What do you think?
Rate this book
The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adrià
"The Family Meal" is the first home cooking cookbook by the world's greatest chef, Ferran Adria. It features nearly 100 delicious recipes by Ferran Adria that anyone can prepare, inspired by the dishes eaten every day by the staff at his legendary restaurant El Bulli, awarded World's Best Restaurant five times.
The recipes in "The Family Meal" are easy-to-prepare and meant for family dining at home. From "Roast Chicken with Potato Straws, Sea Bass Baked in Salt and Mexican-style Slow-Cooked Pork to White Chocolate Cake" and "Baked Apples with Whipped Cream," there is a wide selection of everyday classics for every night of the week. The cookbook is also the first by such a renowned chef to ensure that the dishes are affordable and the ingredients are widely available at the local supermarket.
"The Family Meal" is organized into three-course menus, with appetizers, mains and desserts, so you can prepare a well-balanced meal at home ? without fuss. Each recipe is shown with numerous step-by-step full-color photographs, and conversions on how you can prepare a meal for a small or large group - for 2, 6, 20 or 75 people.
This is the cookbook by Ferran Adria everyone has been waiting for, it is sure to be one of the most talked about and popular cookbooks of the season.
The recipes in "The Family Meal" are easy-to-prepare and meant for family dining at home. From "Roast Chicken with Potato Straws, Sea Bass Baked in Salt and Mexican-style Slow-Cooked Pork to White Chocolate Cake" and "Baked Apples with Whipped Cream," there is a wide selection of everyday classics for every night of the week. The cookbook is also the first by such a renowned chef to ensure that the dishes are affordable and the ingredients are widely available at the local supermarket.
"The Family Meal" is organized into three-course menus, with appetizers, mains and desserts, so you can prepare a well-balanced meal at home ? without fuss. Each recipe is shown with numerous step-by-step full-color photographs, and conversions on how you can prepare a meal for a small or large group - for 2, 6, 20 or 75 people.
This is the cookbook by Ferran Adria everyone has been waiting for, it is sure to be one of the most talked about and popular cookbooks of the season.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
49 people are currently reading
1351 people want to read
About the author
Ferran Adrià
109 books35 followersOne of the world's top chefs, Ferran Adrià Acosta (born May 14, 1962) headed the restaurant elBulli, joining the staff in 1984 and rapidly progressing to become head chef. Famous for his pioneering culinary techniques, he has been applauded—and imitated—around the world, and won three Michelin stars for elBulli, along with many other accolades. Since elBulli's closure in 2011, Ferran has been lecturing around the world and developing the elBullifoundation, a culinary academy and think tank, on the site of the former restaurant.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
February 6, 2017
1) This is not (probably) YOUR family meal. The Family Meal is the meal Ferran Adrià's staff at El Bulli ate every work day before the meal which they served to guests. Each meal has a starter, entree, and dessert (although some of the desserts are alcoholic beverages such as Pina Colada).
2) If you are familiar with Adrià, you know he was on the forefront of molecular gastronomy and famous for his unique, mind-bending creative recipes. This is not that. This is normal food.
3) Food Porn. If that's what you're looking for, don't get this book. This is for cooking, not admiring. Some of the food looks nice, but lots of the pictures are dead fish or blobby sauces.
4) Layout. I've never seen this done in a book, but it fits with Adrià's extremely orderly personality. At the beginning of the book there is a description of techniques you'll be using, what staples you should keep on hand, and a list, four pages with images, of the kitchen tools you should have.
For each meal (again, three courses) there is an explanation of what you are going to make, then a photo showing the ingredients, with notes about which ones need to be obtained fresh, and a timing schedule.
For every dish, every single step is explaining, with a picture. How small things should be chopped, what texture sauces should have, how darkly something should be caramelized -- all explained.
I highly recommend this for people who are not experienced cooks. Although the meals may at first seem overwhelming, if you read all the instructions first and note the time he says to start, it is all very easy to follow. And of course you could start with one dish rather than three. Some, especially things like soups and pasta, even tell you what type of pre-made product to substitute if you don't feel like making a sauce or stock from scratch.
My only criticism is that certain ingredients, especially fish and sausage, and not specific. I assume this is because he is using types that are readily available in Spain but probably not the same in other countries (I noticed in another Spanish cookbook, Rustica that the author had a hard time coming up with fish equivalents, especially). However, "pork sausage" and "fish" are way to general; I wish he had at least described the type of fish (firm, oily, flaky, whatever).
2) If you are familiar with Adrià, you know he was on the forefront of molecular gastronomy and famous for his unique, mind-bending creative recipes. This is not that. This is normal food.
3) Food Porn. If that's what you're looking for, don't get this book. This is for cooking, not admiring. Some of the food looks nice, but lots of the pictures are dead fish or blobby sauces.
4) Layout. I've never seen this done in a book, but it fits with Adrià's extremely orderly personality. At the beginning of the book there is a description of techniques you'll be using, what staples you should keep on hand, and a list, four pages with images, of the kitchen tools you should have.
For each meal (again, three courses) there is an explanation of what you are going to make, then a photo showing the ingredients, with notes about which ones need to be obtained fresh, and a timing schedule.
For every dish, every single step is explaining, with a picture. How small things should be chopped, what texture sauces should have, how darkly something should be caramelized -- all explained.
I highly recommend this for people who are not experienced cooks. Although the meals may at first seem overwhelming, if you read all the instructions first and note the time he says to start, it is all very easy to follow. And of course you could start with one dish rather than three. Some, especially things like soups and pasta, even tell you what type of pre-made product to substitute if you don't feel like making a sauce or stock from scratch.
My only criticism is that certain ingredients, especially fish and sausage, and not specific. I assume this is because he is using types that are readily available in Spain but probably not the same in other countries (I noticed in another Spanish cookbook, Rustica that the author had a hard time coming up with fish equivalents, especially). However, "pork sausage" and "fish" are way to general; I wish he had at least described the type of fish (firm, oily, flaky, whatever).
December 27, 2011
One of the best cook books I've seen. I think I could happily throw away all my other cook books ( and there are so so many ) and keep only this one.*
Adria prepares 30+ three-course meals, with photos illustrating each step of the process - including a nice double-page photo showing all the ingredients necessary for each course, a table showing how much of each ingredient is required to prepare the meal for 2,6,20 or 75 people, and a timeline indicating when to undertake each step.
Some might consider such step-by-step instructions aimed more at beginners, and some may may consider them somehow beneath them; as a scientist, I can appreciate Adria's approach as a method to assist in precise rendering of each dish - as he notes in his introduction, the El Bulli system allows any cook to walk in to the El Bulli kitchen on any day and produce a meal that is precisely the same as the last time it was served.
*Okay, I got a little carried away. I'd throw away MOST of my other cook books. At the very least I would keep Heston Blumenthal's Total Perfection. And Twelve by Tessa Kiros. And my nana's Scottish cook book. And the Zombie Cupcakes book.
Adria prepares 30+ three-course meals, with photos illustrating each step of the process - including a nice double-page photo showing all the ingredients necessary for each course, a table showing how much of each ingredient is required to prepare the meal for 2,6,20 or 75 people, and a timeline indicating when to undertake each step.
Some might consider such step-by-step instructions aimed more at beginners, and some may may consider them somehow beneath them; as a scientist, I can appreciate Adria's approach as a method to assist in precise rendering of each dish - as he notes in his introduction, the El Bulli system allows any cook to walk in to the El Bulli kitchen on any day and produce a meal that is precisely the same as the last time it was served.
*Okay, I got a little carried away. I'd throw away MOST of my other cook books. At the very least I would keep Heston Blumenthal's Total Perfection. And Twelve by Tessa Kiros. And my nana's Scottish cook book. And the Zombie Cupcakes book.
to-keep-reference
July 22, 2013Will create category To-Eat for this.
November 6, 2011
I love Ferran Adria's imagination with El Bulli and everything it has inspired, and since changed in the culinary world.
I also love when chefs go back to basics, to using ingredients one can afford to cook every day.
This cookbook contains 31 sets of recipes (starter and a main, or two mains, and a dessert each) that match together, of the recipes that were used for the staff meals in El Bulli. All meals had to be delicious, nutrient, and be able to be made under 3 euros ($ 4,50) per person. So instead of lobsters and kobe beef everywhere (like in Iron chef), there are recipes with generic white fish, mackerel, less than most expensive cuts of meat, vegetables with which it'll be easy to pick the things in season and so on. The book is huge, and it has the recipes for 2-6- etc up to 75 people, and the ingredients are tested to work nearly everywhere in the world. You don't need to be an iron chef to read the recipes either - they have clear pictures of all the steps needed. Many recipes are classic home cooking, many are Spanish or Spanish inspired, and there are a ton of influences of everywhere else too.
The clear pictures are helpful even for experienced cooks. It's easier to cook something right when you can see how something is done, how long one should cook an item until it's ready and so on. While there are plenty of items with meat and wheat (two items I don't use in my kitchen, along with onions), in most recipes it's very easy to substitute the items with something else. There are a ton of desserts where only 1 spoon of flour is used - in those cases it won't make a difference if you'll use gluten free flour instead. Lots of recipes have already suggestions what else might work instead of an item if something else is in season, easier to find, cheaper, or just to try something different. With my culinary limitations (think of it - there aren't that many delicious cookbooks out there without meat, wheat, and onion, and I don't particularly crave for sweets or cakes either) I don't find this book limiting at all - it has tons of ideas, tons of techniques demonstrated and taught, and you can always try with your own version.
The pictures look a bit 1970ish (the style of the cook books of that era), but it's not a bad thing as it's a constant look, and the technique gets highlighted better that way instead of making it the usual killed with weird stuff food porn (just google what the food photographers do with the dishes). I got this book a week ago, and already have tried several recipes with success. I love the pictures and SEEING what each step involves, and how the ingredients are easily available anywhere, and how also the time it takes to prepare the dish is presented. This is currently my favorite cookbook - believe me, it makes a huge difference when you can try and learn some new simple tricks with some every day, affordable food items. Plus you'll learn how to make even chicken, fish, or beef stock from scratch, or make sofrito used in many Spanish dishes... once you'll switch the grocery and meal planning to a weekly schedule, I think this book will save itself back very fast.
I also love when chefs go back to basics, to using ingredients one can afford to cook every day.
This cookbook contains 31 sets of recipes (starter and a main, or two mains, and a dessert each) that match together, of the recipes that were used for the staff meals in El Bulli. All meals had to be delicious, nutrient, and be able to be made under 3 euros ($ 4,50) per person. So instead of lobsters and kobe beef everywhere (like in Iron chef), there are recipes with generic white fish, mackerel, less than most expensive cuts of meat, vegetables with which it'll be easy to pick the things in season and so on. The book is huge, and it has the recipes for 2-6- etc up to 75 people, and the ingredients are tested to work nearly everywhere in the world. You don't need to be an iron chef to read the recipes either - they have clear pictures of all the steps needed. Many recipes are classic home cooking, many are Spanish or Spanish inspired, and there are a ton of influences of everywhere else too.
The clear pictures are helpful even for experienced cooks. It's easier to cook something right when you can see how something is done, how long one should cook an item until it's ready and so on. While there are plenty of items with meat and wheat (two items I don't use in my kitchen, along with onions), in most recipes it's very easy to substitute the items with something else. There are a ton of desserts where only 1 spoon of flour is used - in those cases it won't make a difference if you'll use gluten free flour instead. Lots of recipes have already suggestions what else might work instead of an item if something else is in season, easier to find, cheaper, or just to try something different. With my culinary limitations (think of it - there aren't that many delicious cookbooks out there without meat, wheat, and onion, and I don't particularly crave for sweets or cakes either) I don't find this book limiting at all - it has tons of ideas, tons of techniques demonstrated and taught, and you can always try with your own version.
The pictures look a bit 1970ish (the style of the cook books of that era), but it's not a bad thing as it's a constant look, and the technique gets highlighted better that way instead of making it the usual killed with weird stuff food porn (just google what the food photographers do with the dishes). I got this book a week ago, and already have tried several recipes with success. I love the pictures and SEEING what each step involves, and how the ingredients are easily available anywhere, and how also the time it takes to prepare the dish is presented. This is currently my favorite cookbook - believe me, it makes a huge difference when you can try and learn some new simple tricks with some every day, affordable food items. Plus you'll learn how to make even chicken, fish, or beef stock from scratch, or make sofrito used in many Spanish dishes... once you'll switch the grocery and meal planning to a weekly schedule, I think this book will save itself back very fast.
November 27, 2011
Brilliant! This is a collection of 31 "family meals" from the creator of elBulli. Unlike a lot of celebrity cookbooks that emphasize culinary gymnastics that show the chef's "genius", the recipes here are from the simple meals that the staff at elBulli shared before the restaurant evening began. Anyone who has ever dined standing up before the hard work really cranks up will appreciate the setting (thank-you Charlie Trotter!).
Each meal includes a starter, main and dessert. Not only do the recipes look delightful, but the organization is revolutionary for cookbooks. Each meal has a complete ingredient list plus a time line to show you how to plan. The photographs are the 21st century equivalent of Julia Child's line drawing illustrations that helped so many cooks 40 years ago. Proportions are shown to prepare the meal for 2, 6, 20 or 75 people! The recipes are typically quite simple, emphasizing quality of ingredients and the basic preparation skills. The only suggestion to the reader is to find a good fish monger. Readers on either coast of the United States will have to improvise a bit finding substitutes for the fish more popular in Spain, but that's where the fun should begin. Thank-you.
Each meal includes a starter, main and dessert. Not only do the recipes look delightful, but the organization is revolutionary for cookbooks. Each meal has a complete ingredient list plus a time line to show you how to plan. The photographs are the 21st century equivalent of Julia Child's line drawing illustrations that helped so many cooks 40 years ago. Proportions are shown to prepare the meal for 2, 6, 20 or 75 people! The recipes are typically quite simple, emphasizing quality of ingredients and the basic preparation skills. The only suggestion to the reader is to find a good fish monger. Readers on either coast of the United States will have to improvise a bit finding substitutes for the fish more popular in Spain, but that's where the fun should begin. Thank-you.
November 10, 2011
The recipes are simple, I was hoping for a challenge. In some rare cases the Chef adds an interesting twist, but there is nothing extraordinary new, they are basic traditional recipes from diverse cultures. It is a good book for a novice cook or for a family who wants to be inspired by set menus and bring in some new flavors. Seasoned chefs and culinary experts will find it repetitive and not as exciting as one would expect from Ferran Adria!
I was probably expecting interesting combinations of flavors, different ingredients or some variations to traditional recipes.
I was probably expecting interesting combinations of flavors, different ingredients or some variations to traditional recipes.
March 14, 2012
the family meal at el bulli (now closed? adria i know was thinking of closing and doing something else, like a food institute) is for the staff and is the free meal at lunch everyday. simple and fairly balanced 3 course meals with bread. there are no spheres, foams, or liquid nitrogen involved at all. i like the layout and system of the book, how one can plan ahead for meals, store things in the freezer, most ingredients not too too difficult to get ahold of, except for all the fresh fish if you are away from coasts or big cities. on very big deficit i noticed was a lack of vegetables in the meals. it's mostly meats, spuds, onions, beans.... but does have nice fruit third courses like watermelon with menthol candies, caramel foam (ok i lied, there IS foam), caramelized pears, oranges with honey, olive oil, and salt, etc.
here are 2 bases you MUST have for Spanish cooking:
picada: lightly toast 5 1/2 tps of saffron -- add saffron to 6 peeled garlic, 3 1/2 cups parsley, 1 cup olive oil -- mash to course paste -- add 1 cup toasted hazelnuts -- mash to fine paste. use this base taste for things like beans and clams or crab and rice stew or black rice with squid or salmon stewed with lentils etc
here's another MUST have base:
sofrito: mash 9 cloves garlic -- fry lightly in 1/2 cup olive oil -- meanwhile grind up 4 1/2 cups of onion in blender -- add to garlic (DON'T let garlic brown) -- lower heat -- add 3/4 tsp dried thyme, 3/4 tsp dried rosemary, 1/2 dried bay leaf -- cook til onion is brown -- add 8 ozs pureed tomatoes -- cook for 30 minutes -- add 1 oz more of puree tomatoes, cook for 30 more mins, salt and pepper. can you with stuff like rice with duck, noodle soup with mussels, fish soup etc
here are 2 bases you MUST have for Spanish cooking:
picada: lightly toast 5 1/2 tps of saffron -- add saffron to 6 peeled garlic, 3 1/2 cups parsley, 1 cup olive oil -- mash to course paste -- add 1 cup toasted hazelnuts -- mash to fine paste. use this base taste for things like beans and clams or crab and rice stew or black rice with squid or salmon stewed with lentils etc
here's another MUST have base:
sofrito: mash 9 cloves garlic -- fry lightly in 1/2 cup olive oil -- meanwhile grind up 4 1/2 cups of onion in blender -- add to garlic (DON'T let garlic brown) -- lower heat -- add 3/4 tsp dried thyme, 3/4 tsp dried rosemary, 1/2 dried bay leaf -- cook til onion is brown -- add 8 ozs pureed tomatoes -- cook for 30 minutes -- add 1 oz more of puree tomatoes, cook for 30 more mins, salt and pepper. can you with stuff like rice with duck, noodle soup with mussels, fish soup etc
January 19, 2014
I liked the way they presented the recipes very much. They don't rely on text as much as they do on images, and the result is a very easy to follow book. I will definitely try some of the recipes, especially those involving fish. I was glad to see a lot of methods and ingredient combinations that I use regularly, and find out that I was not the only one crazy person who did things in a particular way.
Example of one recipe: 
One yummy result: 
Another delicious soup: 
Explanation of fish: 
List of ingredients: 
Explanations in text: 
Read
October 5, 2017This beautiful book was waiting for me when I returned from Spain, a welcome home gift from my brother. Traditional Spanish foods paired with local wines were some of the most memorable parts of the trip, and this book adapts many of those same restaurant meals for the home cook. There are a month’s worth of three course menus—first course, main course, and dessert—and instructions are included to cook for 2, 6, 20, or 75 people. Shopping lists, hour-by-hour planning guides, and step-by-step photos round out the 31 chapters, making these recipes practical and doable.
October 25, 2020
Más interesante que práctico.
December 14, 2011
Cookbooks should be about cooking and this one fills the description. 31 meals worth of recipes, 10 or so great sauce recipe/formulas, hints and tips and techniques in abundance and all are achievable for any level of cook.
The entries are laid out in meal format but are easily mix and matchable. There are a few recipes that the ingredients are only regionally available or usable such as squid ink. You need a decent fish monger to get the quality of fish that is required as an ingredient and that is a problem in some areas. And mussels which appear in this cookbook are generally suspect for most cooks, even pros, in this day and age.
Cheeseburgers to Osso Buco, Lamb to Chicken and Rice. Desserts range from cookies to my favorite, flan! The last finish up recipe in this book is Melon & Mint Soup with pink grapefruit. I'd never have dreamed that one up. Searching for appropriate melon during my next marketing trip. Of course the Potato Chip omelet looks like it could become a quickie favorite.
One great feature of this book is the scalability of the recipes. The recipes due to the nature of the family meal(the staff meal at a high end restaurant prior to serving diners) are designed for large quantities of people. However the cookbook has ingredient list for 2 - 75 people/serving of this selections. Very nice touch with comments about the minimum realistic quantity one should expect to make. This is particularly true of some desserts where portions of the ingredients can be stored and used later. Suggestions abound for variations on a theme or use of alternatives ingredients such as different types of mushrooms or cuts of meat.
Excellently layout and design enhance this a cookbook for real people and so it is not just a pretty coffee table decoration. Photography that enhances the guide to preparation by providing step by step illustrations in a meaningful and useful way. This even has a nice ribbon book mark bound in to the spine. Real world food photography that you don't always see done at this quality level.
Highly recommended and misses the 5th star only marginally for some regional ingredient names (such as the fish guide), or minor variants on meat cuts and ease of ingredient procurement. I expect this cookbook to be food stained and have notes written in it within weeks!!
The entries are laid out in meal format but are easily mix and matchable. There are a few recipes that the ingredients are only regionally available or usable such as squid ink. You need a decent fish monger to get the quality of fish that is required as an ingredient and that is a problem in some areas. And mussels which appear in this cookbook are generally suspect for most cooks, even pros, in this day and age.
Cheeseburgers to Osso Buco, Lamb to Chicken and Rice. Desserts range from cookies to my favorite, flan! The last finish up recipe in this book is Melon & Mint Soup with pink grapefruit. I'd never have dreamed that one up. Searching for appropriate melon during my next marketing trip. Of course the Potato Chip omelet looks like it could become a quickie favorite.
One great feature of this book is the scalability of the recipes. The recipes due to the nature of the family meal(the staff meal at a high end restaurant prior to serving diners) are designed for large quantities of people. However the cookbook has ingredient list for 2 - 75 people/serving of this selections. Very nice touch with comments about the minimum realistic quantity one should expect to make. This is particularly true of some desserts where portions of the ingredients can be stored and used later. Suggestions abound for variations on a theme or use of alternatives ingredients such as different types of mushrooms or cuts of meat.
Excellently layout and design enhance this a cookbook for real people and so it is not just a pretty coffee table decoration. Photography that enhances the guide to preparation by providing step by step illustrations in a meaningful and useful way. This even has a nice ribbon book mark bound in to the spine. Real world food photography that you don't always see done at this quality level.
Highly recommended and misses the 5th star only marginally for some regional ingredient names (such as the fish guide), or minor variants on meat cuts and ease of ingredient procurement. I expect this cookbook to be food stained and have notes written in it within weeks!!
March 14, 2012
While many of the recipes in this book may not be the ones I'd turn to on an every day basis, and the three-course menu each is presented within probably won't ever happen, the quality & variety of the recipes and especially the design of this book make it one that I'm definitely adding to my coveted books list.
There are photos for EVERY SINGLE RECIPE in the book -- that's 31 x 3 = 93 dishes, and not only that, but each recipe is has STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS WITH PHOTOS. It's like an amazing science textbook from the 70s, only for cooking. And I mean that in best possible way. There are also great photos of & information about equipment, ingredients, and substitutions, plus each recipe has been written & tested to serve 2, 6, 20, or 75.
I may just be in love with the way Ferran Adria's mind works, but I think this brilliance translates beautifully into this book (which was written for & is very accessible to the home cook), and I'm sold. It's totally unlike any other cookbook I've ever picked up, and I've gone through A LOT of cookbooks.
There are photos for EVERY SINGLE RECIPE in the book -- that's 31 x 3 = 93 dishes, and not only that, but each recipe is has STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS WITH PHOTOS. It's like an amazing science textbook from the 70s, only for cooking. And I mean that in best possible way. There are also great photos of & information about equipment, ingredients, and substitutions, plus each recipe has been written & tested to serve 2, 6, 20, or 75.
I may just be in love with the way Ferran Adria's mind works, but I think this brilliance translates beautifully into this book (which was written for & is very accessible to the home cook), and I'm sold. It's totally unlike any other cookbook I've ever picked up, and I've gone through A LOT of cookbooks.
March 25, 2013
Adria proposes 31 meals consisting of a 1st course, 2nd course dish and an dessert.
The dishes seem to be thought out for the average everyday cook, no difficult methods, not too many exotic ingredients.
The layout is very user friendly, a setup page shows and lists ingredients needed for the 3 dishes followed by a page showing how to organize cooking the 3 dishes proposed in order to save time (ex. while chicken is in the oven cut and marinate watermelon...). The following 3 pages are step by step explanations on how to make each dish with pictures at each step
Some of the dishes are old hat for Spainards. Practically everyone knows how to make "Escalibada" (Roasted-Marinated peppers), or Serrano Ham wigh Melon or Lentils, but he does propose interesting twists on old recipies like Tortilla Espanola Chips.
I am impressed with the book and feel confident that I can really make many of the meals suggested.
I'll let you know once I've actually tried my hand at them!
The dishes seem to be thought out for the average everyday cook, no difficult methods, not too many exotic ingredients.
The layout is very user friendly, a setup page shows and lists ingredients needed for the 3 dishes followed by a page showing how to organize cooking the 3 dishes proposed in order to save time (ex. while chicken is in the oven cut and marinate watermelon...). The following 3 pages are step by step explanations on how to make each dish with pictures at each step
Some of the dishes are old hat for Spainards. Practically everyone knows how to make "Escalibada" (Roasted-Marinated peppers), or Serrano Ham wigh Melon or Lentils, but he does propose interesting twists on old recipies like Tortilla Espanola Chips.
I am impressed with the book and feel confident that I can really make many of the meals suggested.
I'll let you know once I've actually tried my hand at them!
February 14, 2016
This is a simple but brilliant cookbook. It describes a month's worth of "family meals" from El Bulli, in which the meal was prepared by and for the staff prior to dinner service each night. The recipes are simple - burgers and chips, rice with duck, chocolate cookies - but brilliantly laid out, which a two-page photo of the ingredients, a timeline for preparation, and a comic-book style layout of photos showing each step of the preparation. Each recipe also tells you how much of each ingredient you need for 2, 6, 20, or 75 people. (El Bulli had a staff of 80.)
This is not Haute Cuisine or modernist cuisine; it's what the waitstaff at El Bulli ate every day. Most home chefs will pick up a few tips, tricks, or standard recipes to work into their repertoire.
This is not Haute Cuisine or modernist cuisine; it's what the waitstaff at El Bulli ate every day. Most home chefs will pick up a few tips, tricks, or standard recipes to work into their repertoire.
December 21, 2011
Gorgeous!. Of course the publisher is Phaidon. But still. The layout really works for me and I cannot wait to try many of these recipes. I am seriously thinking of trying each meal in its entirety as it is presented to the reader. And I have never been inclined to do so before.
It's that good.
It's that good.
December 28, 2011
Gorgeous book with step by step photos.
October 16, 2023
Cult Flav
Sarah
8.8
I have a fascination with what the staff at restaurants eat for dinner before service — what's known in the biz as "Family Meal". So when I read that The Family Meal is a compilation of the 31 staff favorite meals from the kitchen at El Bulli, you better believe I had to do a review of this book.
By 31 meals, I don’t just mean leftovers with a side of bread. No, these recipes include a custom side, main course and dessert that the staff at this restaurant ate together every night before dinner service started.
The book was written so that no matter the experience, anyone can make a recipe out of this book. To test the theory I approached a group of food that I have very little experience with: fish.
Listen, it’s not that I’ve never cooked fish before, but I grew up in a landlocked state and good fish wasn’t something you could just go out and buy. Where I hailed from, you had to catch your own fish and that restricted your options to sunfish, crappie, walleye, or perch. The default method of cooking them being just a big vat of oil, a lot of heat, and a mysterious spice blend called "lemon pepper".
Upbringing aside, I chose a lot of fish dishes to work with out of this book. Aside from some of the varieties being common in Northern Spain but completely unavailable to me in Northern California — and unlocking a new fear in gutting a fish — I found the writing to be fairly straightforward.
After a week with this book, I can confidently say that if you’re just getting into cooking and want to have a few fine dining recipes at the ready to impress a significant other; I think this would be an excellent book to add to your shelf.
A little more about our rankings
The book is very readable. Each recipe has pictures and a timeline that helps to keep the project moving along. However, while most of the dishes are not complex, they do make bold claims such as browning whole turkey legs and braising veal shanks only taking 10-20 minutes. Either they were working with a magic stove, they used a huge pan, or the meat I purchased for this review was particularly stubborn. In both cases, I doubled the amount of time it took to get a color and texture that I expected. All this to say, if you're new to cooking you might need to spend a little extra time reviewing their photos or googling your way through a task or a preparation to understand what the author is asking you to do vs following the timed guidelines to the letter.
value 10
writing 8
accessibility 8
flavor 8
March 2, 2020
A marvelous cookbook with only one minor fault, bringing it down to a 4.5 for me - it's too Spain-centric.
But let's talk about what's *right* with this cookbook! It's based on the idea of the "family meal" in a restaurant, when all of the staff sit down to eat together before the evening service. The ingredients are inexpensive (although their idea of "the essentials" is a little more esoteric than mine - squid ink - but on the other hand, they also include frankfurters....), for the most part.
The first part of the book covers basic techniques, complete with photos of each step. While Adria acknowledges that it's best to make your own stock, he also says it's fine to use a bouillon cube. The recipes rely on the freezer, as you make sauces and stocks in advance.
The recipes are scaled for 2 people, 6 people, 20 people, and 75 people (for an actual family meal in a restaurant). Each plan includes a side, a main dish, and a dessert. There are photos walking you through each recipe, step-by-step, and - best of all - there is a timeline for each meal!!! The timeline walks you through when you start each step so that it's all ready at the same time. Genius!
But let's talk about what's *right* with this cookbook! It's based on the idea of the "family meal" in a restaurant, when all of the staff sit down to eat together before the evening service. The ingredients are inexpensive (although their idea of "the essentials" is a little more esoteric than mine - squid ink - but on the other hand, they also include frankfurters....), for the most part.
The first part of the book covers basic techniques, complete with photos of each step. While Adria acknowledges that it's best to make your own stock, he also says it's fine to use a bouillon cube. The recipes rely on the freezer, as you make sauces and stocks in advance.
The recipes are scaled for 2 people, 6 people, 20 people, and 75 people (for an actual family meal in a restaurant). Each plan includes a side, a main dish, and a dessert. There are photos walking you through each recipe, step-by-step, and - best of all - there is a timeline for each meal!!! The timeline walks you through when you start each step so that it's all ready at the same time. Genius!
January 18, 2020
It's understated just how good this book is at teaching beginners. This has the easiest to read format of any of these books. Every step is accompanied by a picture, so every technique, if not already known, can be learned from the pages, instead of looked up. There's also a wonderful prologue of all sorts of beginner techniques laid out in full. Plus each set of three recipies has a chart which tells you when to start each step so all three dishes come out at the same time. The level of detail into making this useful is outstanding.
January 18, 2021
The quantities don’t make any sense in this book nor do the tastes most of the time. I don’t know who this is for but for a families it’s wholly unsuitable. It should also be subtitled “fish cooking with Ferran Adria” since half the dishes have fish in them.
(I checked and more people comment that the measurements are totally off. In short: if you like this book, you probably didn’t try to cook anything from it and have it lying on your coffee table with all the other Phaidon crap.)
(I checked and more people comment that the measurements are totally off. In short: if you like this book, you probably didn’t try to cook anything from it and have it lying on your coffee table with all the other Phaidon crap.)
February 5, 2021
This is my first reading about how a restaurant staff eats while they are at work. The family here Adria mentions is about "the family he works with to keep up El Buli:up and running" . Fine tips have mentioned. So we as home cooks also can use !
The book is also have step by step photos and bulk recipe(if you cook for a crowd with Adria's star recipes:how cool is that?) instructions. And a typical menu pairing as well.
The book is also have step by step photos and bulk recipe(if you cook for a crowd with Adria's star recipes:how cool is that?) instructions. And a typical menu pairing as well.
October 5, 2017
The book is laid out beautifully, with step-by-step photos and suggestions for entire meals, starting with an appetizer. It would be a wonderful book for the beginning cook, as most meals also had the goal of being economical. However, for an experienced cook, there is not much new or inspired here.
January 25, 2022
It’s not a family dinner cookbook; it’s a world-famous restaurant’s cookbook.
I love that there is a photo for every step of each recipe. To me, visuals are of paramount importance in a cookbook, and this one delivered in spades.
I also leaned a lot of techniques, and gained some good ideas. I dog-eared 8 recipes to try but the rest was just waaaaay out of my league.
I love that there is a photo for every step of each recipe. To me, visuals are of paramount importance in a cookbook, and this one delivered in spades.
I also leaned a lot of techniques, and gained some good ideas. I dog-eared 8 recipes to try but the rest was just waaaaay out of my league.
December 27, 2022
Awful trash written by one of the world's most respected chefs. I understand that the cooks and chef's aren't eating fancy shmancy food for staff meal, but they could at least put in an ounce of effort into the food styling, story telling and overall recipe development.
I would rather learn to cook from a phone book.
I would rather learn to cook from a phone book.
November 27, 2016
És un llibre de cuina molt ben pensat, amb menús ja establerts però que pots combinar com vulguis, apte tant per a restaurant com per a casa nostra. La majoria de receptes són molt casolanes i és un encert l'apartat inicial amb consells per al rebost i consells per a la conservació.
January 8, 2021
I love the concept of this cooking book and the way it is organized in meals! The ingredients and techniques felt beyond my current skill level, though, so I'm hoping this is one I can come back too later.
September 28, 2020
If anyone knows another cookbook like this, I'm all ears.
December 17, 2020
Enjoyed reading and looking at the gorgeous pictures but I won’t use it.
May 22, 2021
All the recipes I’ve tried are great. Not a traditional cookbook. Love the book’s structure.
August 9, 2021
Vracím se k ní opakovaně a je to ta jistota, když nevíte jak na to.
Skvělá pro začátečníky, kterým je vřele doporučuju.
Skvělá pro začátečníky, kterým je vřele doporučuju.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews