Escargot

I was walking through London’s SoHo on a day off while doing interviews during the Olympics. I was just walking around and I saw this restaurant Escargot that Marco Pierre White owns. Being a big chef groupie I stopped and took a picture. I first heard about Marco Pierre White in Bill Bufford’s book Heat. He was recounting a story of Mario Batalli working for White and getting so pissed off at him he threw a bunch of salt into his sauces and walking out. If you want to see a video with a young Gordon Ramsay as a kitchen slave this one is priceless.

A Great Read - Heat

Okay by read, I mean an audio book I listened to. Heat is a true story about the author Bill Buford who was writing and editing for New Yorker magazine. One day he throws a birthday dinner party for a friend and invites Mario Batali, who he didn't think would show up. Mario and he become friends and Bill asks to become a kitchen slave at Babbo, Batali's flagship restaurant. He thought he had some cooking skills but he really learns the difference between home and pro cooks. Later in the book he makes trips to Italy, learning pasta making from Batali's teacher. Later in Italy he starts an apprenticeship to a Dante quoting butcher. Not a new book but it is great if you want to step into someone else's shoes for a while. The narrator on this audio book was great, Michael Kramer totally took me on the theatre of the mind journey.

Here is an embeded video from the Charlie Rose Show where he talks to Bill Buford, great stories.

Ruhlman's Twenty

Michael Ruhlman is one of my favorite food authors. The first book I "read" was actually an audio book from Audible it was...

The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America

This was a really good story but I was disappointed that he didn't read it. He is all over television now as a judge on Iron Chef and with Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations and I am used to his voice. This book was early in his career so it was before he was a known personality, so no one was demanding to hear him back then. I got used to the narrator and it was a great story about him going through the paces of being a student at the Culinary Institute of America.

My new favorite book of his is "Ruhlman's Twenty" it isn't so much a cookbook as it is a guide. He teaches basic techniques, much like the vicarious CIA training in the Making of a Chef. It is a reference book that gives you basic skills that if you master them, you can go off and try all kinds of variations. The depth of the information and the breakdown of the 20 basic techniques is amazing. There are recipes in the book but I wouldn't call it a cook book, it is a cooking skills tutorial. Michael's wife Donna made the excellent photos in the book. Everyone who likes to cook should get this. Oh yes and this would make a horrible audio book!