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Chef Daniel Boulud
Cooking in New York City
By Daniel Boulud and Peter Kaminsky
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We
begin our day with chef Daniel Boloud at 6 a.m. with
the baking of delicious cakes and breads like olive
rosemary bread or chocolate cherry bread. Then there's
shopping to be done, fish and shellfish and fresh
vegetables and meats from local markets and vendors.
We see where he buys his tasty flounders and learn
to make a tuna bagnat or delicate piballes (baby eels)
that melt in your mouth. We move through lunch in
the city that never sleeps and you might encounter
butternut squash soup with exotic spices, apples and
cilantro cream or tomato tartin and sugar cane-grilled
shrimp with peanut sauce. We pursue his path through
a kitchen staff meeting, an afternoon wine event,
a black-tie charity function until his 17-hour day
culminates in an after-hours chefs' supper. This is
a mouthwatering book, full of fascinating tidbits
and anecdotes by the famous chef as he takes you through
a typical whirlwind day. It is also very much a book
about New York, its sights, whims and idiosyncrasies.
He writes: "I'm inspired by New York City, by
the great institution that it is, and it's what really
drives me. I want Daniel to be a part of the history
of great French food in New York, to be in the chapter
of the great French restaurants of this city."
Aside
from all the dramatic recipes for baby eels and tartes
and whatnot we were especially intrigued by the db
burger. "I always thought I would love to intrigue
my customers by making a burger at Daniel, but I had
to make it the fanciest burger on earth. I was not
going to make a burger without truffles and foie gras."
So here it is: a burger with foie gras, truffles,
confit, short ribs braised in wine, tomato and horseradish
on a semolina bun with parmesan, served with pommes
soufflés, devoured best with a bottle of Côtes
du Rhône "Belleruche" 2000 from M.
Chapoutier. Even if you're not up to spending $450
for a pound of truffles from Périgord, you
will delight in one of the 75 recipes compiled in
this wonderful book, especially if you're not traveling
to New York any time soon to dine at one of Boulud's
three restaurants, Daniel, db
Bistro Moderne or Café
Boulud.
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