Don't Try This at Home: Culinary Catastrophes From the World's Greatest Cooks and Chefs
Author: Kimberly Witherspoon
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME
Culinary Catastrophes from the World’s Greatest Chefs
A hilarious and heartening collection of kitchen disasters.
In this raucous new collection, over forty of the world’s greatest chefs relate outrageous true tales from their kitchens. From hiring a blind line cook to flooding the room with meringue to being terrorized by a French owl, these behind-the-scenes accounts are as wildly entertaining as they are revealing. A delicious reminder that even the chefs we most admire aren’t always perfect, Don't Try This at Home is a must-have for anyone who loves food or is fascinated by those who masterfully prepare it.
Ferrán Adrià on when lobsters go bad José Andrés on asking for help
Dan Barber on talking to your fish Mario Batali on the perfect risotto Michelle Bernstein on the many uses of chocolate Heston Blumenthal on the angriest maître d’ in England
Daniel Boulud on one thousand bowls of soup
Anthony Bourdain on beating up the customers Jimmy Bradley on drinking games Scott Bryan on too many salamanders
David Burke on hiding the laundry
Samuel Clark on cooking for royalty
Tom Colicchio on sneaking through customs Scott Conant on the persistence of eels Tamasin Day-Lewis on how not to store a pheasant Tom Douglas on the strange destiny of snowstorms Wylie Dufresne on birds of prey Jonathan Eismann on the healing powers of electricity
Claudia Fleming on runaway meringue
Gabrielle Hamilton on second sight Fergus Henderson on the far from ordinary Paul Kahan on caller ID Hubert Keller on tempting fate Giorgio Locatelli on theart of the French ambush Michael Lomonaco on feeding Pavarotti
Pino Luongo on summer school in the Hamptons Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger on getting away with it
Sara Moulton on how to destroy a food processor
Tamara Murphy on the misuses of foie gras
Cindy Pawlcyn on eating at home Neil Perry on unexpected showers Michel Richard on how to rescue a wayward cake
Eric Ripert on getting to the kitchen Alain Sailhac on salty coffee and solitary confinement Marcus Samuelsson on the languages of gelatin
Bill Telepan on the Fish Guys versus the Meat Guys Laurent Tourondel on rib-eye rush hour
Tom Valenti on the grounds for revenge Norman Van Aken on Key West hi-jinks Geoffrey Zakarian on a license to eat dangerously
Publishers Weekly
Food is fast becoming entertainment, so it's only natural that it should follow in the footsteps of sports and show business and offer up a collection of bloopers. Literary agent Witherspoon and food writer Friedman corralled 40 gastronomic heavyweights to share their versions of dinners gone wrong. The highlight is, unsurprisingly, the piece by chef and bestselling author Anthony Bourdain. His "New Year's Meltdown" is a case study in what happens when you don't plan (Bourdain admits, "Nobody likes a `learning experience'-translating as it does to `a total ass-fucking'-but I learned"). Mario Batali's "The Last Straw," though not relating a culinary catastrophe per se, is runnerup: Batali was in culinary school when he clashed with a chef; in a spectacular crescendo, the chef hurled a pan of risotto at the young student, but revenge was sweet. But for every fantastic screwup, there's a dud. The translated pieces (such as the one by Spanish titan Ferr n Adri ) fail to captivate, and others, like Jimmy Bradley's tale about how he got drunk on the job to spite his boss, are neither entertaining nor instructive. Still, this collection happily reminds us that even big shots have off days. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Russ Parsons - Los Angeles Times
"As in every other profession, chefs love their war stories. Finally someone had the good sense to collect some of the best in "Don't Try This at Home"... If you liked "Kitchen Confidential" for its frank behind-the-scenes glimpses of kitchen life (rather than the profanity and the heroin), you'll love this book."
Library Journal
"A fantastic collection of personal stories that depict these great chefs as real people. Readers are certain to learn valuable culinary lessons from chefs' mistakes and their various and creatively solved dilemmas. This book is sure to be enjoyed by culinary fans across the board."
Library Journal
Literary agent Witherspoon and culinary writer Friedman teamed with 40 professional chefs to compile this eclectic collection of cooking mishaps and near disasters. These short, anecdotal stories offer the reader a sometimes comical and always unique glimpse behind the scenes of restaurant kitchens. The result is a fantastic collection of personal stories that depict these great chefs as real people. The vast majority of tales comes from chefs in New York City, but there are also stories from professional cooks in other U.S. cities as well as England, Australia, and Spain. Furthermore, the editors preface each chef's story with a short biography, which enriches the work. While the text does not offer any recipes, readers are certain to learn valuable culinary lessons from the chefs' mistakes and their various and creatively solved dilemmas. Perfect for public libraries of all sizes, this book is sure to be enjoyed by culinary fans across the board.-Lisa A. Ennis, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham Lib., Lister Hill Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Short tales from celebrated chefs sharing their worst moments. Take a handful of culinary masters, toss in stories of utter humiliation or heartache, and you wind up with a spicy little essay collection with a flavor not unlike that of America's Funniest Home Videos, in which the most successful vignettes are invariably those in which the subjects suffer the most. And there is plenty of room for misery in a kitchen. The collection begins with the worst day in the professional life of Ferran Adria. Dubbed "the Salvador Dal' of the kitchen" by Gourmet magazine, Adria was preparing to whip up a private dinner for 3,200 guests when he discovered that the lobsters were spoiled. A disaster, but at least he didn't get fired. Jimmy Bradley can't say the same; the NewYork-based chef and restaurant owner shares a story of how he got abysmally drunk on the job early in his career (he was a reluctant participant in a drinking game) and was summarily dismissed the next day. Wylie Dufresne (honored in 2001 as one of the best new chefs in the country by Food & Wine magazine) relates a story of being plagued during an apprenticeship in a French kitchen by an owl who decided to roost under his bed, while Food Network star Sara Moulton remembers the time she was tormented by an uncooperative food processor when she tried to impress her sister with mashed potatoes. And Anthony Bourdain, ever dependable, delivers the goods with a satisfyingly apocalyptic story about a disastrous New Year's Eve. Lots of fun for foodies both ardent and casual.
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Classic French Cooking: Recipes for Mastering the French Kitchen
Author: Elisabeth Luard
Written by the prize winning author Elisabeth Luard, Classic French Cooking is a product of a lifetime of learning. In this book she brings together the core recipes that are the building blocks for all French cooking. It guarantees the reader an easy entree into the world of regional French cooking and many hours of enjoyable creativity in the kitchen.
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