Cookin' With Julia & Jacques
Written: Sep 26 '02 (Updated Sep 28 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The Duke & Diva of Cooking explain it all for you.
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: This one's a keeper if there ever was one.
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| ed_grover's Full Review: |
These two celebrated cooks have invited us into their kitchen for some lessons on (mostly) French home cooking. Each of them has an introductory page where they (ladies first) can have the ultimate last word. I?ve watched every Julia Child TV program I could possibly watch since I first saw her on TV in New York City at a friend?s house in the late 1950s.
As I watched, my jaw dropped and I called my friend to come and see this nutcase who was on this cooking show on PBS. I thought she was totally smashed, but terribly good at what she did. Even when she dropped the bird or fish or whatever it was, she would just look at the camera and, in that wonderful voice, say something like, "Now remember, you're alone in the kitchen. No one will see you if you pick it up and dust it off!" That did it for me. She was a Diva for me before I even knew what the word meant.
Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home by Julia Child and Jacques Peppin is a winner! I certainly wouldn?t let it anywhere near my kitchen; it?s just too beautiful and my kitchen is too small. It might very well be a kitchen book for the person who has a kitchen the size of a small ballroom with a large seating area and shelving to hold books. For me, this is a coffee table book. It?s a book you read in your living room; you take notes from it so you can follow them when you get in the kitchen and do whatever it is you have decided you are going to follow to the letter.
I?m sure everyone has seen Julia and Jacques cooking and kibitzing on TV. They obviously adore one another and when Jacques Peppin does something Julia doesn?t quite approve of, Julia treats the whole thing as a new technique. When she wants to add gobs of butter to whatever she is making, Jacques lets her and subtly suggests a way to do it with less. Then they giggle like schoolchildren who have put something over on someone--namely us!
Julia says, ?What has especially interested me in our joint culinary exploits is the tremendous differences between a top-of-the-line professional chef and the serious home cook. . . . Obviously I learned a great many things from Jacques, and he learned a thing or two from me.? You can almost hear that voice. She goes on to discuss the relative simplicity of learning from either watching their TV program or reading this book. She says that as you learn ?a step or two at a time, and your friends see what you?re doing, pretty soon they?ll call you an accomplished cook.?
Jacques Peppin has been cooking and writing cookbooks for almost as long as Julia. I counted a total of sixteen books at the beginning of this tome. I?ve enjoyed all of his cooking shows on TV except those with Claudia, his daughter. I was checking his cookbooks out of the library before that. These two marvelous people are the best the United States has to offer at present. Who will replace them? Certainly not Caprile or that Asian guy--you know, the Jackie Chan of the cooking set who repeats everything saying, ?Cut ?em up, Cut ?em up, Cut ?em up ad nauseum every time he cuts something with that chopper. He drives me nertz.
On his page, Jacques writes, ?Food for me, is inseparable from sharing. There is no great meal unless it is shared with family or friends . . . . For people like us who love to cook, it is easier, more fun, more exciting and more rewarding to cook without recipes . . . We agree that no recipes are written in stone, and as we created dishes a l?improviste , or on impulse, we both knew that if we did them again we would probably make changes.? He then invites us to share these recipes with family and friends, and says, ?if you do we will have achieved what we set out to do with each of our shows: to welcome you to our kitchen and to share and enjoy our food with you.?
Let?s go have a look!
They begin with Appetizers, a few choice morsels like oyster and clams. There are wonderful color photos and complete instructions for opening these delicious bivalves. Each of these cooks has a sidebar (Julia in pale blue, Jacques in a pale apricot) where they explain, in their own words how to achieve the process. Julia uses a beer can opener to start the process, and Jacques uses a sturdy oyster knife (naturally) over a bowl to catch all the juices.
There are tips for buying clams and oysters along with a Horseradish-Tabasco-Ketchup Sauce to be used for either one (bet it?s good for shrimp, too), plus a Mignonette (pepper) Sauce that is strictly for oysters. They both seem to prefer their shellfish on the half-shell (raw). I?d look elsewhere if you need to eat these guys cooked. On we go to steamed mussels and shrimp, Salmon that is made into Gravlax, brioches of different kinds and pates, all of which look good enough to eat.
And, speaking of that, I?m taking a break to have something myself. I?ve been working on a roaster full of Hungarian Stuffed Peppers. I got seven huge peppers for $1 at the green market and I have to cook them today. I?ll be back in a moment . . . maybe!
Soups are where they are supposed to be, at the beginning of the book, not buried somewhere after salads and sandwiches or some such thing. Here?s where you learn to make various stocks or a quick soup. They both say this is not a matter of tricks, but of good techniques, fine fresh ingredients, and attention to seasoning. Julia makes a ?Creamy Chicken Soup with Rice,? that contains no cream but has a thick puree of rice. Finish the soup off with a few snips of fresh chives and a spoonful or two of sour cream. Jacques makes his ?Chicken Noodle Soup? with angel-hair pasta and diced fresh scallions. Yum!
What follows is ?Julia?s Chicken Chowder? and ?Jacques Onion Soup Gratinee.? There?s a good ?Basic Leek and Potato Soup,? and Jacques adds a ?Lamb and Barley Soup? that sounds like I should get a pot out and start cooking right now.
Julia gives us a ?Mediterranean Seafood Stew? with her recipe for ?Rouille,? that wonderful sauce of bread, pimiento and garlic that is so indispensable for this dish.
Next up is Eggs! Yes there are omelets of different kinds, but what I liked was their approach to scrambled eggs and what you can do with them. I like especially ?Julia?s Cooked Fresh Tomatoes with Eggs,? which work with any type of egg preparation. Here, they show off scrambled eggs in the center of a lake of cooked tomato.
On we go to learn about the perfect poached and coddled eggs. There are eggs in aspic and ?Eggs Benedict,? followed by souffles (including how to whip egg whites and how to make an excellent Hollandaise Sauce. If your sauce breaks (or curdles), Jacques is right there to tell you how to rescue the disaster. It?s all very helpful.
Now we have Salads & Sandwiches.Jacques says NOT to dispose of that lettuce core you have taken out of the center of that head of Romain or Boston Lettuce; slice it thinly and add it to the salad. And yes, he likes head lettuce, too. Julia takes over for a Caesar Salad, followed by a Composed Near-Nicoise Salad using canned tuna. Jacques shows us how to peel a green bell pepper. He says it is much more digestible if peeled. Well, okay, Jacques, if you say so.
After a lesson on ?Basic Dressings? and ?Mayonnaise,? recommendations on what to do when that separates, we get potato and cold meat salads, a lentil salad and those sandwiches. The first is in the form of the ever-popular ?Croque Monsieur/Croque Madame,? which is basically a grilled Ham and (Swiss) Cheese. The ?Madame? is made with leftover chicken and a dash of Tabasco. They both recommend playing around with the fillings. If that isn?t enough there are hot and cold lobster rolls and ?Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia.?
Potatoes have a section all their own, and you can learn how to make the perfect mashed (with lumps), baked and dozens of other recipes. There are ?Old Fashioned Hash Browns? and ?Scalloped Potatoes? and Yams and even those wonderful ?Pommes de Terre Souffles.? I haven?t had those since I went to Brennen?s in New Orleans. Jacques helps us make the ?Perfect French Fry? and Julia takes us into Rice and Beans.
The section on Vegetables includes everything a good vegetarian and a few meat-eaters I know would love to chow down on. Here, the emphasis is on proper cooking. You don?t want to make these like a neighbor of mine does: She brings everything to a boil, drains off all the water and it and starts over with fresh water. Then she proceeds to bring the pot to a boil again and then boils all Hell out of whatever is in the pot to get the poisons out. Finally, she slides the limp remains onto a dish without even a dash of salt.
Artichokes are steamed and stuffed. Finally someone tells me how to cook a ?Brussels Sprout.? I hated them as a kid and got them cold for breakfast when I wouldn?t eat them at Supper. My mother always made sure we had something I really liked for breakfast--usually French Toast or Waffles. I had to eat those damned cold sprouts before I got any goodies.
Green Beans and Cauliflower and Spinach recipes all follow one another, with Carrots and Turnips and Zucchini and Eggplant bring up the rear. Learn how to saute mushrooms and to make ?Provencal Tomatoes.? Jacques stuffs them with bread crumbs, herbs and cheese.
There?s Fish plain and fancy. Learn everything from how to remove the bones from Salmon to cooking it with vegetables in Papillote to sauteing the tender fillets in a potato casing. There is ?Grilled Halibut? with flavored butters from Jacques. Julia tells how she prepares a baked fish and Jacques turns around and tells his way of doing it. Then they do the same thing for the poaching method. You can learn lots even if you never make any of this gorgeous food.
Julia tells us how to do lobsters. Living in the Midwest, I never get these things anymore. My first live Maine Lobster was at LockeOber?s in Boston. What a treat, and what a great restaurant. Later, as that was my summer of love in P-
Town, I experienced the joys of eating a Lobster Roll after the beach. You guys got it good out there. Julia teaches us about a ?Lobster Stew? and Jacques makes ?Lobster a l?Americaine.?
All of a sudden, here we are at Poultry, which if you have ever witnessed Jacques cutting up a bird, is the place to learn if you haven?t. After Julia makes a ?Roast Chicken with Lemon and Herbs,? he shows us how he stuffs, bones and carves that particular birdie. Then they poach a chicken and give us a recipe for the famous ?Chicken Pot Pie,? which bears no resemblance to those things you can get on sale in the freezer section of your local grocery. After that it?s Turkey and Duck.
They both give extensive coverage to Meat and tell us it is coming back into vogue. I?m a carnivore, I never thought it left. Julia and Jacques prep you for splurging on ?Jacques? Chateaubriand,? and make sure you will have the confidence to get the most out of this expensive dish. In the meantime they let you know about pan-frying and how to make a ?Steal au Poivre.? If you like cooking in a chaffing dish, there is a recipe for the popular favorite from the 1920s and 30s, ?Steak Diane.?
It?s always helpful to know how the pro cooks a ?Standing Rib Roast.? Julia and Jacques both show you their tricks and secrets. A Pot Roast takes time, but not work for the cook. I find making these satisfying meals is as rewarding as making a perfect pot of soup. You can ring changes on a good recipe and use liquids that vary from broth to beer to your favorite red wine.
They both get into hamburgers and Jacques like a toasted Kaiser roll, head lettuce, red onion, pickle chips and ketchup on his. Julia doesn?t build hers quite as high as Jacques does and she like bacon and sliced tomato on hers. From there we get more earthy fare like ?Stuffed Cabbage,? ?Roast Veal en Cocotte,? and Julia?s ?Blanquette de Veau.? My mother made a German version of this dish that I still haven?t mastered. I keep trying; practice makes perfect.
There are stews and pork roasts and grilled pork chops, and we get a lesson on ?Homemade Sausage? and two versions of a ?Leg of Lamb.? Julia makes hers slow roasted and Jacques tells us the French method with an herbal-mustard-garlic coating. It?s pink inside and that?s the way I like it. He also shows us how to carve that lamb as the bone is just a bit different.
The final chapter is Desserts, and they are just the right endings for these wonderful meals. Here we get the basics, not architectural constructions or exotic flavorings. A ?Creme Caramel? is presented for us as is a ?Creme Brulee.? There are ?Chocolate Pots de Creme,? from Jacques and Julia gives us the recipe for a ?Sabayon with Strawberries.? There are cream puffs and jellyrolls and dessert crepes. But best of all is Jacques? recipe for a free-form tart or galette made with flaky pie dough and filled with tart apples. I saw him make this one afternoon and ran right out and bought apples to make one, too. It was so easy, and so is this book.
The book measures 11 1/4? by 9 1/2? and is over an inch thick, including the heavy binding. It has a pleasantly pastel slipcover with a charming picture of the cooking duo smiling at each other over a glass of vino. The inside is richly illustrated with wonderful photographs by Christopher Hirsheimer. The text is printed in a facsimile of a typeface called Bempo, created by Venetian printer Francesco Griffo for Aldus Manutius. It is named after Pietro Cardinal Bempo, and is extremely easy on the eye. I love that name. Beyond that, it?s very well written and easy to understand throughout. You surely will enjoy owning it and remember Christmas is on its way! (Borzoi Books, ISBN: 0-375-40431-7).
? Ed Grover2002
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: Ed Grover
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