Books to learn
Books to devour knowledge, technique, history, and curiosities with the eyes, anticipating the palate in flavors and promising known and unknown aromas to our sense of smell. Learning about gastronomy by reading is a true pleasure.
It is fascinating how knowledge is built generation by generation, and Larousse Gastronomique en español is a clear example of this: edited by Larousse and written by Prosper Montagné, this monumental work first saw the light in 1938 and is now in its fourth revised edition, directed by Joël Robuchon with a prologue by Andoni Luis Aduriz. This desire to collect gastronomic knowledge translates into 4,200 articles that review culture and history in detail, going into the specifics of the product, utensils, preparations, techniques, designations of origin… It even lists the most representative restaurants of today in haute cuisine and offers biographies of its greatest exponents, such as Enrique Olvera, Paco Pérez, Ángel León, René Redzepi or Gastón Acurio, to name a few. It also offers 2,500 recipes, 500 of which are from the main chefs of the international scene, from the last 20 years: Santi Santamaria, Ferran Adrià, Roca brothers, Carme Ruscalleda, Pedro Subijana, Andoni Luis Aduriz, José Mª Arzak…
Also in the line of the compendium, Homenaje a la Marquesa de Parabere, the pseudonym of the gastronome and restaurateur María Mestayer, is an interesting two-volume work published by Planeta Gastro. The first collects some of the most emblematic original recipes of the Marquesa de Parabere herself dating from the first half of the 20th century, with small annotations to update the reader on the use of utensils or techniques of the time. The second volume is an interesting revision of these recipes carried out by leading figures of national haute cuisine such as Fina Puigdevall, Albert Adrià, Carme Ruscalleda, Oriol Balaguer, Paco Torreblanca, Martín Berasategui or Joan Roca, among others. The past and present of rich dishes and delicacies that are a true reflection of the taste and exquisiteness of the gastronomy of an era, as a portrait of it.
And finally, another essential work: The Complete Bocuse from Flammarion publishing house, edited months before the passing of Paul Bocuse in 2018. This book details 500 recipes of various types of complexity, for both amateurs and experienced chefs who want to reconnect with the spirit of this French visionary who led the nouvelle cuisine. 50 decades of success compiled in this work, which also explains meat cooking times, conversion tables, and a glossary of key French terms in his gastronomy.
Books for cooking
Any book, even a theoretical one, gives wings to fly into the kitchen and desire to experiment. Gastronomic literature, for those passionate about this reading, has the property of planting seeds of excitement that culminate in front of a stove.
The product, which fuels restaurant kitchens, is undoubtedly the main pillar of the contemporary creativity of the most renowned chefs internationally. Moreover, the world has turned its gaze to vegetables, elevating them to protagonists as a creative solution and as an outlet for a society that must review the effects on our planet of the unrestrained consumption of meat. In Six Seasons, Marta Holmberg, together with chef Joshua McFadden, reviews how to understand vegetable raw material in a complete exercise of from farm to table: from cultivation until it reaches a table, cooked and transformed. Throughout the book, McFadden (who, in addition to being a chef, is a farmer) not only presents 225 simple and tasty recipes, but also explains how to grow, choose, or preserve precious fruits and vegetables.
Following the trail of vegetable products, Comer setas, by Llorenç Petràs, is another gem to treasure. Petràs, who has been at the helm of the mythical mushroom stall Bolets Petràs in La Boqueria for half a century, is one of the country's greatest experts whom chefs and amateurs alike consult. This book precisely conveys all this knowledge: from the list of the main edible mushrooms that exist, anecdotes, curiosities, and secrets for cooking them to recipes to make the most of the stove. An excellent read for mushroom lovers that, moreover, has been recognized as the best cookbook in 2020 by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
The world of baking is complex. It requires patience, observation, curiosity… and this long process hooks many. In the words of baker Daniel Jordà, panettone is the cathedral of baking, a product that is difficult to master but offers multiple satisfactions to those who manage to master it. In this direction, Panettones y bollería de masa madre from the French publisher Bread Editions is a fantastic approach from three angles: the necessary theory, the tips and tools to put it into practice, and more than 20 recipes from great world-renowned professionals such as Jordà himself, Miquel Saborit, Alfonso Pepe, Emmanuel Revuz, or Roy Schvartzapel. The prologue in its Spanish edition is by Ibán Yarza and its author, Thomas Teffri-Chambelland, teaches at the prestigious École Internationale de Boulangerie in Paris.
As the saying recommends saving room for dessert (when going to a good restaurant), what better way to conclude this selection than with Jordi Roca's book Anarkia? This marvel published by Montagud delves into 115 creations, 478 elaborations, and 102 step-by-step processes both from Jordi Roca's sweet section and from those dishes in Joan Roca's kitchen that involve pastry techniques. This exhaustive 560-page work presents more than 100 recipes, a journey through the most outlandish and creative desserts of El Celler de Can Roca in recent times, but also offers an intensive review of both pastry techniques and fundamental ingredients in sweet cuisine.