Daniel: My French Cuisine

by Daniel Boulud, Sylvie Bigar, Thomas Schauer (Photographer)

Daniel Boulud, one of America's most respected and successful chefs, delivers a definitive, yet personal cookbook on his love of French food.

From coming of age as a young chef to adapting French cuisine to American ingredients and tastes, Daniel Boulud reveals how he expresses his culinary artistry at Restaurant Daniel. With more than 75 signature recipes, plus an additional 12 recipes Boulud prepares at home for his friends on more casual occasions.

Daniel is a welcome addition to the art of French cooking. Included in the cookbook are diverse and informative essays on such essential subjects as bread and cheese (bien svªr), and, by Bill Buford, a thorough and humorous look at the preparation of 10 iconic French dishes, from Pot au Feu Royale to Duck a la Presse...with more than 120 gorgeous photographs capturing the essence of Boulud's cuisine and the spirit of restaurant Daniel, as well as a glimpse into Boulud's home kitchen, Daniel is a must-have for sophisticated foodies everywhere.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

395 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently took a series of cooking classes which has peaked my interest in improving my culinary skills. I have a long way to go!

Daniel Boulud owns 14 restaurants around the world; seven are in New York City. He specializes in French cuisine.

The photos and food presentation are phenomenal!

My favorite quotes from the book:

Fernand Point: It is the sauce that distinguishes a good chef. The saucier is a soloist in the orchestra of a great kitchen.

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: Burgundy makes you think of silly things. Bordeaux makes you talk about them and Champagne makes you do them.

[Bernardo Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

If my pantry was the size of a cruise ship, I guess I could try one of these recipes. Anyway, it was fun to read the thoughts of one of the elite chefs in the world, and there were so many terms I didn't understand that I was made aware of my present lack of culinary skill, which I want to fix.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daniel Boulud of restaurant, “Daniel” creates an elaborate primarily coffee table book (for many, the book is too big for the kitchen!). It’s a beautiful book though with lush photographs depicting seemingly art as food that may well intimidate anyone thinking they might actually cook from the book. To some extent, Boulud acknowledges that two of the sections are more for show then practice. These sections are recipes from the restaurant with minimal adaptations made for the home cook (like a citrus cured fluke, ships o bavarois, ponzu gelee) and old elaborate French recipes (Tete de veau en torture, for example).
But if you want to see the systematic composition of these elaborate compositions, the cookbook guides the reader through each step. However these are more recipes to ohh and ahh at as you leaf through the book on the coffee table.
The third smallest section is a bit more approachable because it focuses on the food Daniel cooks at home. There is nothing simple about making these dishes but they may not overwhelm advanced cooks. A wild mushroom tarte flambé starts with dough made from 00 pasta flour, a quick fromage Blanc and mushroom topping is added and it is finished with herb and onion.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a practical cookbook for the home cook. The recipes are just too intricate. That said, it was amazingly well done. The pictures are gorgeous. The steps are laid out so that you could do it, if you had all day to cook and all the fancy equipment and ingredients. The essays and the adventures in cooking were interesting to read.

And its not a bad thing that the recipes are intricate. Like, mindblowingly so. You know how when you cook you usually put a bunch of things together to make one thing? In this books recipes, you do that like 5 times and then take those resulting 5 things, put a little bit of it on a plate in a decorative manner and you get art. My husband says it actually makes you want to eat there, because you'd never be able to replicate that stuff at home. So, someday, when I go to a restaurant like this, I'll be able to appreciate the hours of work than went into my 50$ plate of 3 bites.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is three books in one. The first is actual recipes for appetizers, salads and main courses served at Daniel, the author’s restaurant in New York. The final section is recipes for meals served by the author for guests, friends and family. The food is rustic and sounds delicious. The middle section was written by Bill Buford and contains a series of classic French dishes, as the introduction says, from Pot-au-feu to Canard a la Presse. There are also a series of essays on various food-related subjects. All in all, there are only a few recipes I would ever consider actually cooking, but the stories are very entertaining. I got this book after reading Dirt. It is a fun read for a foodie.

[Nathan Brungart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel speaks for itself, ambitious and full of restaurant basics, advanced, and deeply technical dishes.

I really like the huckleberry coulis, applications of rhubarb, and the coconut chutney recipe really spoke to me for reapplication.

[Ariadna73 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pictures are HD and beautiful, but this is really a book of art, not a book about food. The dishes are utterly complicated and require so much work that only a highly skilled professional can dream to emulate a few of them. This book felt like something written in another planet, and for some reason killed all my desire to visit the restaurant mentioned in it, if such place exists. However, as I said, the pictures are great and it is a colorful and beautiful book.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous cookbook, but highly impractical. This is what I call a table-top cookbook. The pictures are gorgeous. The recipes are exquisite, but will never be prepared. That was this cookbook.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

beautiful food, but obviously not everyday cook practical.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic cookbook!

[Jun]

Best Eye Candy Cookbook - Beautiful to look at, but may have to wait to try the recipes when my nest is empty. :-)