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The history of cooking describes the development of culture as much as art and architecture, yet it is a story that is not often told. Fitz Gubler is doing his part to change that with this beautiful book.

Starting with Fernand Point, the godfather of French cooking, Gubler follows the trail of 20 brilliant chefs across the 20th century. Their stories are peppered with personal anecdotes about the influences, mentors, philosophies and experiments behind their fame.

Each chef’s story is accompanied with beautiful images of their dishes and their restaurants, as well as one recipe illustrating the style of food that made them famous. The chefs’ stories are interspersed with essays on different aspects that have affected cuisine over the decades, from the role of the critic to fusion and molecular cooking.

Despite the rich material and intricate cooking styles this book remains approachable and enjoyable. Surprisingly the recipes are not complicated and are written in a way that allows you to interpret as well as replicate. Tetsuya’s confit of ocean trout is explained, Alain Ducasse shares the secrets of his Baba au Rhum and Thomas Keller’s Oysters and Pearls , an elegant and sensual dish that plays on words and flavours, is documented.

This is a truly indulgent look at 20 of the best restaurants and chefs around the world. A culinary tour of some of the greatest influences on cookery and cuisine, that can be enjoyed in your lounge room and recreated in your kitchen.

You can try some of the beautiful recipes from this book below -
Tetsuya’s Signature Dish of Confit of Ocean Trout
Alain Ducasse’s Signature Dish of Baba au Rhum
Thomas Keller’s Signature Dish of Oysters and Pearls

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Jamie talks about his new book, Jamie’s America – Jamie will try real American food and meet the most interesting cooks and producers that this vast country has to offer. His epic journey will take him to the heart of America: its people, culture, music and, most importantly, its food. Along the way Jamie will be getting his hands dirty – meeting hunters, cowboys, fishermen and local producers – as he finds out about the best (and strangest) ingredients on offer. He won’t just be sampling, he’ll be getting involved: entering a gumbo ‘throw-down’ in Louisiana, fishing in California and sampling bison in Montana as he joins life on a ranch. As well as being a visually stunning journey, “Jamie’s America” is a practical cookbook, with each chapter focusing on the food and recipes of a different state. And the food will be as varied as the landscapes – from spicy Mexican in the desert to freshly caught Alaskan salmon. With 120 brand new recipes, and Jamie’s diary narrative running alongside, this will be a celebratory cookbook of a country with a wide food heritage.

Product Description

“Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey” is an ambitious journey, avoiding the beaten track and tourist hot-spots, in search of the authentic food of Southeast Asia. In this accompanying book to the major BBC series, Rick shares his favourite recipes and some well-known classic dishes inspired by the fragrant ingredients and recipes he sampled from local chefs, family-run restaurants, street vendors and market stalls. In Cambodia, Rick learns how to make a national dish Samlor kako, a stir-fried pork and vegetable soup flavoured with an array of spices; in Vietnam he is shown the best recipe for Pho Bo, a Vietnamese beef noodle soup; and, in Thailand, Rick tries Geng Leuong Sai Gung Lai Sai Bua, a yellow curry made with prawns and lotus shoots that you won’t find outside the country. “Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey” includes over 150 new recipes from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Bali each complemented by Rick’s colourful anecdotes from the trip and beautiful on-location photography. This is a visually-stunning culinary tribute to Southeast Asian cooking that evokes the magic of bustling markets, the sizzle of oil and the aromatic steam from a Far Eastern kitchen.

About the Author

Rick Stein is a well-loved and respected chef, TV presenter and author who has produced an array of award-winning books and television series, including Rick Stein’s Seafood, Seafood Lover’s Guide, Taste of the Sea, Food Heroes, French Odyssey, Mediterranean Escapes and most recently Coast to Coast. All of his books and programmes show a commitment to good-quality produce, sustainable fishing and good husbandry. Rick owns four restaurants, a delicatessen, a patisserie, a seafood cookery school and forty guest bedrooms in the small fishing port of Padstow, Cornwall. In 2003, Rick was awarded an OBE for services to West Country Tourism. He divides his time between Padstow and Australia, which he regards as his second home.

Rick Stein talks about his Far Eastern Odyssey

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Contrasting textures, fresh flavours and hot and sour sacues … In this extract from Rick Stein’s latest book, Far Eastern Odyssey, the intrepid chef recreates some of the tantalising dishes he encountered in Vietnam

Rick Stein | The Observer | Sunday 19 July 2009

What an introduction to Vietnam: to board a riverboat in Phnom Penh and meander down the Mekong. As we crossed the border from Cambodia the personality of the Vietnamese was immediately apparent. Everywhere on the banks was industriousness: boats being mended, cooking on junks, intense cultivation of vegetables and fruit. Fish farms on either bank: floating pontoons with a couple of wooden huts, each with a barking guard dog or two.

On board we enjoyed some of the classic dishes of the country: at one stage Vietnamese spring rolls, the fresh ones with limpid rice-paper pancakes wrapped round prawns and pork with mint, Thai sweet basil, bean sprouts, garlic chives and shredded lettuce; on another occasion a pile of crunchy yellow fritters made with shredded potatoes and prawns perfumed with turmeric. This use of leafy herbs and crunchy items is very common.

Here, a bowl of chicken broth and rice noodles is eaten with crunchy vegetables and salad leaves together with chargrilled minced pork flavoured with garlic and fish sauce.

Fresh spring rolls (nem cuon)

The object here is to get contrasts of texture and many fresh flavours in the soft-wrapped roll. There are endless combinations, but I find this mixture to be perfect. Serves 4 and makes 8 rolls. (You will need to cook a 500g piece of boneless belly pork in advance.)

150g piece of Vietnamese cooked belly pork (cut from a 500g piece)

25g dried rice vermicelli noodles

8 dried, extra-thin, 22cm Vietnamese rice papers (banh trang)

16 chives (garlic chives if possible)

leaves from 2-3 sprigs of fresh mint and

2-3 sprigs of Thai sweet basil

150g (8) large cooked, peeled prawns, halved lengthways

50g fresh bean sprouts

100g soft, hothouse lettuce leaves, washed and dried

To serve: nuoc cham dipping sauce

(see recipe below)

Put 500g boneless belly pork – in one piece and its skin left unscored – into a pan with 1 litre of cold water and 2 tsp salt. Bring to the boil, cover and leave to simmer very gently for 1 hour. Lift out and leave to cool before using.

When you are ready to make your spring rolls, cut a 150g piece off the cooked pork, remove its skin and cut it across into very thin slices. Cover and set aside. Bring a pan of unsalted water to the boil. Add the vermicelli noodles, remove from the heat and leave to soak for 2 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and rinse in cold water to prevent them from cooking any further. Set aside with the pork. Mix the ingredients for the nuoc cham dipping sauce together and divide among 4 small dipping saucers.

To assemble the spring rolls, have all the filling ingredients ready and to hand.

Dip one rice paper into a shallow dish of cold water and leave to soften for about 1 minute, then remove and lay on a wet tea towel. In the centre of the paper arrange 2 crossed chives, followed by small amounts of the mint leaves, basil leaves, 2 prawn halves, noodles, bean sprouts, pork and lettuce in layers. Fold the edge of the paper closest to you over the filling, fold in the sides and then roll up away from you to secure everything in a neat parcel. Set the assembled roll aside on one half of another damp tea towel, and cover with the other half to prevent it drying out.

Repeat this process with the remaining papers, distributing the ingredients equally among them and setting them aside under the folded damp tea towel. When they are all made, arrange them on a serving platter and serve with nuoc cham (below) for dipping.

Nuoc cham dipping sauce

2 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp very finely chopped fresh ginger

1 red bird’s eye chilli, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, very finely chopped

Mix the ingredients with 2 tbsp water and pour into dipping saucers to serve.

Tumeric-marinated chicken wrapped in lime leaves

Didier Corlou has lived in Hanoi since the mid-1980s. He has a charming restaurant called La Verticale in Ngo Van So Street, behind the French embassy. It’s an old colonial house with an airy bar at the top where you can enjoy views of Hanoi surrounded by paintings and models of fishing boats from his native Brittany. When

I talked to him he was a bit grumpy because an unnamed British TV chef had been quizzing him about where he could find even more outlandish Vietnamese food than snake and dog. I sympathised with him; there’s a rather regrettable trend these days for finding extreme food in places where you’re surrounded by some of the best dishes in the world. He cooked this exquisite chicken dish for us. I earnestly recommend you try it on a sunny evening. Marinating the chicken and then wrapping it in kaffir lime leaves gives it a beautiful fragrance. Serves 4.

500g skinned and boneless chicken thighs

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 red bird’s eye chilli, finely chopped

1 shallot, very finely chopped

½ tsp freshly ground white pepper

about 40 double-lobed kaffir lime leaves

vegetable oil, for brushing

to serve: nuoc cham dipping sauce

Cut the chicken thighs into roughly 2.5cm chunks. Put the turmeric, lime juice, fish sauce, chilli, shallot, white pepper and 1 tsp of water into a bowl. Add the chicken, stir well, cover and leave to marinate for 1 hour. Meanwhile, soak 8 long bamboo skewers in cold water.

Preheat your barbecue and leave it to reduce to a medium-high heat. Mix the ingredients for the dipping sauce together and divide among 4 small dipping saucers.

Wrap each piece of chicken in a lime leaf and thread 5 on to each skewer. Brush with a little oil and barbecue for about 2-3 minutes on each side until just cooked through.

Arrange on a serving plate and take to the table with the dipping sauce. To eat, slide the chicken off the skewers, discard the lime leaves, then dip into the sauce.

Hanoi chicken noodle soup with bok choi (bun thang)

The real pleasure of this is its delicacy, but I always serve a bowl of nuoc cham dipping sauce on the side for those who like a sharper and hotter taste. Serves 6.

a 1.5kg chicken

25g peeled ginger, coarsely chopped

12 spring onions, trimmed and halved

20g garlic, sliced

2 star anise

10cm cinnamon stick

20g dried shrimp

½ tsp black peppercorns

450g bok choi

300g dried 1cm-wide flat rice noodles

(bahn pho)

4 tbsp fish sauce

20g coriander leaves

20g mint leaves

to serve: nuoc cham dipping sauce

Put the chicken, ginger, 8 of the spring onions, garlic, star anise, cinnamon, dried shrimp, peppercorns and ½ tsp salt into a deep pan in which the chicken fits quite snugly. Cover with 2 litres of water. Bring to the boil, skimming off any scum as it rises, then lower the heat, cover and leave to gently simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to cool down for 40 minutes. Cut the bok choi across into 7.5cm pieces and separate the stalks from the leaves.

Lift the chicken on to a plate and leave to cool. Drain the stock into a clean pan and discard all the flavourings except for the shrimp. Skin the chicken, pull the meat from the bones and break it into chunky pieces.

Bring a pan of unsalted water to the boil. Add the noodles, turn off the heat, cover and leave to soak for 10 minutes or until tender. Separate the stalks from the leaves of the bok choi and finely shred them lengthways. Cut the leaves across into 3cm-wide pieces.

Bring the stock back to the boil, add the bok choi stalks and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the bok choi leaves and cook for a further 2 minutes. Then stir in the fish sauce.

Drain the noodles and divide among 6 large, deep bowls. Top with the cooked chicken, reserved shrimp, remaining spring onions and coriander and mint leaves. Ladle the steaming-hot broth and bok choi over the top and serve with the dipping sauce.

• Next week, Rick Stein’s far-eastern journey takes him to Bangladesh. Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey is on BBC2, on Thursdays at 8pm. Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey is published on 23 July by BBC Books, priced £25.

Jane Simon | Mirror.co.uk | 23/07/2009

Tonight, in Vietnam, seeing the fish farms under the floating houses along the Mekong River, his first guilty thought is of the Russian roulette scene from The Deer Hunter. And although he’s got a translator, there are some communication problems even when he’s speaking English.

In the market, shopping for ingredients for the local soup called Pho, he actually says at one point: “We need four for four phos.” (I think). And he also picks up a new recipe of which he says: “If you cook just one dish from this series – make it this one.”

Stock up on fish sauce now.

Cambodia, Part 1

Cambodia, Part 1

In summer 2005 I travelled to South-East Asia on holiday, visiting Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Much as I enjoyed my experiences in the former two countries, it was Cambodia that really touched me most. I really liked the Khmer people and I was knocked out by their cuisine, which I’d never experienced before. Khmer food is the topic of the first episode of Rick Stein’s latest series, Far Eastern Odyssey. In this edited clip I show just a little of what appeared in that broadcast, to give you a flavour of this remarkable country. I’ve focused on the food and edited out a lot of material discussing the period of the Khmer Rouge not because I don’t think the country’s political history is important, but because I’m restricted to a 10-minute clip and this was uploaded for my food blog. Enjoy the food!

Jane Simon | Mirror.co.uk | 16/07/2009

Become a chef – see the world. That could be Rick Stein’s motto as he nibbles his way around Cambodia tonight and then slips down the Mekong River to Vietnam on his latest exotic jolly.

Food-mad to a fault, the introduction to this new series sounds suspiciously like a Mitchell and Webb sketch. “I’m here to discover not just the food,” Stein promises, “but what makes places like Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam tick. What’s so special about Bali, Sri Lanka, Malaysia or Bangladesh? Well – the food of course. But beyond that it’s the people. People talking about food…”

With this suitably one-track mind, Stein enthuses tonight about mini mangoes, curry paste, fresh crabs and peppercorns and discovers that Cambodia’s French colonial past lives on in the shape of the baguette.

Every week he’ll also be finding recipes you can create in your own kitchen – but be warned, tonight’s taste sensation is a raw beef salad.

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Jacobsen, managing editor of the magazine The Art of Eating, presents the ultimate macropedia for oysters, covering not just geography, but also philosophy, consumerism, epicurean splendor and the proper way to grow a pearl. The first of the guide’s three sections, Mastering Oysters, covers such cocktail party talking points as A Dozen Oysters You Should Know and The Aphrodisiac Angle, and presents a primer on how and why oysters taste as they do. Chapter two accounts for half the book’s page count and is a travelogue across the Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, a movable feast up and down the east and west coasts of North America. Jacobsen ends his research with Everything You Wanted to Know About Oysters but Were Afraid to Ask. (The title exemplifies one of the very few times that his writing goes stale). Here he lists the best ways to ship, store and shuck, and explains why it is perfectly all right to eat oysters in months that do not have an r in them. He also serves up 20 or so recipes, including Coconut Oyster Stew with ginger and lemongrass and Baked Oysters in Tarragon Butter, simple to make but complex in flavor. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
“A wide-ranging, thorough, breezily written guide to oysters as cuisine…Jacobsen leads with his fearless palate every time- he’s a down-to-earth companion you listen to, even if you don’t always agree with him.”-Boston Globe “The most remarkable single-subject books to come along in a while…Jacobsen covers oysters in exhaustive detail, but with writing so engaging and sprightly that reading about the briny darlings is almost as compulsive as eating them…this book will improve your oyster eating immeasurably…There may be no more pleasurable food than a raw oyster, there almost certainly is no better guide.”—Los Angeles Times, Russ Parsons “the ultimate macropedia for oysters”—Publisher’s Weekly, starred review

Product Description
By the time she was a teenager, Sara Jenkins had lived all over the Mediterranean, from Italy and France to Spain, Lebanon, and Cyprus, in cosmopolitan cities and in rural hamlets. The family eventually put down roots in a ramshackle farmhouse in a small Tuscan village, where she learned how to make ragu and handmade pasta at the elbow of her Italian “grandmother” on the nearby farm. Meals came from the garden and the surrounding pastures, not the supermarket, and Jenkins grew up schooled in the tradition of cooking from what was on hand.

In Olives & Oranges, Jenkins shares the simple, striking dishes she learned at the source. Many, like Peppery Braised Short Ribs and Classic Tuscan Eggplant Parmesan, are favorites from childhood. Others, like Short Pasta with Mushrooms and Mint and Spicy Lemon–Chocolate Ganache Tart, have a contemporary sensibility. Jenkins shows how understanding the Mediterranean “language of flavor” can help you follow your instincts and make your own great meals based on what you have, too. You’ll see how salt and lemon juice bring out the natural sugar in Carrot Salad with Lemon, Sea Salt, Parsley, and Olive Oil, and how to use the same technique with lime, salt, and a Moroccan condiment called harissa for a completely different effect in Tunisian Raw Turnip Salad.

The daughter of the noted food authority Nancy Harmon Jenkins, SARA JENKINS has earned raves at all the New York restaurants where she has been the chef, including 50 Carmine, Il Buco, I Coppi, and Patio. Her newest venture, Porchetta, is located in New York City’s East Village. This is her first book.

Product Description
Take one top New York restaurant, add danger, drama, and dialogue, toss in their best recipes, and you have a cooking classic.

How does a 4-star restaurant stay on top for more than two decades? In On the Line, chef Eric Ripert takes readers behind the scenes at Le Bernardin, one of just three New York City restaurants to earn three Michelin stars. Any fan of gourmet dining who ever stole a peek behind a restaurant kitchen’s swinging doors will love this unique insider’s account, with its interviews, inventory checklists, and fly-on-the-wall dialogue that bring the business of haute cuisine to life.

From the sudden death of Le Bernardin’s founding chef, Gilbert Le Coze, to Ripert’s stressful but triumphant takeover of the kitchen at age 29, the story has plenty of drama. But as Chef Ripert and writer Christine Muhlke reveal, every day is an adventure in a perfectionistic restaurant kitchen. Foodies will love reading about the inner workings of a top restaurant, from how a kitchen is organized to the real cost of the food and the fierce discipline and organization it takes to achieve culinary perfection on the plate almost 150,000 times a year.

Meanwhile, Le Bernardin’s modern French cuisine, with its emphasis on seafood, comes to life in sophisticated recipes, including Striped Bass with Sweet Corn Puree, Grilled Shishito Peppers, Shaved Smoked Bonito, and Mole Sauce, and Pan-Roasted Cod with Chorizo, Snow Peas, Piquillo Peppers, and Soy-Lime Butter Sauce.

Review
“Starred Review: ” “A behind-the-scenes look at the famed New York restaurant Le Bernardin, this stunning and informative book takes readers into the inner sanctum, where they view firsthand the blend of science and artistry that makes this Michelin three-star eatery legendary. Chef Ripert and “New York Times” writer Muhlke recount the restaurant’s history, from its founding in 1986 by Gilbert and Maguy Le Coze, through Ripert’s joining the team in 1991, to the present day. This thorough guide to how the restaurant operates teaches about various kitchen stations, tools of the trade, key personnel and their duties, how new dishes are born and what it’s like to spend a night “on the line.” Great attention is also paid to the diner’s experience, evidenced by the restaurant’s “129 Cardinal Sins” (from chipped glassware to servers without a sense of humor). Recipes include ultrarare charred sea scallops with smoked sea salt; pan-roasted monkfish with truffled potato foam and red wine-brandy sauce; and wild Alaskan salmon, morels and spring vegetables in a wild mushroom pot-au-feu. A huge treat for industry insiders, fans of Le Bernardin and foodies everywhere, this book is a must-have for anyone with a passion for food.” (Dec.) – “Publishers Weekly”

Starred Review: “A behind-the-scenes look at the famed New York restaurant Le Bernardin, this stunning and informative book takes readers into the inner sanctum, where they view firsthand the blend of science and artistry that makes this Michelin three-star eatery legendary. Chef Ripert and New York Times writer Muhlke recount the restaurant’s history, from its founding in 1986 by Gilbert and Maguy Le Coze, through Ripert’s joining the team in 1991, to the present day. This thorough guide to how the restaurant operates teaches about various kitchen stations, tools of the trade, key personnel and their duties, how new dishes are born and what it’s like to spend a night “on the line.” Great attention is also paid to the diner’s experience, evidenced by the restaurant’s “129 Cardinal Sins” (from chipped glassware to servers without a sense of humor). Recipes include ultrarare charred sea scallops with smoked sea salt; pan-roasted monkfish with truffled potato foam and red wine–brandy sauce; and wild Alaskan salmon, morels and spring vegetables in a wild mushroom pot-au-feu. A huge treat for industry insiders, fans of Le Bernardin and foodies everywhere, this book is a must-have for anyone with a passion for food.” (Dec.) – Publishers Weekly
(Publishers Weekly )

Starred Review: “A behind-the-scenes look at the famed New York restaurant Le Bernardin, this stunning and informative book takes readers into the inner sanctum, where they view firsthand the blend of science and artistry that makes this Michelin three-star eatery legendary. Chef Ripert and New York Times writer Muhlke recount the restaurant’s history, from its founding in 1986 by Gilbert and Maguy Le Coze, through Ripert’s joining the team in 1991, to the present day. This thorough guide to how the restaurant operates teaches about various kitchen stations, tools of the trade, key personnel and their duties, how new dishes are born and what it’s like to spend a night “on the line.” Great attention is also paid to the diner’s experience, evidenced by the restaurant’s “129 Cardinal Sins” (from chipped glassware to servers without a sense of humor). Recipes include ultrarare charred sea scallops with smoked sea salt; pan-roasted monkfish with truffled potato foam and red wine brandy sauce; and wild Alaskan salmon, morels and spring vegetables in a wild mushroom pot-au-feu. A huge treat for industry insiders, fans of Le Bernardin and foodies everywhere, this book is a must-have for anyone with a passion for food.” (Dec.) – Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly )