Monday, June 27, 2011

Influence Part II

So after my month long journey in France and Southern Germany I had found a new appreciation for wine and food. The relationship between food going from raw ingredients to what is on the plate is really inspiring. To take something so simple as a beet or a potato and elevate it into something so sublime as to make you want to lick the plate is a complete power rush. I poured over those Grand Diplome cookbooks. Tasting each recipe in my mind. It was about a year later that I made my next cookbook purchase. It was pure artistry. Jean-Louis, Cooking with the Seasons is a feast for the eyes. I didn't really care about the recipes at all. I just wanted to look at the pictures and imagine what they must taste like. If I had thought that my trip to France was filled with ingredients and animal parts that I never thought I would eat, this book way outdid even that. There was a recipe that called for Geoduck. What the frig is that? I found out later its a type of clam, but seriously, where the hell was I going to find one of those. Not long after or how I remember it, Jean Louis was a guest chef on the David Letterman show. Low and behold what was he going to cook, but a Geoduck (pronounce gooey duck). If you have never seen on I can only describe it as looking as if you might have castrated a horse and clamped two shells where the balls should be. Gross looking was putting it mildly. Letterman had a fair bit of fun with that one. I'm trying to track down the clip of that, hopefully I can. However, this was the true start of my collecting cookbooks. I have way too many at this point and I will get to some of my favorites and even let you know which ones to avoid. Let me know what your favorites are and what are some of your favorite recipes. My next installment is my perfect French Toast recipe.

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