richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
I recently had a gift of a two books:
"The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery" by Auguste Escoffier, and
'The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine'
by Steven Rinella
Mr. Rinella wrote a book about his attempts to recreate a 45-course Escoffier banquet and living to tell about it. I think he gets the Tortured Food Toque hands down (I can't believe my local market stopped carrying antelope bladder, Black Bear fat, and elk livers)...
From Publishers Weekly
No, this is not a book about dumpster diving. Instead, it's the account of how Rinella, an Outside correspondent, set off on a quixotic year-long adventure in the wild with the end goal of preparing a three-day, 45-course banquet chosen from master chef Escoffier's classic 1903 Le Guide Culinaire, now considered (by most people) an exotic historical document rather than a working cookbook. Rinella intended to shoot, fish, slaughter, raise (as in pigeon husbandry), gather and otherwise procure the ingredients for these dishes himself, with help from his fishing and hunting buddies (also with the aid of freezers, which Escoffier would no doubt have envied). Rinella's girlfriend is a vegetarian, and he's aware that this project may seem distressing to some, but he offers a spirited defense of choosing to "make his own food." Rinella's year took him all over the U.S. and Canada with plenty of unusual outdoor adventures: frog gigging, eeling, "glassing" for elk, making headcheese and sparrow-trapping. Preparing the feast, with its huge list of ingredients, took more than a week, with hard-breathing last-minute tension. Some dishes worked, some didn't (e.g., Crayfish Mousse, and Elk and Antelope Kidney Pudding). This unusual memoir could serve as a tasty gift for sporting types.
Men’s Journal
"Rinella’s warped, wonderful memoir…is enough to sate anyone’s hunger . . . He recounts these madcap wilderness adventures with delicious verve and charm."
"The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery" by Auguste Escoffier, and
'The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine'
by Steven Rinella
Mr. Rinella wrote a book about his attempts to recreate a 45-course Escoffier banquet and living to tell about it. I think he gets the Tortured Food Toque hands down (I can't believe my local market stopped carrying antelope bladder, Black Bear fat, and elk livers)...
From Publishers Weekly
No, this is not a book about dumpster diving. Instead, it's the account of how Rinella, an Outside correspondent, set off on a quixotic year-long adventure in the wild with the end goal of preparing a three-day, 45-course banquet chosen from master chef Escoffier's classic 1903 Le Guide Culinaire, now considered (by most people) an exotic historical document rather than a working cookbook. Rinella intended to shoot, fish, slaughter, raise (as in pigeon husbandry), gather and otherwise procure the ingredients for these dishes himself, with help from his fishing and hunting buddies (also with the aid of freezers, which Escoffier would no doubt have envied). Rinella's girlfriend is a vegetarian, and he's aware that this project may seem distressing to some, but he offers a spirited defense of choosing to "make his own food." Rinella's year took him all over the U.S. and Canada with plenty of unusual outdoor adventures: frog gigging, eeling, "glassing" for elk, making headcheese and sparrow-trapping. Preparing the feast, with its huge list of ingredients, took more than a week, with hard-breathing last-minute tension. Some dishes worked, some didn't (e.g., Crayfish Mousse, and Elk and Antelope Kidney Pudding). This unusual memoir could serve as a tasty gift for sporting types.
Men’s Journal
"Rinella’s warped, wonderful memoir…is enough to sate anyone’s hunger . . . He recounts these madcap wilderness adventures with delicious verve and charm."