[.ca] Le Bernardin Cookbook: Four-Star Simplicity (ISBN 0385488416)

From Amazon.com:
At Le Bernardin, seafood is always the star. From the day this posh restaurant opened in New York City, it was recognized for revolutionizing the way fish was prepared. Chef-owner Gilbert Le Coze and his sister, Maguy, quickly gained an exalted four-star rating for their original, impeccable, exquisite food, which you can now reproduce at home using their recipes. Le Coze avoided using classic sauces because, lacking professional training, he did not know how to make them. Instead, he created Carpaccio of Tuna, a kind of paper-thin sashimi on a plate, Baked Sea Urchins, and Roast Monkfish on a Bed of Sautéed Savory Cabbage with Bacon, a dish that is both rustic and rich. When Gilbert died in 1994, at just 48, his chef de cuisine, Eric Ripert, stepped in and has continued to dazzle with his own fish dishes. Ripert, who had a classical chef's training, is especially innovative in his Poached Lobster in Lemongrass-Ginger Bouillon. If following three pages of meticulously clear instructions for handling the lobsters, puréeing their coral, and much more is not for you, try the salmon fillets served in a magically cream-free but creamy lemon sauce, the Roast Cod Niçoise flavored with basil, capers, and black olives, or the saffron-and-orange-perfumed Fish Soup. Le Bernardin's desserts are famous, too. A reasonably competent cook can create ecstasy with the Bitter Chocolate Soufflé Cake, lavish with dark chocolate, butter, eggs, and just one tablespoon of flour. If you read mostly cookbooks, the spirited dialogue between Ripert and Maguy, their anecdotes of culinary adventures, and characteristically Gallic commentary may divert you. Typically, Maguy says, "My favorite way to eat calamari is with a nice green salad. How American!" Seems the French only ate a lettuce salad with meats until nouvelle cuisine came along in the 1970s, and Maguy still considers it an aberration with seafood. Just as her taste has changed, this book may open you to new experiences with seafood. --Dana Jacobi

The fish master:
I've eaten at Le Bernardin a couple of times and although I occasionally felt overwhelmed by the NYC high-powered patrons, I always left the table impressed and glad to pay the high pricetag. Meals there are tremendous. I was afraid I might be intimidated by this book but was pleasantly surprized. Not only was the book beautiful in presentation, layout and illustration, but the introductions, recipes and ingredients were very useable, easy to execute and a gastronomic success when I tried them. This is a book for every cookbook library.

It made me a great chef!:
Simply, the recipes all work. The first recipe I made was a relatively simple shrimp dish. My 13 year old (not a purveyor usually of haute cuisine) said "those are the best shrimp I ever had". It was true. Cooking lobster in cognac led to similar raves from the guests. I can't duplicate the room of my favorite NY restaurant, but I have yet to produce a dud from this book.

Great food, surprisingly achievable:
Unlike some other reviewers, I've always found Le Bernardin and its staff to be very warm and accommodating. That feeling comes through in the text and personal reminiscences included in this book. The big surprise for me was how very well written the recipes are. Although there is plenty here for the over-achieving home chef, well over half of the recipes can accommodate a harried schedule and/or moderate talents in the kitchen. If you scan through the book and follow Le Bernardin's three-course format, you can put together an unbelievably elegant dinner in a reasonable amount of time.

Four-Star Simplicity with Seafood:
I'm really into seafood, and this is the cookbook for that genre. The sophistication of taste and presentation is the ultimate maxization of the fresh seafood. One is impressed instantly upon perviewing the recipes and trying them of the intense experience this chef has had with the ingredients and prep techniques. Four-star chefbooks are typically intimidating due to all the ingredients and steps, but here it's minimal, yet turns out utmost in culinary heights. Try these, they'll be knockout dishes! Pan-Roasted Grouper with Wild Mushrooms and Artichokes (served with unbelievable pork jus); Roast Monkfish on Savoy Cabbage and Bacon-Butter Sauce; Black Bass in Cabbage Packages with Purple Mustard Sauce; Yellowtail Snapper with Garden Vegetables. Accompaniments are worth paper as well, with monster dinner dessert of "Earl Grey Tea and Mint Soup with Assorted Fruit;Gruyere and Potato Cakes. Tough one to match in my extensive collection!

Best Cookbook Ever:
This is easily the best cookbook I have ever used. Very high quality dishes and presentations; and most (though not all) of the recipes can be executed by any reasonably well-stocked kitchen provided one has access to a high quality fish market .