Let's go unicorn-hunting
The reasons are quite straightforward. Normally the more influential cookbook has, the more widely it is read. This follows a straightforward commercial logic. 1) Chef becomes famous/important. 2) Said chef writes book. 3) Said book becomes famous/important. 4) Said book is subject to numerous reprints cos at the end of the day said chef wants to make a living.
For rare cookbooks the opposite logic applies. 1) Cookbook is published. 2) No one wants to read it. 3) Cookbook falls out of print. End of story. If it ain't good enough to attract a reprint, its unlikely to be particularly significant.
Of course (and there is an "of course" otherwise there wouldn't be much point to this blog post!) there is also a delicious category of exceptions. a small cadre of books do exist which are both mind-bogglingly influential and incredibly rare.
They have mostly been written in the last thirty years, many by chefs who are household names. For various reasons - cost, obsolescence or simply ignorance - their authors or publishers have let them fall by the wayside, such that they are almost unobtainable today.
These are the culinary unicorns.
Let me show you what I mean:
Joan Roca's revolutionary manifesto
Sous-Vide Cuisine (Joan Roca & Salvador Brugues) |
It wasn't always like this. When I first went it was in a slight ramshackle out of town site by a service station (the restaurant originally started off in the basement of the Roca family's Catalan diner, hence the name). The food was good, the wine was a snip and as I was leaving I spotted Sous-Vide Cuisine on sale in reception.
Even back then it wasn't cheap. The book itself cost a hundred Euros (about the same price as the tasting menu!), and at under 200 pages you weren't getting much content for your money. But the information it contained was priceless.
Part cookbook, part physics manual. |
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However the book itself remains frustratingly hard to find. Partly also its because of the obscenely high sticker price and limited distribution. Partly also I think is the nature of the work. The way the text is arranged and presented reminds me of some of the horribly obtuse chocolate-making books (e.g. anything by Jean-Pierre Wybauw). There are a bunch of fantabulous cheffy recipes a the back but you have to wade through an awful lot of flow charts and exposition before you get to them. I suspect this tends to banish it to the top-shelf marked "professional cookery" rather than the section marked "really interesting cheffy books" in any bookstore.Anyhow I don't think I've ever seen it in a bookshop, ever. In the US second-hand copies are fetching $180 on Amazon (although strangely the UK site seems to have new copies - a snip at £85). Given the growing interest in sous-vide techniques I think this book deserves - and demands - a wider audience. But until the Roca brothers pull their finger out and arrange a more accessible edition, it will remain the quintessential culinary unicorn.
Bocuse and his friends
Great Chefs of France (Anthony Blake &
Quentin Crewe)
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This was the first book to people's eyes in the Anglophone world to what food could really be. Unsurprisingly many of the today's leading chefs cite this as a definite influence. Heston Blumenthal writes:
More than any other volume, I read Quentin Crewe and Anthony Blake's Great Chefs of France, which presented, in words and pictures, portraits of a dozen of France's most influential chefs... I read these words over and over until I knew them virtually by heart.The genius of this book is its timing. Crewe and Blake were lucky to be writing as a the revolution was taking place. You see time you see Emeril or Gordon or Wolfgang on TV its all down to Paul. In the 1970s Paul Bocuse singlehanded defined the role of the celebrity chef, with sheer force of will accompanied by tureens of black truffle soup. This book captures him and his nouvelle cuisine cohorts - the Troisgros brothers, Michel Guerard, Georges Blanc in the pomp (it is notable that Crewe decided to focus on the non-Parisian three stars - as this was the age when France's regional restaurants really came to the fore).
As well a profiling the nouvelle cuisine muskateers, It also provides a nod to the generation of postwar chefs (many forgotten today) who laid the groundwork of the revolution Pic, Point, Thuiller, Bise. There is no other book in the English language which captures what was taking place. Just as Bob Carlos Clarke's White Heat captured Marco as he defined the rock star chef, Crewe was simply at the right place at the right time.
Michel Guerard: Culinary revolutionary and fashion terrorist. |
Northern Lights
Noma Nordic Cuisine (Rene Redzepi & Claus Meyer); Source: TasteFood |
I refer, of course, to the legendary Noma Cookbook.
Note that I am not referring too the Phaidon-published travesty that is Noma: Time and Space in Nordic Cuisine. The less said about that (or anything else by Phaidon), the better. Long before that was even a footnote on a marketing manager's schedule, Redzepi had published his original book Noma: Nordic Cuisine, wayback in 2006.
It's this English edition, of which only a thousand were printed, which is the ultimate culinary unicorn. I don't have a copy, and have never had a sniff of one. I know it only by reputation. If you search hard you can find traces on the web. The introduction (and manifesto for Noma's cuisine) is on the website of collaborator Claus Meyer, here. This blog post (part 2 here) has some pictures and a few recipes (even these authors admit they were only using a borrowed copy). It could be of course that the book is a complete let-down and consists largely of recipes for pickled herring, but somehow I doubt it (the egg yolk cream recipe looks both unusual and promising).
Source: TasteFood |
In fact the opposite is true. A mere seven years after publication the book is virtually unobtainable. One copy is listed on Amazon for a mere £1800 (although be careful - judging by the cover it might be the Danish version). Otherwise I think it's pretty much impossible to find a copy.
Postscript: Other unicorns
While writing this piece a bunch of former and nearly -unicorns crossed my mind. I thought they were worth mentioning:
La Tante Claire by Pierre Koffmann
Until its recent reprint, Pierre Koffmann's Memories of Gascony would have been first on my list of culinary unicorns, not only as the heartwork of one of London's defining culinary figures (and for that pigs trotter recipe), but also because it is an excellent exemplar of the memoir-with-recipes. I do note however that its sister-volume La Tante Claire (co-authored with Anthony Blake, who worked on Great Chefs of France) remains out of print. This is a shame as it continues the story of Koffmann's journey to Le Gavroche in London, out to Bray to create the Waterside Inn and back to Chelsea to La Tante Claire, where he later won his three michelin stars. The pigs trotter recipe also features, if you missed it the first time round.White Heat by Marco Pierre White
Like some of the other unicorns, another exercise in Zeitgeist-capture, this time from Marco Pierre White in his sizzling eighties heyday. I've already written about this one before, but just to note that before its 2009 softcover reprint there was a period of 4-5 years where this book out of print and heart-breakingly hard to find. A good example of the publishers seeing sense and doing everyone a service.Le Grande Livre de Cuisine de Joel Robuchon
As I noted before, the definitive record of Robuchon, at least in his Paris haute cuisine days. Unlike Ducasse's similar books however this one hasn't been translated into English which means it remains much more of a niche item. It can be had on Amazon for around $400, but I suspect as time wears on it will be rarer and rarer.Pei Mei's Chinese Cookbook
The subject of one of my earlier blog posts, this book used to be readily available second-hand on Amazon, but I note it has become harder to find over the last few years. Partly a historical relic partly a culinary landmark,the user unfriendliness and 1970s styling of the book probably precludes a reprint (unless someone is willing to embark on a fresh translation). It can be had on Kindle but the full fat print version is becoming rapidly hard to find.Future culinary unicorns
What books readily available now will become future culinary unicorns? Speaking facetiously all of them, if e-books cannibalise print as I think they will. More seriously I think Modernist Cuisine will probably get there - if only because its size and expense limits the scope for reprints; when all copies are gone there'll be gone.In the UK I suspect if David Everitt-Matthias ever got annointed with a third michelin star, his existing cookbooks (Essence and Dessert) will instantly become collector's items (viz the Noma book when Rene get made Best Chef in the World Ever). Ditto Sat Bains, helped by the fact that his cookbook is pretty much unobtainable already - as far as I can tell its available only direct from the restaurant or the publisher with little or no retail availability (I think its a Face Publishing thing). Also NB DEM has his third cookbook out imminently. Worth looking out for, three stars or no.
And to finish with, entirely different kind of Culinary Unicorn. |
you stuck your nose into Vegetronic by Alexis Gauthier, yet?
ReplyDeleteif you have recommendation or ney?
Or anyother views of veg cookcooks?
Hi
DeleteHad a poke around in Waterstones Picadilly today on the way home from work (tx for flagging... had missed that one!). Hmmm the layout a bit too random for me (very jazzy - like the Zumbo book or Paulfood). Recipes also seemed in two minds. Not sure if they are trying to be haute or warmed up comfort food. Will probably give this one a pass.
Other veggie books? For the basics James Peterson Vegetables (all his single ingredient books are good, the earlier ones tend to be better than later ones). For haute perhaps the Charlie Trotter book (a bit dated though). Also look at any of the Flammiron Linday/Mikanaowski/Joel Thibault books (Uncooked, Vegetables, Potato etc) - these are really excellent compilation volumes which draw on France's top-end chefs. Bizarrely I've picked up most of my copies from book surplus stores!
PS Also in stock at Waterstones:
** Beyond Essence - seems very very similar to Essence.
** Astrance Cookbook - excellent. Slightly weird though as it doesn't actually have recipes as much as page-long descriptions of dishes and the thought process. What can I say its translated from the original French....
** Sat Bains book finally in stock!! Also looked very good, some nice touches (pages of random email stories from his cheffy mates). I did find it rather rich though that he rips into John Burton-Race for being a pretentious "c*nt" (his swear word, not mine), in the middle of an utterly pretentious seventy five quid cookbook which uses multiple types of paper and has lots of fancy cut-out bits...
What about Dashi and Umami?
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw that one (and forgive me if I'm complete wrong on this - I'm running from memory here!) I got the impression it was more coffee table book than cookbook. Didn't seem much content there, just lots of forewards from culinary luminaries. Don't think it will ever be substantive or influential enough to be a unicorn.
DeleteJust my view I hasten to add! (presumably given you suggested it you think otherwise!!). Best regards J
c'mon, chop-chop. Where's the next instalment?
ReplyDeletewhat's the Paulfood book like?
Hi, yes still plugging away.
DeleteThinking about writing something on dessert books, but more definitely want to write about Alain Chapel.
He has been a recurring theme in a number of posts, this one included. Bu there isn't much written about him - strange.
J
Just picked up a mint copy of Great Chefs of France on Amazon for £4 delivered. Bargain! Curiously, there were a couple of others similarly priced but they're now back up to around £50. Double bargain!!
ReplyDeleteIt appears to have been a gift back in 1986. The rather charming inscription reads: To dearest Peter. Happy Birthday. Fun reading for a gourmet like you! Lots of love, Rob, Carolyn, Annabel & Alexander.
I hope Peter enjoyed his present. It was certainly well looked after and I'm looking forward to many a pleasant hour browsing through it.
If you liked Great Chefs of France, you should also give by A Treasury of Great Recipes by Vincent Price a try. (Yes, that Vincent Price.) It was printed in the mid-60s, and it covers Vincent's favorite and best restaurants at that point. More of those places listed are American, but it also covers a lot of French restaurants so it'd be an interesting bookend to read with Great Chefs of France.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen that before. Will keep an eye out for it how deliciously random.
DeleteAnother volume along the same line is Masterpieces of French Cuisine which presents a series of recipes for michelin starred French restaurants of the era (early 70s). Although doesn't really have the context and discussion of the recipes you get in the Crewe book. One advantage it does have is featuring recipes from restaurants in Paris (Lassare, Maxim, Tour D'A, Le Grande Vefour, Leperouse) - Great Chefs of France deliberately ignores the capital and focuses on the provinces.
J
If anyone is interested in buying Noma Nordic cuisine english version, contact me on wernerheim@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteBest regards Niklas ( Malmö Swden)
Thanks for sharing, nice post! Post really provice useful information!
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