The Manresa cookbook!
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 2:28 am
Okay, it came out a month ago, but I just finished devouring the tome that is the Manresa cookbook. It is really fascinating to see what is behind dishes like Into The Vegetable Garden, as well as some of the process of developing them.
I'm not going to lie, having read almost every recipe, there is not much for the home cook to make. Even recipes like the caramels require "glucose syrup," which is apparently corn syrup minus the fake vanilla and salt that Karo sticks in there. (I found some at my local Jo-Ann Fabrics, in the candy section.) But that's just the beginning. Understandably, given the literal farm-to-table nature of the restaurant, a lot of the produce is difficult to come by. That goes double for people like me who wouldn't know a burdock if one bit me in the burdocks. There are also numerous sub-recipes that are used multiple times, like the Vegetable Broth (p.28), which is efficient for a restaurant but not for the home cook. Still, there are some more accessible components of recipes that I want to try, like the Celery Root Cream (p.208).
The good news, then, is that the recipes aren't dumbed down in the least. Everything, including the liquids and seasoning, is measured on a scale, to which I say, Bravo! Why should I have to dirty a spoon to get three teaspoons of something when I can just pour straight into a bowl on top of a scale? I'm not sure, however, if my home scale, which is nominally accurate to 1g, can accurately measure very small quantities like 4g salt. Luckily, he includes imperial volume measurements throughout so you can choose. Sometimes this yields humorous sequences of increasingly imprecise measures, such as "100g mint leaves / 3.5 oz. (about 4 bunches)".
The thing is, though, even without recipes this would be a book worth reading. The photography is gorgeous. Those of you who are familiar with Ten Speed Press in Berkeley will know that they really go for quality. At about $30, it's a steal.
As always, I have no affiliation except as someone who has been to Manresa enough that they know us as diners.
I'm not going to lie, having read almost every recipe, there is not much for the home cook to make. Even recipes like the caramels require "glucose syrup," which is apparently corn syrup minus the fake vanilla and salt that Karo sticks in there. (I found some at my local Jo-Ann Fabrics, in the candy section.) But that's just the beginning. Understandably, given the literal farm-to-table nature of the restaurant, a lot of the produce is difficult to come by. That goes double for people like me who wouldn't know a burdock if one bit me in the burdocks. There are also numerous sub-recipes that are used multiple times, like the Vegetable Broth (p.28), which is efficient for a restaurant but not for the home cook. Still, there are some more accessible components of recipes that I want to try, like the Celery Root Cream (p.208).
The good news, then, is that the recipes aren't dumbed down in the least. Everything, including the liquids and seasoning, is measured on a scale, to which I say, Bravo! Why should I have to dirty a spoon to get three teaspoons of something when I can just pour straight into a bowl on top of a scale? I'm not sure, however, if my home scale, which is nominally accurate to 1g, can accurately measure very small quantities like 4g salt. Luckily, he includes imperial volume measurements throughout so you can choose. Sometimes this yields humorous sequences of increasingly imprecise measures, such as "100g mint leaves / 3.5 oz. (about 4 bunches)".
The thing is, though, even without recipes this would be a book worth reading. The photography is gorgeous. Those of you who are familiar with Ten Speed Press in Berkeley will know that they really go for quality. At about $30, it's a steal.
As always, I have no affiliation except as someone who has been to Manresa enough that they know us as diners.