Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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82 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fills in what the book can't show you, February 21, 2007
Growing up I learned what I know of cooking by watching my mom (a very good cook) prepare meals over the course of years. I've since become a bit of an amateur foodie with aspirations of being able to prepare more complicated dishes at home.
One thing that has always been frustrating, however, is a lack of any formal instruction or technique. So when I bought the book of Pepin's "Complete Techniques" I was eager to learn. Alas, I realized that even with black and white photos accompanying each of the steps, there were a lot of things I simply didn't understand, or could only guess at what was meant.
Cue this DVD set -- I stumbled upon it looking for other editions of the book, and ordered it immediately. Since its arrival a few weeks ago I've watched it many times and I've subjected at least a dozen people to watch at least the omlette-making lesson.
This DVD is far and away the best thing that has happened to my cooking skills in the last ten years. Humans learn by imitation and it's much easier to learn when watching someone actually doing and walking you through the technique than trying to read it out of a book. All the TV shows and specials gloss over the fundamental techniques you need in order to get anywhere. As in all arts, without a good grasp of the basic moves, you'll get hopelessly lost very quickly when you attempt anything beyond the remedial.
I can't recommend this DVD set highly enough if you, like me, have always wanted some kind of cooking "training" but can't make the time to go to a class or take lessons.
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83 of 85 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
a half hearted package, November 30, 2007
i'd like to start by saying that nobody has influenced my cooking more than jacques pepin, save maybe my mother, and i cannot think of one person who is technically more able than he in the kitchen. if you're familiar with his cooking, you know his technique is flawless. After all, he is the man who wrote this book, which makes him the logical choice for a DVD of techniques.
but unfortunately this set of DVD's is not a companion to his book - not even close. what you get here are outtakes from various PBS specials/series, hacked and edited into short clips that show you how to do various tasks in the kitchen. this doesn't sound so bad in theory, but the selection of techniques themselves are not terribly varied - a LOT is left out. as others have mentioned, there is no 'play all' feature, which makes watching all the clips a chore. the menus are poorly laid out, and some of the "content" of this set consists of recipes literally written on the screen - no video of preparation, nothing. it's not that what you see is a poorly explained or performed technique - quite the contrary - it's just that the presentation and the completeness of content is subpar.
in fact, a majority of the techniques found in this set can be seen performed & explained by jacques during the episodes of his Fast Food My Way series, which is also available on DVD. if you purchased that set - or watched it on PBS - you could pick up almost everything contained here, as well as see him prepare a multitude of dishes. i think it would be much more valueable to someone wanting to see these techniques in action. it's an excellent series and i would highly recommend it.
i understand it's unreasonable to expect a re-creation of his complete techniques book on DVD - such a task would be massive and costly. i also understand that someone who has very little technical training in the kitchen could pick up quite a bit from these DVD's. they are in no way useless. i just feel that the presentation and content is sorely lacking, and found this to be a rather lackluster effort on the part of PBS. they should produce a series with jacques based on this premise and publish it in its entirety, rather than try to put something together piecemeal.
* updated 10/7/09: i stumbled upon this set a couple of nights ago, and decided to watch it again to see if my impressions had changed at all. in retrospect, i think my rating was a bit harsh. i'd bump it up to three stars if i could. there are a couple of reasons for this: first, there are techniques in here that you don't see in his regular episodes, some of which will prove helpful to home cooks, and it's good to be able to watch them somewhere. second, and more importantly, i started thinking about the value of this set to someone who's really new in the kitchen. i think that despite the layout issues with regard to the dvd menus (which are still just as bad as i remembered them), it would be beneficial for someone new in the kitchen to work their way through these discs. they're not flawless, but there's enough important information here to make it worthwhile. finally, there are some things contained here that just need to be documented before everybody forgets how to do them! deboning an entire chicken - and keeping it in one piece - immediately comes to mind. also, the often tried and seemingly never duplicated .0003 second french omelette is as mind blowing as ever. it's good that you can just put these clips on and watch them over and over again to try and mimic the technique.
so still not the greatest package in the world, but i think until something better comes along this is worth your time. especially since it's inexpensive. (i still think we need some type of jacques pepin meets harold mcgee technique/food science series to help home cooks better understand WHAT they're doing in the kitchen and WHY. KQED i'm looking at you!)
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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not So Complete, March 9, 2007
This DVD is a reworking of a TV series from the mid-90s that was released on VHS as "Jacques Pepin's Cooking Techniques". Unfortunately, not everything from the original series has been included on the DVD. As stated by other reviewers the presentation format in the DVD is also combersome, with most segments lasting less than five minutes and then returning to the menu.
It would have made a much better product and been less disjointed if they just released on DVD the original series as originally made. Also the DVD features a couple of segements from Jacques' early 90s series "Today's Gourmet". It would be great if KQED would release these on DVD also.
Nevertheless, the DVD does present the basic and most common techniques used in the kitchen, and is useful for anyone who wants to improve their skills as a cook.
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