Book Review: Damien Pignolet, French

by anna battista

There are hundreds of cookbooks in our houses and many of us never put them to any use. Indeed, some simply conceive cookbooks as a clever choreography to show off their culinary knowledge with friends, but actually never open them; others leaf timidly through them every now and then to look at the pictures rather than read the recipes. Perhaps, though, the disinterest many show for cookbooks might be generated by the fact that they might have the wrong ones. So if you’re looking for just one cookbook that might help you astonish your beloved ones not only this summer, but throughout your lives, choose French by Damien Pignolet.

Universally acknowledged as one of Australia’s finest chefs, Pignolet is also co-owner of Sidney’s restaurants Claude’s and Bistro Moncour. French opens with an introduction in which Pignolet recounts how his passion for food was born and how love of good food was ingrained in his family. Each of the twelve chapters featured in the book – from the first chapter about stocks and sauces to the last one about pastry and desserts passing through chapters that explore the world of soups, pasta, risotto, meat and fish – is accompanied by a short introduction in which Pignolet, before revealing the secrets behind his succulent recipes, explains the reader the role of a particular dish, sauce or ingredient. One of the best chapters is definitely the one about eggs, possibly the only one about such a topic you’ll ever find in a cookbook, but an essential one, since, after all, it’s better to master the secrets of boiling an egg before passing to more difficult recipes.

French features a wide variety of foods, textures, colours and flavours, from simple entrées such as grilled sardines with chickpeas, radicchio and roasted onions, to main courses such as Pignolet’s special roast tarragon chicken or salads such as his grandfather’s extravagant potato salad and mouth watering desserts (check out the passionfruit and praline soufflé).

No matter what you are, beginner of professional chef, Pignolet’s French is the sort of book you should cherish.

{ www.penguin.com.au}