Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9921 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1080 pages

Synopsis
World-renowned French chef Alain Ducasse believes that food arouses all the senses. In this sumptuous book, he takes us on a culinary journey for both eye and palate. Here he shares the culinary experience, knowledge and love of ingredients he has refined over the past 25 years. Today, Ducassse feeds his passion for cooking though restaurants all over the world and a professional-level cooking school. He is now ready to bring his know-how and enthusiasm to all professional chefs and experienced home cooks, providing 700 recipes from French and Mediterranean cuisine that incorporate 100 basic ingredients and use 10 major cooking styles.Each dish is described in full, with recipes for accompaniments included; complete instructions for plating the entire dish are given as well. An appendix offers an encyclopaedia of ingredients in addition to basic recipes (sauces, stocks and so on). Illustrated with more than 1,000 photographs and original drawings, "Grand Livre de Cuisine" will be an indispensable reference and inspiration for years to come.

Customer Reviews

Mavellous book at a great price
What a beautiful book! I have coveted the large format version of this book for some time Grand Livre De Cuisine: Alain Duccasse's Culinary Encyclopedia but I could not justify the price. In this format the book is just as beautiful and now affordable.

It is presented as an encyclopaedia of ingredients with recipes to cook them. Beginning with Acacia blossom, artichokes and asparagus ending with wood pigeon, woodcock and zucchini. There are for example 20 individual Asparagus recipes each complete with full colour pictures, a huge 29 Sea Bass recipes.

The recipes are clearly presented, well laid out, each one with a picture of the finished dish with presentation instructions. The book does assume a high level of culinary skill, there are no descriptions of techniques.

On the down side, mistakes in the translation from French to English are not uncommon. Sometimes it means you need to read the text through again to extract the meaning, other times there are errors translating the units. For example one recipe calls for a 73lb (3.5kg) Sea Bass or 1 3/4 fluid ounces is repeatedly translated as (50 CL) which is half a litre. You have to read the recipe carefully to work out which is correct.

Would I recommend this book? Oh Yes! If you have a foodie in the family this is the ideal gift, especially at this price. For anyone with a good level of culinary skill this book is an essential addition to the cook book library. I would have given five stars but for the errors in translation.

Alain Ducasse's Culinary Dictionary
Review of Alain Ducasse's Culinary Dictionary

Hard to know how far culinary gods can go for further recognition when their empires are booming. I was truly disappointed by this tome, which should have been ambitiously wonderful had it been given more consideration and time to perfect.

Perhaps it would like to be an encyclopedia but rather seems to this reader to be intense cookbook trying to cover all fancy gastronomic bases. One can, of course, get ideas but recipes appear not properly tested so you need to have a serious command of the kitchen to find your way with stocks, sauces, details of the dish etc. In this way, the average serious cook may feel intimidated. After seven hundred recipes, I rather doubt too many copies will have that worn-in feeling a great cookbook develops when used and loved.

The translation into English is full of mistakes. Once remaindered for a good price - the book will be worth it for gorgeous photographs. The original or updated Larousse Gastronomique from 1996 is full of cross references, fun, traditional, inspiring and anything you want it to be in comparison except perhaps his presentation of so-called `haute, haute' cuisine. Hard to know how much Ducasse wanted to look like the king along with the five chefs who assisted in this endeavor. How much more does he need to show off.

As a serious foodie, serious amateur chef for thirty-five years and writer, I prefer to rave not demote. In this case, sadly, the book might do better as an impressive doorstop with a top brand name.

An impressive attempt at putting Ducasse's culinary artistry into a book
This is a beautifully presented book showcasing hundreds of creations to come out Ducasse's kitchens. It is not for nothing that this man has three triple-starred restaurants; the quality of his work is extraordinary.

It is probably fair to say that most people wouldn't buy this for the recipes (if you are looking to attempt many of the dishes, you'll need deep pockets, excellent local food suppliers and a well-equipped kitchen, not to mention an extraordinary amount of skill). However this doesn't detract from its beauty as a book for the coffee table and to promote discussion.

My only negative point is that this edition is probably too small to do many of the pictures justice - if you are willing to pay the price for the upgrade to the large format edition it is probably worth it.