I just finished with "A Day at El Bulli" and now it's on to Ramsay's 3 Star Chef. Like most of the celebrity chef's out there he wasn't just handed a tv show. He worked his ass off with some of the best chefs in the world to get where he is. Look past the tv shows and the persona, look at the book. There is a wealth of knowledge to be had. Everyone wants to do "avante garde", but can you cook. I have this talk with a lot of my guys and gals. If you can't get the basics then how are you going to interpret the proper use of some of these ingredients.
I worked for some hardcore frenchies, went to work afraid to mess anything up, but learned alot. This book reminds me of blinding vegetable prep, upmost respect for ingredients, utilize everything, and focus. The memories of working my way up, having that feeling of geting a compliment from your chef for a job well done and then 10 minutes later being demoralized in front of the entire kitchen staff for putting up a dish that seemed perfect in your eyes but the chef disagrees.
I love the el bulli, alinea, moto, fat duck, and ryugin food and concepts but this brings it back for me. It seems like every once in a while we have to go back to go forward.
I hear that. Everyone tends to get tunnel vision now that the onslaught of hyper-modern cookbooks are prevalent. Sometimes, bringing yourself back to the WHY of cooking, instead of the WHAT IF, can be totally refreshing. That book is truly underrated.
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