Random Food Questions Thread

[foodguy]

what is your skill level? how much cooking do you do now? there's a whole helluva lot more to cooking that food than following a recipe. if you're a reasonably skilled home cook and y ou want a good baby steps book, pick up the robuchon/wells "simply french".

 

[ehkay]



I want to spend less than 100€/$. Best value would be good.
e to call for foie gras and alba truffles in every recipe.

As for style - I'm not sure. I guess some basic French stuff would be good - nouvelle cuisine? I also like the Japanese cuisine a lot, but most cooks - e.g. Bras - do so, too thus it automatically is Japanese-inspired.

http://www.amazon.de/Grand-Livre-Cu...46/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1324422346&sr=8-12

It only calls for foie gras an alba truffles in every other recipe. The other ones call for perigord truffles.

or since you're in germany

http://www.amazon.de/Christian-Bau-...intl-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1324422483&sr=1-1-catcorr

A lot of the stuff in this one looks pretty doable, and really good if you're willing to splurge on ingredients. Doesn't really call for any scientific ingredients, and only a few recipes even call for sous vide. Bau's newer book picks up more asian influenced stuff, but also gets a lot more complicated in technique, and if not that, the shear number of components in the a lot of the recipes would make them difficult to pull off without an army of stagieres.

 

[foodguy]



http://www.amazon.de/Grand-Livre-Cu...46/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1324422346&sr=8-12
It only calls for foie gras an alba truffles in every other recipe. The other ones call for perigord truffles.
or since you're in germany
http://www.amazon.de/Christian-Bau-...intl-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1324422483&sr=1-1-catcorr
A lot of the stuff in this one looks pretty doable, and really good if you're willing to splurge on ingredients. Doesn't really call for any scientific ingredients, and only a few recipes even call for sous vide. Bau's newer book picks up more asian influenced stuff, but also gets a lot more complicated in technique, and if not that, the shear number of components in the a lot of the recipes would make them difficult to pull off without an army of stagieres.

with all due respect, without a pretty advanced skill set already, that's like handing an electrical engineering manual to a guy who just wants to play world of warcraft.

 

[b1os]

@fg: I think my cooking skills in "normal" circles would be considered as intermediate/advanced. Compared to matt, mm, manton, you etc. I'm a blunt amateur. I don't know an awful lot of techniques, but I think I learn pretty fast and can adapt quite good to new techniques. I really just need a picture to get a fealing for what it should look like. What do you think of Robuchon's Grand Livre de Cuisine? At a local store, I took a quick look at a newer edition, a German version, and it seemed quite good - however, 10 steps per recipe mostly seem a *little* too much...: http://www.amazon.de/Robuchon-Klass...0589/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324421869&sr=8-1
Is this what you mean with baby steps? Do you think I'm overestimating myself with these recipes? I don't mind spending a lot of time on it - which I guess I will - when I fancy doing it, if that's what's your main concern.

JFYI @AEK: I do not want to splurge on ingredients. We simply don't have the money for it. I doubt I'll cook with truffles often, now that I think of it. 1g is about 2-3€ and most recipes call for 20-40g which is like 40-75€ just for one aromatic. Foie gras however, which I also consider as a haute cuisine ingredient, is more affordable. Is there a flaw in my thinking?

Edit: For example the recipe on page 251 looks very nice. It's not expensive and looks very nice - and I guess it tastes delicious, too.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Grand Livre is a great book. It demands a lot of skill, but is a nice way to learn things. Well done with all of those pics. Many are the same recipes from Simply French, but professionalized. I think I've made all of them at least once, so if you have questions, post them and I will try to help.

 

[impolyt_one]

truffles are a splendid luxury, there is simply no denying that they are expensive.

I have paid some good money for food before, but can't ever imagine putting together one of those salads of thickly cut truffles in Simply French, that could be $400 of food by today's prices. Really just beyond reality at this point, no matter how much money one has.

 

[edinatlanta]

I really want to improve my knife skills what's the best way to learn?

 

[foodguy]



truffles are a splendid luxury, there is simply no denying that they are expensive.
I have paid some good money for food before, but can't ever imagine putting together one of those salads of thickly cut truffles in Simply French, that could be $400 of food by today's prices. Really just beyond reality at this point, no matter how much money one has.

that's true, but you have to remember the world has changed a lot in the 20 years since that book was published. back then, you could buy first-growth bordeaux for $25 a bottle. I remember my first trip to Alba in the late '80s and we ate white truffles like crazy ... risotto would come with a half-inch drift of them ... and i don't think we ever paid more than $20 or $25. it is great that so many people are interested in food, but it has undeniably affected the prices of specialty ingredients.

 

[foodguy]



I really want to improve my knife skills what's the best way to learn?

1) sharpen your knife. 2) buy LOTS of potatoes and onions. 3) dice. repeat until you puke.

 

[itsstillmatt]



truffles are a splendid luxury, there is simply no denying that they are expensive.
I have paid some good money for food before, but can't ever imagine putting together one of those salads of thickly cut truffles in Simply French, that could be $400 of food by today's prices. Really just beyond reality at this point, no matter how much money one has.

Like this?

 

[edinatlanta]

M

Like this?

Matt you can cook for me whenev

 

[impolyt_one]



that's true, but you have to remember the world has changed a lot in the 20 years since that book was published. back then, you could buy first-growth bordeaux for $25 a bottle. I remember my first trip to Alba in the late '80s and we ate white truffles like crazy ... risotto would come with a half-inch drift of them ... and i don't think we ever paid more than $20 or $25. it is great that so many people are interested in food, but it has undeniably affected the prices of specialty ingredients.

yeah, I would've chalked it up to that. Just so many things in this world that are no longer really affordable even 10 or 20 years on - i.e. pretty much everything people like on this website. I also find all the mail order sources in that book quite whimsical, haha.

 

[impolyt_one]



Like this?

oui - how thickly do you cut the truffles for those salads? they look quite thick in the book.

 

[b1os]



Grand Livre is a great book. It demands a lot of skill, but is a nice way to learn things. Well done with all of those pics. Many are the same recipes from Simply French, but professionalized. I think I've made all of them at least once, so if you have questions, post them and I will try to help.

You mean Ducasse's one from 01/2009, right? (1k pages, each recipe has a full-page picture of the finished dish) Just asking since there are so many different books out there. This looks like a good one and affordable with a price of 50€.
Thanks for the offer to help!

 

[itsstillmatt]



oui - how thickly do you cut the truffles for those salads? they look quite thick in the book.

Pretty thick. Maybe 2 mm. The mac and cheese I posted recently has a layer of truffles 3 mm thick. You can only do it once in a while, but if you do, black truffles are not that expensive.

b1os - the Robuchon one, not Ducasse.