ChileChef......lets talk about our passion.......: A Book For Real Cooks

I first got my hands on Fergus Henderson’s book after Anthony Bourdain brought him over to speak at the CIA. Most of the attention was centered, of course, on the celebrity chef, but he kept trying to shift the focus to the skinny, nervous looking quiet and considerably shorter man next to him. Fortunately for all of us, the school has a fair share of knowledgeable students who had heard about Chef Henderson and his mythic restaurant: Saint John’s, in London. We were fortunate because they asked him a few questions and once he started speaking we were hooked. It suddenly became clear why Tony Bourdain (A hero to most CIA students) wanted us to hear one of his personal heroes speak. The New York Chef sat back with a pleasant grin, and let his British friend take over.

Two day later I gathered my money and went over to buy The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating. I was not disappointed.

This book is very different from most in my collection. It’s definitely not the kind I would normally pick out of a shelf. It has no photography, the white paperback cover is my definition of unpretentious and it’s smaller than most modern marketable cookbooks. However, it’s true what they say: don’t judge a book by its cover. Upon closer inspection (I mean just looking at the contents) you find surprising recipes for “Roast Bone Marrow and Parley Salad”, “Lamb’s Brain Terrine” and “Confit of Rabbit Leg in Broth”. He has a story for most dishes, and all of them he has offered at his restaurant.

I’ve never dined at Saint John’s, but I can easily picture it as more of a rustic ambience, where the focus is not on plate presentation but on the food itself. That is, at least, what I get from the book, which evokes an era when very little of an animal went to waste, when, indeed, the whole beast was eaten.

Although many shriek at the thought of eating organ meats, the philosophy behind “The Whole Beast” is one to be appreciated by every cook and gourmand lucky enough to read it. Since I couldn’t possibly express it better than Chef Henderson, I let him speak through his book’s introduction:

“This is a celebration of cuts of meat, innards, and extremities that are more often forgotten or discarded in today’s kitchen; it would seem disingenuous to the animal not to make the most of the whole beast: there is a set of delights, textural and flavorsome, which lie beyond the fillet."

By CGS

ChileChef......lets talk about our passion.......

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

A Book For Real Cooks

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