Great food, surprisingly achievable
Rating:
5 / 5
Unlike some other reviewers, I've always found Le Bernardin and its staff to be very warm and accommodating. That feeling comes through in the text and personal reminiscences included in this book.
The big surprise for me was how very well written the recipes are. Although there is plenty here for the over-achieving home chef, well over half of the recipes can accommodate a harried schedule and/or moderate talents in the kitchen. If you scan through the book and follow Le Bernardin's three-course format, you can put together an unbelievably elegant dinner in a reasonable amount of time.
Four-Star Simplicity with Seafood
Rating:
5 / 5
I'm really into seafood, and this is the cookbook for that genre. The sophistication of taste and presentation is the ultimate maxization of the fresh seafood. One is impressed instantly upon perviewing the recipes and trying them of the intense experience this chef has had with the ingredients and prep techniques. Four-star chefbooks are typically intimidating due to all the ingredients and steps, but here it's minimal, yet turns out utmost in culinary heights. Try these, they'll be knockout dishes! Pan-Roasted Grouper with Wild Mushrooms and Artichokes (served with unbelievable pork jus); Roast Monkfish on Savoy Cabbage and Bacon-Butter Sauce; Black Bass in Cabbage Packages with Purple Mustard Sauce; Yellowtail Snapper with Garden Vegetables. Accompaniments are worth paper as well, with monster dinner dessert of "Earl Grey Tea and Mint Soup with Assorted Fruit;Gruyere and Potato Cakes. Tough one to match in my extensive collection!
Best Cookbook Ever
Rating:
5 / 5
This is easily the best cookbook I have ever used. Very high quality dishes and presentations; and most (though not all) of the recipes can be executed by any reasonably well-stocked kitchen provided one has access to a high quality fish market .
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