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Three-star Michelin chef Michel Bras, owner of the acclaimed Restaurant Michel Bras in the Aubrac region of southwestern France, offers more than 80 of his best-loved recipes and an introduction to his extraordinary world of culinary creativity in Essential Cuisine.
Bras's cookbook, also published in France under the title Laguiole, Aubrac, France, has won critical acclaim in his homeland, capturing the nation's three most prestigious publishing awards in the field of gastronomy. The book was recently chosen to receive the coveted 2002 Prix La Mazille, awarded by the Salon International du Livre Gourmand of Perigueux to recognize the best cookbook of the year in French. Other honors bestowed on this remarkable work include the 2002 Prix Litteraire de la Gastronomie Antonin Careme and the 2002 Prix des 8e Gastronomades d'Angouleme.
Essential Cuisine features recipe selections spanning the entire dinner menu, including soups, appetizers, vegetables, fish and meat entrees, and desserts. Recipes are presented with both standard American kitchen measurements and their metric equivalents, complemented by elegant photographic presentations. A penetrating introduction by Colette Gouvion profiles the life and cuisine of Michel Bras, and commentaries by Bras himself sprinkled throughout the book provide further insight into his culinary philosophy and inspirations. A concluding essay by Patrick Mialon, amplified by striking landscape and interior photography, establishes how Bras's "Taste for the Essential" forms a seamless unity between his cuisine and his surroundings in Aubrac.
One of the most original chefs in France and the world today, Bras continues to revolutionize the culinary landscape with his inventive use of ingredients and impeccable attention to technique. Drawing on childhood memories and a consuming love for his native land, Bras has created his own signature cuisine celebrating the essentials of life -- visionary but not flamboyant, elegant but not elitist, inventive yet practical. Reflecting his unshakable conviction that the cornerstone of good cooking is to use the best available ingredients, he urges readers to consider his recipes as a source of inspiration and challenges them to unleash their own creativity to make new and exciting dishes of their own.
Essential Cuisine also highlights Bras's profound connection to the land and his unique artistry. A lifelong resident of the area in and around the village of Laguiole, his restaurant is located in an area of France with a long history of dedication to preserving the land and the indigenous vegetables, fruits and animals that have sustained inhabitants of the region for centuries. Bras was born and raised in Aubrac, and he is consumed by its offerings and passionate in his respect for preservation of its natural resources.
Essential Cuisine offers a rare window on Bras's creative process, as in his creation in 1981 of the now-ubiquitous dessert, the coulant -- a work inspired by a family cross-country skiing trip. "The fever that led to its creation kept us in suspense for more than two years," he writes. "We cannot express the emotion, the enthusiasm we felt when the recipe was finalized. No one can take these memories from us, which is precisely why I do not feel overly irritated by the numerous imitations that are scattered around the world. The actual experience of the coulant is definitely mine."
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table of contents
The Counterpoints of
Michel Bras
Michel Bras as Chef
Recipes
Mises en Bouche
Soups
Appetizers
Fish
Vegetables
Meat
Desserts
A Taste for the Essential
ISBN: 1-931605-07-6
Price: $Out of print
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