L'Atelier of Joel Robuchon: The Artistry of a Master Chef and His Proteges [Hardcover]

Patricia Wells (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 1997

Jo?l Robuchon gives his very best, offering his peers and ambitious gourmets the opportunity to profit from his teaching and successfully recreate-with,the first time ever, all the "inside" information-the classic dishes that have elevated him to a place of international culinary respect and fame. The Atelier-we watch from the wings, able to observe the genesis of creation in Robuchon's own kitchens. Words and images reveal the mysteries of his gastronomic workshop. A privileged view of the gestures and glances of this contemplative world is offered, as we observe one of today's most inspired culinary teachers pass on his techniques and secrets. We are invited to participate in the excitement of a master at work with five of his most inspired pupils: Dominque Bouchet, Cristophe Cussac, Philippe Groult, Beno?t Guichard, and Maurice Guillouet. The Products-we are offered an understanding of eight keystone ingredients from the palette sensibilities of the master himself. Jo?l Robuchon explains why potatoes, caviar, scallops, c?pe mushrooms, sweetbreads, truffles, chestnuts, and almonds are his favorite products. He talks about his research and introduces us to his suppliers, whose attention to quality is second only to Robuchon's own quest for raw perfection. The Recipes-we participate in the unique synthesis of flavors, colors, and textures conceived by the master and his five prot?g?s. Their compositions tease exploration of the eight chosen products and lead us every time toward harmonious composition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

L'Atelier of Jo?l Robuchon Text by Patricia Wells L'Atelier As in painting, sculpture, or music, the art of gastronomy is born in the artist's studio-the kitchen. Presented in this body of culinary artistry, this atelier is a glimpse of the inner workings of Chef Jo?l Robuchon's kitchen, his philosophy, his eight favorite products, his own internationally acclaimed recipes, and those of five of his prot?g?s, trained in his atelier. Jo?l Robuchon is recognized as being one of the greatest chefs in the world. In this book, he has welcomed us into his privileged and secret universe, so that we may gain a better understanding of his inspiration, share in his knowledge, discover his work methods, his way of choosing ingredients, and of expressing and marrying flavors. Thanks to Patricia Wells' passionate and mouth-watering text, and over 300 unforgettable photographs by Herv? Amiard, Jo?l Robuchon's creative force bursts through the three sections of this unique work with the beauty and clarity of genius revealed.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471292974
• ISBN-13: 978-0471292975
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not enough from the master himself, November 2, 1999

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S. Kao (san francisco, ca United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: L'Atelier of Joel Robuchon: The Artistry of a Master Chef and His Proteges (Hardcover)

Very interesting to analyse the signature recipes of the master, but the bulk of the book contains recipes of Robuchon proteges -- of the 48 recipes in total, only 8 are by Robuchon, which was rather disappointing.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Omnibus of Profile, Pictures, and Recipes, June 1, 2004

By 

B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: L'Atelier of Joel Robuchon: The Artistry of a Master Chef and His Proteges (Hardcover)

Joel Robuchon is arguably the greatest living, working chef in the world. Patricia Wells is arguably one of the leading culinary journalists writing in English. And, Wells has already done a work on the cuisine of Joel Robuchon in the volume `Simply French' that won a James Beard award for best international cookbook in 1992. All this suggests this should be a great book. I also found things in this book that were not in `Simply French' which made this book more interesting to the reader; however, I did not find this a great, inspiring book for the cook. For the little concerns that lessened the overall impact of the volume, I give it only four stars rather than five.

I rate culinary works according to several different criteria, depending on the intended audience. The major accomplishments I value are lots of good, attainable, interesting recipes as in `James Beard's American Cookery'; masterful description of culinary technique as in Thomas Keller's `The French Laundry Cookbook', thoughtful reflections and revealing comments on culinary terroir, history, or culture as in Patience Gray's `Honey from a Weed'; accurate portrait of a regional cuisine as in David Downie's `Cooking the Roman Way', or exceptional presentation of a particular ingredient or branch of cooking as in Sherry Yard's masterful `The Secrets of Baking'. Memoirs such as Ruth Reichl's `Tender at the Bone' and straight journalism as in Tony Bourdain's `Kitchen Confidential' have their own special criteria, most of which is simply based on successfully telling an interesting story.

After all these reflections, I have to rate this volume somewhat below the very highest rank. The book addresses three subjects related to the career and art of Joel Robuchon.

The first subject is a brief chronicle of Robuchon's career, plus some comments on the careers of six of Robuchon's most prominent students. This section is a bit thin, but it does contain some interesting connections. It explains, for example, Robuchon's connection with and appearances on the Japanese produced show `Iron Chef' which appears regularly in translation on the Food Network. It turns out that Robuchon became enamored of Japanese cuisine early his career and he has a restaurant in Tokyo. He was also a very successful competitor in French culinary competitions early in his career. This section also reminds one of the practice of Thomas Keller. Wells describes Robuchon's kitchen as being quiet as a monastery, almost exactly the same description given by Michael Ruhlman of the kitchen at the French Laundry.

The second subject is a catalogue of Robuchon's favorite ingredients and their suppliers. Here is another parallel with Keller's French Laundry book, as Keller insisted that the book include profiles his of most important suppliers. Robuchon's hallmark ingredients are potatoes, caviar, scallops, cepes, sweetbreads, truffles, chestnuts, and almonds.

The third and largest section is a presentation of five or six recipes for each of the eight ingredients. Each recipe is the creation of Robuchon and one of his six disciples. Every recipe is spelled out in exquisite detail rarely seen in the methods of merely mortal chefs. Cooking times are given from exact milestones such as the time at which a pot of blanching water returns to a boil after adding vegetables. I confess some times and instructions are quite surprising to my totally amateur experience. I almost feel I need an explanation for why they poach asparagus for a full twenty minutes. I find asparagus totally limp and unappealing if it spends much more than five minutes in boiling water. Another major surprise is when a recipe puree's cooked scallops to be formed into quenelles on a mushroom puree. This brings back the comment of French cooking as being designed to suit people with bad teeth. In spite of the exquisitely detailed recipes, I did find a missing step here and there, where, for example, the recipe asks that cheese and potato slices be overlapped in a gratin without having given any instructions on how to slice the cheese.

A truly expert photograph of each finished dish accompanies every recipe by Herve Amiard, Robuchon's personal photographer. All are done with the food plated on a white plate, photographed from directly above the dish, with lighting always coming from the upper left (at about 2 o'clock). Dishes requiring special techniques as with grilled wild mushrooms with eggplant caviar are accompanied with detailed photographic montages and instructions to be certain that the reader can understand and follow the technique. This technique alone uses sixteen well-executed photographs.

This book includes two supplementary tables that enhance its value as a collection of recipes. The first is a tabulation of cooking times for each recipe, by ingredient. Don't get any impression that this book is a resource for quick cooking. The average prep and cook time is 90 minutes and some are as long as 10 hours. The second is a detailed table of contents. It is a little odd that these two tables duplicate a lot of information and their objectives could have been accomplished on two rather than on four folio-sized pages.

I am truly impressed by the modesty of the principle subject of the book and his collaborators. I just reviewed a book by a lesser French chef which might have been subtitled `An Advertisement for Myself'. In all, I found less new knowledge in this book than I found confirmation of statements by other great chefs. Robuchon, for example, confirms an observation made by Daniel Boulud that a cornerstone of culinary technique is repetition. You prepare a dish many, many times over until you know your ingredients and your techniques intimately.

Unlike Boulud's `Letters to a Young Chef', I don't think this book is required reading for foodies or professional chefs, but I think it is good stuff. It does several good things, but nothing great.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As a Chef, one of the best cookbooks out there., January 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: L'Atelier of Joel Robuchon: The Artistry of a Master Chef and His Proteges (Hardcover)

This cookbook/textbook is beautifully written and photographed. I recommened it to anyone who is a chef or aspires to be one. The recipes are a bit intense, so a lot of knowledge would help in the creation of the dishes. Caviar, truffles, potatoes, mushrooms? These are some of the finest things that the culinary world has to offer. Reading about one of the greatest chefs in the world will humble any cook. I admire him for his life long devotion to cooking. Robuchon is not a Chef who's idea of "making it" is resting on his laurels.