Customer Reviews

Grand Livre De Cuisine

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book IS what I thought it would be, and it is NOT what I thought it would be. It IS Alain Ducasse's Culinary Encyclopedia, but it is NOT the original version. This is the shrunken version. Literally. The original is large and lush, with beautiful photography and high quality glossy paper. That book measures 12 x 9.4 inches, weighs 12 lbs. and costs a lot of money.

This version is 9.6 x 8 inches, is printed on inferior paper, and the photography doesn't reproduce well at that size. It costs a third of what the original does.

On the plus side, it IS a complete reprint, which means that exactly the same information is in the book. Every page is exact, just smaller.

This type of book (the original, that is) is generally for the collector or professional chef. Any cookbook over a hundred bucks has a pretty rarified market. At the very least, this reprint makes the recipes and the techniques of one of the world's greatest chefs accessible to a wider audience. Just don't expect it to be the big, lush volume you hoped it was. You get what you pay for.

Five stars for the information, one star for the presentation, three overall.

High priced absurdity? Hardly. Compared to Adria's or Pierre Gagnaire's texts, Ducasse's tome reminds me of a blown up, bulky version of the French Laundry. There are no foams. There are no overtly experimental techniques; save the odd sous vide recipe.
What it does include is classical french cuisine, refined and recontextualized. I completely disagree with the reviewer who chastised the release, discussing elements which simply are not present in this text. Truthfully, there is nothing here but material to elucidate cooking. Likewise apropos the translation, the ingredients, proportions, and techniques are perfect. Certainly there are some problematic semantic turns(words out of place, or occassional misspellings), but in general it is rather lucid.
As a whole, I can only say the size and weight of the book decreases my star rating. It would have been far more manageable and clearer if broken into several volumes. None the less the photography and the depth of these recipes(which include cleaning and butchering techniques) make up for it. I would wager that years from now, this volume will be viewed as the 21st centuries answer to the grand Escoffier tome.

In theory, this is a wonderful book. However, unless you know
French and have been cooking for a hundred years, you might want to think twice before shelling out this kind of money. The translation is AWFUL, with some recipe cmponents being translated two ways in two different places. There are hundreds of instances where the translation is simply WRONG. If you read French, you can sometimes puzzle it out.

The index is also inadequate. There are multiple components to many dishes that really could/should be stand-alone recipes. Yet in this encyclopedia, it is impossible to find these components without having memorized the main dish's title.

The pictures are wonderful. There are lots and lots of wonderful recipes in here, but somebody should have turned this over to some English speaking chefs and recipe writers before letting it hit the streets.

Big disappointment, and for what is probably the most expensive cookbook ever, it shouldn't be.

Buyer beware.

First and foremost this is a cookbook for serious cooks/chefs. No compromise in the ingredients or the techniques required executing the dishes. The recipes are very detailed and very complicated, and, as with many chef cookbooks, it assumes you know how to cook! Don't be in a hurry to produce the dishes, read many times, absorb the essence/idea of the dish and then you should go!

I've just started 'wading' through it and expect to be checking out the ideas here for a many weeks (I read most cookbooks in a day!). I have been waiting for this book for over a year (when the English translation was supposed to be published), and expect it be my new cooking/ideas reference.

For someone seriously into cooking this book is worth every cent (dollar?), especially with the amazon price! There are some translation/execution errors but to be honest anyone who knows how to cook and is used to Haute Cuisine style cookbooks can work the problems out fairly easily. And it is more usable than the more expensive (though interesting) Adria's El Bulli book.

I give would probably have given it 4 1/2 stars if it was an option, but it gets 5 for the shear quantity and quality of ideas, and the photography is superb.

This is actually much more useful than the original because it is a reasonable size and can be flipped through and really used. It is a tremendous resource because it explains exactly how the dishes are prepared in Ducasse's very serious and perfectionist restaurants with professional equipment, sous-vide, salamanders, etc. If you read French the small edition of the original is probably even more useful.

This could have been a wonderful book. There are many exciting recipes, both in concept and execution. Alas, where some techniques are explained ad nauseam, as if to a five year old, others have no explanation at all. Fortunately the original French titles appear alongside the English versions and quantities are given in metric as well as American measurements. There are a number of errors in the English version. Of particular interest are the recipes for sous-vide cooking. But,even here,timing is often omitted. I shall use the book but it is a disappointment. I wish I had bought it in the original French although there is no guarantee that the editors were any more attentive to its production

This book is the reprint of the bigger verson. It is a good book and also easier to carry around. The recipes are great. Its worthy to get it.

A quotation from the Introduction, written by Jean-Francois Revel, of the Academie Francaise: "By imitating the masters, one cannot of course reach their level of perfection, but one often escapes the routine of one's own banality. You are going to discover the French art, one which has never been so alive, in the following pages. May then and from now on your dream, inspired by Alain Ducasse, direct your hands, as fallible as they may be!" Rather edgy, I think, but probably accurate.

First, this is a thousand page volume, genuinely a Culinary Encyclopedia, pulled together by a team of chefs under famed chef, Alain Ducasse. There are some wild elements to it, such as lobster recipes from page 422 through page 491 (almost 70 pages worth of lobster works!). Some nice features at the close of this volume: a glossary of terms, some basic recipes (consomme, stocks, jellies, juices, etc.), serving quantities associated with different dishes, and a seasonal table of meats, vegetables, fruits.

Second, though, it's the recipes that make this book fascinating. Here, I'll say it at the outset. There are some (many, even most) recipes here that I would never try. I'm too impatient and don't know all the skills needed for some of the dishes. Take, for example, Wild Roasted Hare Saddle. The process of preparation and cooking is complex--from cutting up the hare and reserving its lungs, kidneys, heart, etc. Next, each segment of the recipe is complex, with steps one does not usually experience, such as shredding the hare's shoulders with pliers. You create a sauce, with a first and a second thickener, plus a garnish for the finale. I imagine that this would be delicious when eaten, but I get exhausted looking at the process of preparation.

However, there are some recipes that seem like they are doable and would be fun and taste good. Acacia Blossom Fritters for one. You begin with a bunch of acacia flowers and then create a fritter batter Put the acacia flowers in the batter and fry in grapeseed oil. Looks tasty!

This is an absolutely massive volume, and even though many recipes won't get into my household's menus, they are enchanting to read. For one thing, I admire the work of the team that would put these dishes together in a restaurant. For another, it makes me appreciate more what goes into the work of a "starred" restaurant.

So, even though the bulk of these recipes don't fit my modus operandi of cooking, I will try some and will appreciate what goes into fine dishes more than I ever did before.

I was excited to receive the book and examine the recipes. The book was not quite the 'exhaustive compendium' I had expected. It is not a Larousse Gastronomique of cooking, but it is an excellent reference and inspiration guide. One of the problems is that many of the ingredients are not readily available in most parts of the United States. That should not stop a good professional or advanced amateur from modifying the recipe with local fresh ingredients in mind.

The book is short on instructions. If you do not know the basics of braising, sauce preparation, saute, and other techniques of French cooking, buy another book with lengthier explanations like the Art of French Cooking first. I would highly recommend the book to food professionals.

The encyclopedia, illustrated with 1,000 color photographs, is organized around 100 "basic" ingredients. From acacia to zucchini, they were selected to inspire professional chefs, as well as experienced home cooks. We find the explanations quite easy to follow, and we like the measurements being given both in ounces and grams. What we also appreciate are the "Finish & Presentation" instructions, if you follow them, you will certainly get a round of applause from your guests.

The great thing about reading through this heavy book--over ten pounds!--which deserves space in your library as well as your kitchen, is that you'll feel, with very little experience, that you can actually succeed in recreating Ducasse's cuisine at home