From the Inside Flap
Thomas Keller, chef/proprietor of the French
Laundry--"the most exciting place to eat in the United
States," writes Ruth Reichl in the New York Times--is a
wizard, a purist, a man obsessed with getting it right. His
flavors have clarity and intensity. His methods dazzle:
poaching eggs in a deep pot of water; cooking lobster out of
the shell after an initial steeping in the shell; using
vinegar as a flavor heightener; repeatedly washing bones for
stock for the cleanest, clearest taste. Every mouthful is an
explosion of flavor.
The cookbook, Keller's first, is as satisfying as a French
Laundry meal, a series of small, highly refined, intensely
focused courses. One hundred fifty recipes and over two
hundred photographs capture the impact of this extraordinary
food. Keller's wit and whimsy find expression in unique
recipes (and titles) such as lobster-filled crepes with a
carrot emulsion sauce, topped with a pea shoot salad dressed
lightly with lemon-infused oil ("Peas and
Carrots"), or sauteed monkfish tail with braised
oxtails, salsify, and cepes ("Surf and Turf").
This is not only a book to cook from, to learn from, to
savor; it's one that will let you re-create at home the
experience of eating at the French Laundry, which the Wine
Spectator says is "as close to dining perfection as it
gets."
