Le Gavroche Cookbook

Rating:
Summary: A serious book for serious cooks
Review: Established in 1967 by brothers Michel and Albert Roux, Le Gavroche once and for all knocked soundly on the head the internationally-held notion that there was no good food to be had in Britain. Of course, there are some who still believe that, but these are also the kind of people who believe that the earth is flat.
Since their publication of New Classic Cuisine in the late 1970s, the Roux Brothers have been household names in Europe. When I was just beginning to seriously expand my culinary horizons in the early 80s, this book was the Bible. To a large extent, it still is. Fads come and go, but for me, there will never be a replacement for New Classic Cuisine.
This excellent new book by Albert Roux’s son, Michel, who has been running Le Gavroche kitchen since the early 1990s, is a worthy addition to the Roux Brothers' culinary canon. No one has ever accused the Roux Brothers of being shy or self-effacing: they know their place in the here and now, and are doubtless confident of their place in history. Michel Jr. is equally certain of his greatness: witness the celebrity autographs which crowd the end papers of this handsome volume, and the cartoon rendition of the chef’s bearded visage fired onto every presentation plate that is put before a diner. Vanity or good humor? It’s probably not worth arguing over, because the food is really all that matters. With cuisine as exciting as this, one can forgive all kinds of egotism.
This excellent book is divided into seasons. Many of the ingredients are hard to find, especially in the United States, and would require a special effort to locate. That’s the nature of this kind of cookery, though. If you want to eat the best food, you need to order the finest ingredients. Many of the recipes are complicated, and require considerable experience, so this is definitely not a book for beginners.
Stylistically, the cuisine represented here is an innovative blend of classic Gavroche infused with a healthy dollop of Pacific Rim, fusion-style cooking. Modernist dishes like pan-fried foie gras with spiced breadcrumbs or smoked eel and carrot salad sit comfortably alongside such classics as souffle suissesse or roast rack of pork with a charcuterie sauce. If you aren’t planning a visit to the UK for a while, but have an interest in sampling the best of that land’s cooking, you could do a lot worse than shell out $... for this book. Of course, the ingredients and the cookware required to do these recipes justice will probably cost about the same as a plane ticket and lunch for two at this outstanding restaurant.