Flying Pans:Two Chefs, One World [Hardcover]

Chef Bernard Guillas (Author), Chef Ron Oliver (Author), Gregory Bertolini -- Photographer (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2009

If you have ever wondered what chefs do in their free time, look no further than Flying Pans, a new cookbook which chronicles the travels of Chefs Bernard Guillas and Ron Oliver of renowned Marine Room restaurant at The La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in La Jolla, California.
Their passion for food, culture and culinary travel jumps off the pages. In this book, they translate their discoveries into a language we all understand. We are energized by the beauty of life, the art of cooking, the discovery of travel, and the passion of the human race, according to Bernard and Ron. Writing Flying Pans was a way to share our passion with a wide audience.
The book takes readers everywhere from Thailand to Brazil and is written in a conversational, reader friendly style which encourages cooking. The food photography of Gregory Bertolini brings the sight, smell and taste of the chef s exotic recipes to life. Recipes are well researched, kitchen-tested and easy to navigate for the home cook.
Flying Pans contains several unique and helpful sections. Kitchen Drawer explores the chefs top 20 favorite tools, Out Of A Bind gives ingredient substitutions, and Stock Options teaches the foundation of sauce making.

Editorial Reviews

Review

My pal Bernard and his co-author Ron Oliver
have created a perfect book in a new genre as
they seamlessly blend classic French flavors, local
caliterranean ingredients and modern technique in a way that begs me to use this book at home. . .The photography is food porn, the recipes are simple, yet beguiling, and the entire book has set the bar much higher for all new cookbooks in the twenty first century. This is a modern masterpiece and is destined for much use in my home kitchens
Your pal Mario Batali --Mario Batali --Chef, Cookbook Author, TV Host

Chef Bernard and Chef Ron have a passion for life and travel. With this book they translate that passion into a language we all understand - food. The recipes here are creative and witty, much like the chefs. Follow them through their journey of life and enjoy every bite. --Gavin Kaysen-- Executive Chef Café Boulud ,NYC

Felicitiacions to Bernard and Ron for a well-crafted manuscript. I knew those two were troubadours at heart, but never realized the extent of their travels. Joining them on this culinary voyage through forty countries is quite a ride, and I don t even need my passport! I thoroughly enjoyed the culturally inspired recipes, anecdotes, and the magnificent photography of The Flying Pan. --Pierre Chambrin -- Executive Chef to The White House 1990-94 Presently Executive Chef, St. Louis Club

About the Author

About Chef Bernard:
A native of Brittany, is Executive Chef of the La Jolla Beach
and Tennis Club and landmark Marine Room restaurant in
California. An avid culinary explorer, and fearless adventurer,
he shares his journey throughout the seven continents in his first
cookbook, Flying Pans. His roster of impressive credits include
appearances in Food Arts magazine, the television series, Rising Star Chefs, Great Chefs Of The World and was awarded Chef of the Year by the national publication, Chef magazine. His philanthropic pursuits include Slow Food, The Beard House Foundation, Chaine des Rotisseurs, AIWF
and international charities. To Bernard, food is a magnificent voyage and an opportunity to weave cultures. His philosophy A good cook is like a sorcerer who dispenses happiness on a plate. ---

About Chef Ron:
Chef Ron Oliver travels the world for culinary inspiration but,
back in the kitchen, he looks close to home for the freshest flavors.
A globetrotter since an early age, Ron holds a unique understanding
of how to cook exotic ingredients in a way that tantalizes the
American palate. His first cookbook, Flying Pans, captures Ron s
balance between ethnic discovery and culinary sophistication. As
Chef de Cuisine, Ron has led the prestigious Marine Room in
La Jolla to eight titles as Best Restaurant in San Diego. His passion
for food and cooking expands to support local schools and to teach
food literacy to children by planting sustainable gardens. Ron also
spends time crafting unique food-inspired art projects.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Sunbelt Publications; first edition (November 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982428316
• ISBN-13: 978-0982428313
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #805,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A new class of cook book November 15, 2009

By Randy Marks

As a San Diego resident I have had the pleasure of dining on Ron and Bernard's cuisine many times. It is a rare thing when a book captures the true essence of artistic innovation. I love this book. It took me two days to buy all of the unique ingredients they employed in making dishes from around the world. The photography is amazing and the description of how to do the presentations are very well explained. I plan on adding the majority of the dishes to my own repertoire. This is not a book that tells you how to cook. They assume a fairly high level of skill. What is does do is bring an international flair and very useful techniques for combining unusual ingredients to delight your senses and your friends.

Buy this book. You will love it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I love the philosophy, but not the intricate recipes July 13, 2011

By I Do The Speed Limit TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Amazon Verified Purchase

I started getting excited about this cookbook straight from the acknowledgements' page. After I finished reading the first page of the intro, I felt this cookbook could be very important to me. When someone writes: "No ingredient is as delectable and effective as your good intentions." and "Be proud of your results." and "...cook without boundaries or fear of failure...guided by your passion for food..." and "...created the recipes with a ...heartfelt adoration for a practice, a medium and, most importantly, people...welcome aboard this voyage of the senses...", well, to all that I say: "Chefs! Here I come!"

But when I actually got into the book, I realized it could never be a favorite cookbook--for me: The recipes are very involved and time-consuming--and I don't have that kind of time; in almost every recipe there is an ingredient that is--really--very hard to find--I live in rural Texas and don't like the expense of buying online (wild ostrich, wattleseed?); there are a lot of small plates that I can't be bothered with, again, since I don't have the time; and there are way too many seafood recipes--again, living in rural Texas, even being near the coast, I won't be able to find a constant supply of seafood this fresh. Granted: Often, but not always, substitutions are suggested for hard-to-find ingredients and there are two pages at the end of the book that act as a sort of ingredient thesaurus.

If you work long hours, then these recipes are for leisurely weekends. In general, most dishes are composed of many individual "parts"--all combining into a beautiful compilation on the plate--incorporating all the senses. While the cooking techniques are not difficult, all those parts will necessitate a lot of prep work and lots of pots, pans and dishes. Granted: You can break a complete "plate" into its components and prepare bits and pieces of it, or mix components from different recipes, or take a component and make one of your own recipes "new".

To give you an idea of how weighted the book is toward seafood, here are some numbers: Seafood recipes--43; "wings"--11; lamb--5; pork--3, and veal, beef, game--9. Of course there are plenty of veggie, fruit and sauce recipes as "components".

There are some recipe "jewels" that I am very happy to have: Ice wine hollandaise; a ginger macadamia sauce, beetroot jam, sweet corn potato relish, green pea cream, pomelo glaze, seven spice barbecue sauce, vanilla absinthe sauce, cardamom sauce with cranberry juice and aquavit, a peach pork glaze, red onion honey sauce, blueberry blue cheese butter, and a rum and maple syrup steak marinade.

And to give you an idea of the wonderful, different, inspirational, can't-wait-to-try ingredient combinations: Whisky smoked cured salmon, tamarind peach glazed shrimp, coconut milk and red curry clam hot pot, pistachio stuffed peaches, cauliflower with celery, leek and vermouth, a cooked cabbage "sauerkraut", five mushroom, white port and thyme bread pudding, a rice pudding with dates, coconut and spices and persimmon cardamom pistachio ice cream.

Don't get the wrong impression about the pictures in the book--the pictures are of prepared food, not travel destinations, and not prepared food with travel destinations in the background. The photos are fairly stark: Showing off the beautiful simplicity of contrasting colors, textures, shapes and sizes on the plate.

The indexes are somewhat unique: Listing recipes--not by name--but by ingredients, and then again in a separate index, by country of origin. This system works very well if you are looking for just one of the components.

All, in all, I have to say that this is a unique cook book--not the norm, and I am glad to have purchased it. I am putting it in a category with, and it will nicely augment, one of my favorites: "Radically Simple", by Rozanne Gold. I can't possible give this book five stars--that top rating, for this type of recipe collection, still, for me, belongs to "Radically Simple" Radically Simple: Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease: 325 Inspiring Recipes from Award-Winning Chef Rozanne Gold.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gourmet Potluck Party January 17, 2010

By JRF

Once you open this gorgeous cookbook (and how many cookbooks do you call "gorgeous"?), you're instantly transported to foreign lands. The introduction to each recipe is very enjoyable to read as the chefs tell wonderful stories of how the recipes came to be. The book inspired a group of us to create a gourmet three-course potluck party. Couples signed up to make recipes from the appetizers, entrees and dessert sections of the book. The only problem was trying to pick only a few recipes to make. We shared our joys and trials making the recipes. It was truly a delightful party and we have Chefs Bernard and Ron to thank for it.

P.S. Some of the recipes have hard-to-find ingredients, but the hunt can be fun. If you're timed pressed as I am, you can use the substitute ingredients provided the chefs and the results are still spectacular.