a usable cookbook. The expense and general highly-demanding nature are irrelevant to rating, as I see it, because you can tell what you're getting into when you consider any book with this many artists and this size of pages involved. I would most strongly recommend this to anyone who wanted to expand his/her repertoire of fish and seafood recipes: you will find ideas here that are not duplicated elsewhere, and seafood is why Ripert is famous.If fish/seafood are not strong points of interest, but you are generally a good, well-budgeted and well-supplied cook, you'll probably enjoy this, but I wouldn't say it's an essential addition to your working library. Even the book says they are very difficult to find: Ripert special orders them from a supplier for $65 a pound.
I'd feel pretty special too). I've learned a lot of new sauces here, and I look to this almost every time I have a piece of fish in the fridge. But that's to be expected from any top-tier chef's book, so it's certainly no reason to knock this down.I'll leave it as established that the recipes are delicious and mouth-watering, etc., and intend to focus this review on who might consider this cookbook and whether or not I'd recommend it.Admittedly, I spent more time gazing longingly at this book than cooking from it. Like any chef's book, you have to be willing to take what you can use: if you can't commit yourself to preparing all the elaborate components of a dish, try making the sauce, or using the cooking method.
Ruhlman is no Reichl or Grimes -- but I think he tries to be. Ripert. In browsing the book, I found several grammar errors (minor irritance, but in a book of this quality, I find disappointing). The book is beautiful: layout, photography, the food itself. I think Ruhlman picks fascinating topics (I enjoyed Soul of a Chef immensely); it's just that, for me, his writing is a distraction from the content. Because I think Ruhlman is merely an average writer. As others have noted, the recipes are very good for a home cook: impressive, but not so complex as to deter a dedicated cook.Why 4 and not 5 stars. He spends too much time cozying up to M.
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