Thomas Keller chef proprieter of Napa Valley's French Laundry is passionate about bistro
cooking. He believes fervently that the real art of cooking lies in elevating to excellence the
simplest ingredients that bistro cooking embodies at once a culinary ethos of generosity
economy and simplicity that the techniques at its foundation are profound and the recipes at
its heart have a powerful ability to nourish and please. So enamored is he of this older
more casual type of cooking that he opened the restaurant Bouchon right next door to the
French Laundry so he could satisfy a craving for a perfectly made quiche or a gratineed onion
soup or a simple but irresistible roasted chicken. Now Bouchon the cookbook embodies this
cuisine in all its sublime simplicity. But let's begin at the real beginning. For Keller
great cooking is all about the virtue of process and attention to detail. Even in the humblest
dish the extra thought is evident which is why this food tastes so amazing: The onions for
the onion soup are caramelized for five hours lamb cheeks are used for the navarin basic but
essential refinements every step of the way make for the cleanest flavors the brightest
vegetables the perfect balance--whether of fat to acid for a vinaigrette of egg to liquid for
a custard of salt to meat for a duck confit. Because versatility as a cook is achieved
through learning foundations Keller and Bouchon executive chef Jeff Cerciello illuminate all
the key points of technique along the way: how a two-inch ring makes for a perfect quiche how
to recognize the right hazelnut brown for a brown butter sauce how far to caramelize sugar for
different uses. But learning and refinement aside--oh those recipes! Steamed mussels with
saffron bourride trout grenobloise with its parsley lemon and croutons steak frites beef
bourguignon chicken in the pot--all exquisitely crafted. And those immortal desserts: the
tarte Tatin the chocolate mousse the lemon tart the profiteroles with chocolate sauce. In
Bouchon you get to experience them in impeccably realized form. This is a book to cherish
with its alluring mix of recipes and the author's knowledge warmth and wit: "I find this a
hopeful time for the pig " says Keller about our yearning for the flavor that has been bred out
of pork. So let your imagination transport you back to the burnished warmth of an old-fashioned
French bistro pull up a stool to the zinc bar or slide into a banquette and treat yourself to
truly great preparations that have not just withstood the vagaries of fashion but have
improved with time. Welcome to Bouchon.
