Harvesting Excellence [Hardcover]

Alain Ducasse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2000

Alain Ducasse, the celebrated French chef, has discovered throughout the country, an excellence in food products that has inspired and reshaped his vision of Haute Cuisine. Whether it be in the cold Atlantic waters off the northern coast of Maine or the crimson-colored Arizona mountains, Alain Ducasse has found fishermen, ranchers and farmers across the nation whose products rank among the world's finest food. Harvesting Excellence celebrates the men and women who devote themselves to the artistry of creating first-rate food products. Here is the ultimate gourmet tour of what lies at the heart of all great cooking - great ingredients. And as a final touch, top chefs from all over the country give tips on selecting and preparing the best products for traditional or creative cooking.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The best chefs know that incredible meals don't start in the kitchen--they start with the farmers, butchers, and seafood merchants. Where you get your ingredients is the key to fine dining. In Harvesting Excellence, acclaimed chef Alain Ducasse, of Manhattan's Alain Ducasse at Essex House and two three-star Michelin restaurants, takes us on a journey across the United States to visit the people who supply restaurants with the highest-caliber ingredients.

"While each region had drawn from its terroir--the climate, soil, and sun--to yield singular products," says Ducasse, "the flare and individuality of the multiple cultural influences in the United States have set the stage for modern American cuisine." Visit Coach Farm in upstate New York, where fromager Miles Cahn makes fresh goat cheese daily with milk from his herd of 1,000 goats. From there travel to Portland, Maine, and attend a fish auction where a prize halibut goes for $20 a pound. In Silicon Valley, a four-generation family farm produces cherries and apricots in the midst of the booming technology empire--and prays that they won't lose their lease and fertile farmland to commercial ventures. A connoisseur of beef, Ducasse thinks the Makache cattle of Arizona, tended by true cowboys, rivals Kobe beef in flavor and texture. What an animal eats affects the flavor of its meat, so when pigs are fed apples (they prefer Macintoshes) their meat "tastes almost as though caramelized and resembles an old-fashioned candied roast." On this same farm in Pennsylvania, chickens are fed cornmash mixed with milk for a lighter, moister meal with a delicate flavor.

Whether visiting a farm famous for its smoked pepper or for its succulent Meyer lemons, Harvesting Excellence is an interesting, intimate look at the people who raise and cultivate the food so artfully presented to you at our nation's best restaurants. --Dana Van Nest

About the Author

Alain Ducasse, the imaginative and exacting master of contemporary Mediterranean cuisine, is hailed internationally as the greatest chef of his generation. He is chef of two three-star restaurants: Louis XV in Monte Carlo and Alain Ducasse in Paris.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Assouline; 1St Edition edition (October 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2843231914
• ISBN-13: 978-2843231919
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,716,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harvesting Excellence, November 11, 2000

By 

Elisabeth Prueitt (mill valley, ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harvesting Excellence (Hardcover)

This book should be an inspiration to both professional chefs and home cooks alike. It is beautifully written and photographed and conveys M. Ducasse's enjoyment of the abundance of the United States in it's many forms. To miss the inclusion of recipes is to miss the point. Of course the book is pointing out the bounty that is utilised at the restaurant, but it is there for all of us to enjoy and use. There are many, many farms across the U.S. similar to the ones profiled in the book, in every community. Many people just don't know that they are there. I would hope that this book is an inspiration to people to patronize their local food producers and to seek out farmers, fishermen, ranchers, cheesemakers et al who make it their life's work to produce something of quality for all to enjoy. Rarely has a chef written a book that is not entirely about themselves, to promote the work of others. And this chef is not even from this country.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what you'd expect from Ducasse (i.e. not a cookbook), November 1, 2000

By 

The Phantom Critic "baugmented" (Laguna Niguel, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harvesting Excellence (Hardcover)

This is not a cook book. It is a book about harvesting food in America. The pre-publication title was "America, Lands of Excellence," which has now changed to "Harvesting Excellence." Ducasse is a great chef (go to Paris with advance reservations for his restaurant, be ready to spend plenty ot time and money and you'll find out just how great)who demonstrates a great affection for food. This book demonstrates that affection, and it has beautiful photography. That said,to see beautiful full-color photos of lambs or ducks may not make some people hungry for lamb or duck. I personally don't have that problem with lobster.

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a great book but lovely photgraphs, January 20, 2012

By 

TomatoDave (Little Rock, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harvesting Excellence (Hardcover)

I found this book For $1.99 in a thrift shop. I agree it's more his musings on products than a cookbook. But it has some beautiful photography of food (9 x 12" format) and I'm going to frame the photos in my kitchen, which will make a striking display. If it were a great cookbook, I would not do that, but I think this is the highest and best use of this book. For $1.99, it comes out to about 10 cents per photgraph! I've had the privilege of dining at his restaurants, which was amazing but $$$$$, so there's a nice irony that I can enjoy his book's photography everyday for pennies!!