!! Celebration day for food nerds: new Keller cookbook!
The first French Laundry cookbook (from ’99) was a revelation to me. Cooking through it taught me more than any other resource has. I was shocked how makeable it was in a home kitchen—very few unusual supplies needed.
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The follow-up, Under Pressure, included dishes from Per Se. The style was barely recognizable! The dishes now included many modernist techniques and daring flairs. Fascinating to read, but much less suitable for home cooking: the components didn’t generalize very well.
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I’m so happy that this book looks like it’s landed somewhere in between. Under Pressure was explicitly centered around technique (sous vide), but this one’s not; and a decade’s passed, so the enthusiasm for whiz-bang modernism has faded a bit.
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As usual, the best part is the essays, which unpack tacit knowledge from eminent practitioners.
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No, but it looks amazing! Just picked it up. ❤️
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Update: this was a delightful read! and very relevant to my past (and possibly future) work. Thank you for the reco James and thank you for the book Vaughn!
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Would be fascinating to get your reflections and comparison with other teams that are highly specialized and great at working on new things.
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This prompt devoured a large part of my day! Here are a few thousand words on that subject:
