Daniel Boulud’s definitive latest book, “Daniel: My French Cuisine” takes readers on a journey, from recipes from his three-Michelin-starred Daniel, to regional recipes from his home kitchen.
Most of the restaurant recipes, which comprise the bulk of the book, may well feel too intimidating to all but the most ambitious and skilled cooks, but the photographs by Thomas Schauer are gorgeous, and the essays penned by Boulud—on cheese, truffles, sauces, among others—are part biography, part culinary lessons.
The regional home recipes from Alsace, Normandy, Provence, and of course, his native Lyon, include Wild Mushroom Tarte Flambée, a Mussels and Cauliflower Velouté, and a Dark Chocolate Bombe, all comforting foods.
A major highlight of the book is the “Iconic Sessions” section, penned by Bill Buford (“Heat”), a former New Yorker staff writer who went off to Lyon to learn how to cook. There is no one more fitting to take part and write about this particular project of Boulud’s—recreating dishes considered iconic in French cuisine and which, in their traditional form, are definitely not on the repertoire of French nouvelle cuisine.
Musings on cooking the compellingly ugly turbot fish, accounts of Boulud’s perfecting a coulibiac are all memorable and laugh-out-loud funny. But they also provide a third-person account of Boulud—his personality, what makes him tick, and his creative genius.
Daniel: My French Cuisine
By Daniel Boulud and Sylvie Bigar
Essays by Bill Buford
Grand Central Life & Style
$60
