Recommend some books

Hi,

I am looking to procure a few books or videos or honestly a website link would work, I am looking for a book focusing on plating and presentation of dishes. I normally fall short in that area, people say I can cook but when it comes to plating I fall short. Side note is the modernist cuisine fir home book worth purchasing? I know their main series is but at $700 ish Canadian I would rather put the funds into more knives or fancier ingredients... gotta love black truffles lol. :tongue:

Best Regards,

Evan

MC@Home is good.
On food and Cooking by Mcgee is great.
if you want to play with single-bevels, Japanese Kitchen Knives is good.

The french laundry
Alinea
Three stars by gordon ramsay is a good one too

Relae a book of ideas
Eleven Madison Park
Astrance: A Cooks Book
The French Laundry
Coi: Stories and Recipes

All great reference material for cooking and plating and some of my personal favorites!

www.chefsteps.com is a great website on that aspect.

A chef friend recommended Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg. Not a cookbook, but a general reference for what things go best with other things. Great for people who like to tinker!

In would suggest "Heston Blumenthal at Home" and "Manresa" by David Klinch for what you are looking for. With immense respect for Zwiefel, I would agree that "On Food and Cooking" by Mcgee is indeed extraordinary and in my personal list of essential books, but I would not say it is helpful for presentation and plating, or even for recipes, but for understanding food and ingredients and the effect of different methods of cooking on them. I would add to the list "Bouchon" by Thomas Keller for honest and absolutely wonderful and accessible french bistro recipes and plating accordingly. Regarding Modernist Cuisine, I would suggest to consider instead purchasing the edited version called "Modernist Cuisine at home" which is far cheaper and probably more useful for cooking at home, however, if you are looking for recipes I would point out in a different direction, including the books mentioned in the earlier postings in this thread. If you post what type of regional cuisine you like or enjoy I am sure you will receive a treasure of suggestions from many here.

Larousse Gastronomique!

I love the MC and MC@H books. I picked up both sets on Amazon when the price fell about 12-18 months ago. The MC books are about 50-60lbs, and super detailed. I like the scientific deep dives, but there are about a third to half of the recipes that need uber specific equipment (rotovaps, centrifuges, chamber vacuums, etc) that make them not possible for even the ambitious cook.

MC@H is much more approachable. Both books have excellent visuals, and there are a good deal of presentation shots that are helpful for plating ideas, although plating isn't an area that I put a ton of effort into. I highly recommend either set. Invest in a sous vide, pressure cooker, chinois, and foodsaver-type sealer, and you're 90% of the way there for MC@H.

If you want some craziness, you can try Alinea as well. There's a guy cooking the book with some awesome descriptions and photos, especially for someone interested in plating.

http://www.allenhemberger.com/alinea/

Charlie Trotter's books as well for plating

Modernist Cuisine(at home too) worths every penny.

For very crazy dishes: Noriyuki Hamada - Restaurant Yukawatan.
The most beautiful kitchenbook I've ever seen. It's pure poetry

Mugaritz, NOMA, french laundry

The Fat duck cook book is an interesting read particularly on the philosophy of Heston's cooking and presentation.

Kaiseki - Cuisine of Kikunoi has exquisite plating that is even more amazing in real life. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1568364423/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Second the vote on Alinea; the plating is bananas

though Daniel Boloud has started to become a "celebrity" I guess, his cookbook for Daniel, I always seem to pick up and look at in Barnes and Noble