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Make It Fancy: Cooking at Home With Sad Papi
National Bestseller
“Advanced home cooks looking to dazzle a dinner party will want to check this out.”—Publishers Weekly
ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING COOKBOOKS OF SPRING 2024: Epicurious • ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF SPRING 2024: Eater
Take your home recipes and techniques to the next level with TikTok sensation and professional chef Sad Papi.
When Brandon Skier first created Sad Papi (@Sad_Papi) and started posting cooking videos to TikTok, he’d just lost his job as a chef at the beginning of the pandemic. He’d spent ten years working in the kitchen of some of the top restaurants in Los Angeles—learning all the secrets of the business, understanding how chefs take cooking to the next level and, as Brandon says, how to “make it fancy.” By the time his videos started going viral, his black hoodie, backwards baseball cap, and tattoos had become his signature. Soon after, he was listed among the rising cooking social media stars in The New York Times.
Just like his addicting videos, Make it Fancy teaches you how you can cook like a professional chef and elevate meals in a doable way—all while having fun in the kitchen. Before long, you’ll be coming up with your own ways to enjoy staple and main dish recipes for unusual dishes
Lime Leaf Peanuts Burnt Onion Powder Pistachio Dukkah Preserved Lemon Vinaigreette Puffed Beef Tendon Brussel Sprouts with Chorizo Breadcrumbs Duck Confit with Mole Poblano Pork Chop with Fennel Pollen and Pear Mostarda And more!
For cooks who want to understand why restaurant food is so delicious, Make it Fancy will quickly earn a place on their kitchen bookshelf.
“Advanced home cooks looking to dazzle a dinner party will want to check this out.”—Publishers Weekly
ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING COOKBOOKS OF SPRING 2024: Epicurious • ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF SPRING 2024: Eater
Take your home recipes and techniques to the next level with TikTok sensation and professional chef Sad Papi.
When Brandon Skier first created Sad Papi (@Sad_Papi) and started posting cooking videos to TikTok, he’d just lost his job as a chef at the beginning of the pandemic. He’d spent ten years working in the kitchen of some of the top restaurants in Los Angeles—learning all the secrets of the business, understanding how chefs take cooking to the next level and, as Brandon says, how to “make it fancy.” By the time his videos started going viral, his black hoodie, backwards baseball cap, and tattoos had become his signature. Soon after, he was listed among the rising cooking social media stars in The New York Times.
Just like his addicting videos, Make it Fancy teaches you how you can cook like a professional chef and elevate meals in a doable way—all while having fun in the kitchen. Before long, you’ll be coming up with your own ways to enjoy staple and main dish recipes for unusual dishes
Lime Leaf Peanuts Burnt Onion Powder Pistachio Dukkah Preserved Lemon Vinaigreette Puffed Beef Tendon Brussel Sprouts with Chorizo Breadcrumbs Duck Confit with Mole Poblano Pork Chop with Fennel Pollen and Pear Mostarda And more!
For cooks who want to understand why restaurant food is so delicious, Make it Fancy will quickly earn a place on their kitchen bookshelf.
204 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 5, 2024
28 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 9, 2025
I generally avoid cook books by “restaurant” chefs, but Sad Papi’s recipes looked well explained and so I decided to give it a go.
First, I made his “Roasted Baby Carrots with Spiced Labne and Pistachio Dukkah.” It was good, I really liked the savory roasted carrots with the Pistachio Dukkah. The “Spiced Labne” was heavily spiced to the point where I felt like I was eating a jar of spices with some yogurt mixed in. The next recipe I made was Dukkah-Crusted Lamb Rack with Burnt Honey Gastrique. The Gastrique was a failure. It tasted burnt in a bad way, so I used a pear reduction that I happened to have on hand in its place. The lamb tasted uninspired. Nobody hated it but the Dukkah didn’t stand up to the lamb. The last thing I made was the “Leek and Herb Butter.” I was frustrated by how little butter is left after all of the straining. It’s personal preference but I’d rather have some bits of herbs and leeks in my butter rather than waste butter.
Overall Skier’s instructions were clear, and I didn’t see any errors in the ingredient lists and none of the recipes were absolute failures, but none were all that good. Unless you’ve got a thing for Sad Papi and a desire to do restaurant level sauces, reductions and prep, SKIP it.
First, I made his “Roasted Baby Carrots with Spiced Labne and Pistachio Dukkah.” It was good, I really liked the savory roasted carrots with the Pistachio Dukkah. The “Spiced Labne” was heavily spiced to the point where I felt like I was eating a jar of spices with some yogurt mixed in. The next recipe I made was Dukkah-Crusted Lamb Rack with Burnt Honey Gastrique. The Gastrique was a failure. It tasted burnt in a bad way, so I used a pear reduction that I happened to have on hand in its place. The lamb tasted uninspired. Nobody hated it but the Dukkah didn’t stand up to the lamb. The last thing I made was the “Leek and Herb Butter.” I was frustrated by how little butter is left after all of the straining. It’s personal preference but I’d rather have some bits of herbs and leeks in my butter rather than waste butter.
Overall Skier’s instructions were clear, and I didn’t see any errors in the ingredient lists and none of the recipes were absolute failures, but none were all that good. Unless you’ve got a thing for Sad Papi and a desire to do restaurant level sauces, reductions and prep, SKIP it.
May 2, 2024
It is, indeed, very fancy!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews