Flash in the Pan

It may seem odd that I'd review a book that came out in 2001, but Jacques Pépin's Complete Techniques is no ordinary cookbook. I had actually been looking on the web to see if La Methode or La Technique were still on the market. The two are like having a cooking school on paper, given the number of basic cooking techniques you can learn, and I still refer to them from time to time. Complete Techniques is actually a compilation of the other two, though that has to be one hefty volume. The book doesn't seem as though it's in print, but there are used copies available on the web and at a number of Amazon's affiliated used book sellers. If you've ever wanted to know how to turn a piece of parchment into a piping tube or to bone a chicken with only a few strokes of a knife, this is a must.

Labels: Complete Techniques, Jacques Pépin, technique