theoptips op tips
Originally started on my Snip.it and Pinterest collections, now I have migrated it here, nowhere more fitting. This shall be my inaugural post.
For 3 years I have been a Yelp Elite: translate I love food, people can tell. I enjoy watching "food porn", so I build "food porn" albums, and share with all.
Here's a list of extraordinary list of cookbooks that I have encountered through my work/personal travels. Enjoy
As you might have guessed, some links are amazon, as for books, I usually do so.
My two cents on our American attitude towards food, and Yelp and beyond.
As you are reading my list, you might enjoy knowing a bit of background and my "bias" :)
One of the Best neo Japanese restaurants is not in California, it is found in Austin/Houston, Texas. Tyson Cole a young blond talented chef has barely visited Japan for more than a study-abroad student.
Truly entrepreneurial Sushi chef with non-traditional root, who ended up founding this amazing restaurant with helpers that are also not quite Japanese.
Thinking of breaking traditions? Starting your own restuarant? Cooking some bizarre recipes, like Fried Milk dessert? This is for you.
It was a recommended for my entrepreneurial restaurant/chef friend.
SPQR is a tiny San Francisco Fillmore Street, distinctly local sensation. As the name suggests, it is Italian, frequently featuring humble yet elegant fresh homemade pasta: like... squid ink spaghetti. The young chef's adventurous heart doesn't stop here, if you are a brave one, you can try plenty of shocking choices here that are usually associated with more of a Chinese feel in terms of sheer bizarre-ness: fried pig ear, braised marinated rabbit (small bundles) and so forth. Even an occasional Japanese touch: yuzu yellowtail crudo.
Yet the pasta and huge selection of Proseco and Italian wine will distinctly knock you back to the senses of the Italian heritage.
Dining in - best at chef's counter. You can enjoy a Ramsey food show like kitchen operation efficiency.
Recipe is advanced, tricky, and unique. If you can't visit the restaurant, you will still love this as a great cook.
Why Japan? As you can see my posts/blogs/food journals are littered with Japanese cuisines and snacks, why? Ever since a lucky internship/visit in Tokyo in 2008, I came to realized that the Japanese have mastered so many trades and arts, and many of them chose food for professions to the extreme of Jiro Dreamed of Sushi.
Even in 2008, Japan's Tokyo has received more Michelin 3 Stars than Paris! The food mecca just migrated... and the French weren't happy with that. Nor were the Japanese, funny enough.
The Japanese were somewhat offended that a panel of half French and half Japanese judges concluded on their sacred distinctive art of cuisine. To Michelin's great surprise, some chefs even refused the stars fearing losing their exquisite customers and respect from within the country.
Strange place indeed, yet absolutely fascinating. Have you watched Jiro Dreamed of Sushi then?
As promised, here's some food porn - specifically Sushi porn. This is a gorgeous Japanese styled print edition of sushi photos, of the most amazing and gorgeous sushi choices. Beautifully shot, and collected as a photo book, with knowledgeable English as well as Japanese commentaries!
A humble cookbook about Japanese home cooking, so it is not sushi nor artisan rolls (which are distinctly American btw). This is about the humble miso soup and other mushroom soups, small dishes and marination..
Refreshingly sparse, simple cookbook with much wisdom, in both Japanese and English depends on the edition. I prefer the bilingual one, so sometimes I can admire how the same recipe looks so different in English and Japanese
This is millennium's crystallization of the science and art of cooking. These photographs are produced by the most creative food labs and the most creative of chefs, to photograph your food and understand the molecular science from an angle never before seen.
It is quite an expensive extraordinaire collection. I heard about it on Freakonomics (contrasted with the organic movement founder so very opposite of molecular manipulation, she is located in Berkeley), and will recommend this to my friend who wants to start a restaurant.
Can't afford Modernist Cuisine? Me neither. But if you still have curiosity for the science and specifically chemistry behind modern cooking, try this book about Cooking 2.0. Here's your favorite homey activity explained by nerds and geeks.
Here's one to my silicon Valley friends.
[Temporarily out of stock in Amazon]
I picked up my personal copy at the South Coast Plaza, the famous shopping mega mall of Southern California, near the palm trees and many a beaches of Costa Mesa.
Mr. Charlie Palmer is the owner of several famous American kitchens through out the country, and pricey for the average consumer.
For new American food, he might just be the expert, hence I recommend his cookbook for his incredible steaks, desserts, baked goods and soup... and yes, just that American cuisine on white table cloth.
