What "I" want in a cookbook.... - Page 2

911, you've got great ideas. Not a video, though. Not this project anyway. I don't want to give too much away yet, and it's not oriented towards developing professional chops, but you're pretty darn warm.

If you want to get some idea of my goals, read my blog here: http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/blogs...arts-i-ii.html

I just feel smug as **** because while I've been writing recipes, reading a lot of posts to get ideas about what the common questions are, etc., the whole organization thing has been driving me nuts. How do you teach technique? How do you integrate technique with recipes and ingredients in a way that makes sense? How do you convince people to let go and get creative? How do you convince people to haff zum verdammt dizziplinn! Nuts, I tell you. Completely and totally fehrmisht. :roll::roll::roll:

BDL

I love brain storming ideas. **** my mind seems to work a hundred miles a min.
Here is my two cents. If you look at the number of books sold to get onto
the NYT best sellers list its not as many as you would think. Anyone can write a book but the million dollar question is how you going to market it.
The cooking book section of most book stores are jammed packed with cook books and most of those books are by tv celeb types pushing the latest and greatest cook book. The joke being Exept for mol. gastr. I don't think there is anything new under the sun except the introductions of different world cuisines and i think mol.gust. is just using food manufactoring technques to make cuisines seem new. What is really lacking is a gradient approch to cooking. Where the basic skill are learned and built upon where the student hits a point where he is somewhat competent as a culinary artist. And where
the student doesn't have to spend 20k a year. Since today's youth rather play video game to reading a book I feel you would have more succuss if you either did video or a book with lots of picture. Good luck to what ever you do

911,

Sounds like you're looking for a textbook approach to go from beginner to pro. I agree that there's a market for a book like that; but don't think I'm the guy to write it.

My saucier and rotisseur/'q skills might possibly, charitably, with one eye closed, and judged by someone who really likes me and doesn't know squat, be strong enough to handle those aspects. More likely not. Even if I could, I'm way too weak in every other area, including even poissonnier and boucher to consider the project. A lot of my pastry work looks like an 8 year old did it. A talented 8 year old, sure. But still. And plating? There has to be a world's worst, right? Well, you're reading a post he just wrote. Plus, it's been a LOOOOOOOONG time for me dude. I never knew very much, and forgot most of that.

I'm primarily writing for amateurs with the idea of helping people who don't know much develop the skills to become passionate intermediates. That means being able to produce good "restaurant quality" food in a home kitchen -- but doesn't mean being able to survive three hours on the line during a Friday dinner crush. Not that there isn't a lot of crossover, but a lot doesn't.

Take a look at how differently Chef Ed Buchannan (to name one example) sees the world than I do. He developed his viewpoint preparing huge quantities for huge numbers. I developed mine working on menus that changed more or less daily in kitchens that did fewer covers in a month than Chef Ed did in a day. When he sees a problem, his first impulse is to develop a one-size fits all approach that's going to work every time and get the food OUT. Chef Ed does not believe in fooling around. When I see a problem, I want to break it into little bits and solve it by touching, smelling, tasting and tweaking it into submission. I don't see a dish as an end in itself, but as part of the foundation for the next effort.

We're both pretty knowledgeable about a wide range of foods, and we're usually pretty close in terms of how we answer other people's questions. But sometimes our approaches clash and we're worlds apart. Usually we're both right. The point is, our differences are nothing compared to the differences between working in a pro kitchen and cooking at home; and it's the home cooks I want because learning how to cook makes them so darn happy.

A long way of saying, I'm neither qualified nor interested in teaching how to hold down a station.

But yes. Stay tuned, bro. I think you'll be happy with the way the book considers the various skill sets and brings the fundamentals and some of the tricks of the trade into the home kitchen.

BDL

The Fundamental Techniques of classic cuisine by The French Culinary Institute

Professional Chef by the Culinary Institute of America

And Jacques Pepin's " La techinique" are great books that go into alot of depth.

The Professional Chef is a huge book but pricey,it's about 1200 pages of info