IACP Award Winner
2019 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the acclaimed French Laundry
restaurant in the Napa Valley--"the most exciting place to eat in the
United States" (The New York Times). The most transformative cookbook
of the century celebrates this milestone by showcasing the genius of
chef/proprietor Thomas Keller himself. Keller is a wizard, a purist, a
man obsessed with getting it right. And this, his first cookbook, is
every bit as satisfying as a French Laundry meal itself: a series of
small, impeccable, highly refined, intensely focused courses.
Most dazzling is how simple Keller's methods are: squeegeeing the
moisture from the skin on fish so it sautées beautifully; poaching eggs
in a deep pot of water for perfect shape; the initial steeping in the
shell that makes cooking raw lobster out of the shell a cinch; using
vinegar as a flavor enhancer; the repeated washing of bones for stock
for the cleanest, clearest tastes.
From innovative soup techniques, to the proper way to cook green
vegetables, to secrets of great fish cookery, to the creation of
breathtaking desserts; from beurre monté to foie gras au torchon, to a
wild and thoroughly unexpected take on coffee and doughnuts, The French
Laundry Cookbook captures, through recipes, essays, profiles, and
extraordinary photography, one of America's great restaurants, its great
chef, and the food that makes both unique.
One hundred and fifty superlative recipes are exact recipes from the
French Laundry kitchen--no shortcuts have been taken, no critical steps
ignored, all have been thoroughly tested in home kitchens. If you can't
get to the French Laundry, you can now re-create at home the very
experience Wine Spectator described as "as close to dining perfection
as it gets."
