THE SCARLET PUMPERNICKEL

Good Books For Cooks

by Fred Thomas

A Truffle For Your Thoughts

This Month's Recipe: Chinese-Style Barbecued Spareribs

IF THE WORLD'S COOKBOOK LIBRARY had to be reduced to one book, a smart cook might choose The New Professional Chef, a compilation tour de force by The Culinary Institute of America, the venerable cooking school and restaurant institute.

This book includes all but the proverbial kitchen sink; indeed, this eight-pound tome is several books in one: a French-influenced cookbook, an international cuisine book, and a primer for those who fancy having their own kitchen built to restaurant standards.

The first 415 pages -- a full quarter of the 1,605 pages -- is a narrative on the restaurant business, from soup to cheese course, with intelligent discussions of the differences between Roquefort made from raw sheep's milk and English Stilton made from whole cow's milk. Additional entries that Editor Mary Deirdre Donovan found useful: marketing tips for the restaurant, a once-over on food-borne illnesses, knife sharpening techniques and the six basic flavors of vegetarians (vegan, fruitarian, ovo-vegetarian, lacto/ovo-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian and semi-vegetarian -- you just had to know, didn't you?).

The miniature book up front is a nice long read, written with comforting, if chauvinistic, authority; the material is presented as gospel, with no discussion of alternative viewpoints. Each recipe in the front is a master recipe -- the basis for what's to follow in the recipe section. Each of the master recipes is preceded with a few words on setting up -- a coach's chalk-talk, mise en place, commonly thought of as a mindset, though literally

"to put in place." For the true professional, it means far more than simply assembling all the ingredients, pots and pans, plates, and service pieces needed for a particular period. Mise en place is also a state of mind. Someone who has truly grasped the concept is able to keep many tasks in mind simultaneously, weighing and assigning each its proper value and priority.

To separate the master recipe section and narrative from the recipes proper, the publisher has printed the lengthwise outside edges of the 1,200 recipe pages in green. Still, sticky tabs are a requirement for navigating through this book if it is to be used as a working text in the kitchen.

I like this book a lot for those matters French, and find plenty of amusement for matters a l'americaine. The image of a French-trained toque blanche trying to pull off "Big Jim's Chili" is almost comical, given the recipe's use of jalapeños and its abundance of tomato puree (!), certainly a dish that would not be served in the Lone Star State without bond having been pre-posted for crimes that Texans insist fall under the general category of unnatural acts. Or Southern Fried Chicken, which calls for, ahem, Dijon mustard, a variation, though tasty, any Southerner would denounce as a secessional offense.

But if you're looking for the aristocratic Veal Blanquette or the garlic-perfumed Roast Rack of Lamb Persille -- or anything from the various regions of France, for that matter -- this is the book. Even culinary cliches -- Coquilles St. Jacques and Beef Bourgignonne, to name two -- scream to be replicated under the CIA method. Whatever you may think of them, this fact remains a constant: You will be putting up the Real McCoy as God and Louis the XVI intended.

This is not to say that when Professional Chef strays into other cuisines outside of France that the dishes are not well contemplated and tested. The unusual recipe for Chinese-Style Barbecued Spareribs -- applesauce is one of those secrets worth guarding were one so inclined -- competes stylishly against any other recipe I've seen or tasted. And there are spectacular little finds in this book, not the least of which is a tenderloin medallion with a bleu cheese herb crust, which is made by pureeing bread crumbs, bleu cheese, parsley, chives, white pepper and garlic (but of course!), then packing this heady mixture around the seared medallion just before thrusting this jewel under the broiler for its finishing crust. The combination of melting, stinky bleu and a glorious blood-rare tenderloin does cause one to wonder whether this is what is served in the commissary of the afterlife. Paired with a dark 1996 Burgundy -- 1996 is the Vintage of the Century -- redolent of cinnamon, tart winter apples and flat-out magic, one has the business plan for the heaven-on-earth franchise.

This book is long on technique and chauvinistically French, as previously noted. Culinary terms are referred to by their French, not Italian, names. When contemplating basic preparations, the French term "appareils" is used. The book also bows to the French recipe naming conventions set forth centuries ago. Goofy little restaurant names are certainly disregarded, happily, and allegiance to the Escoffier naming convention is strictly and snootily maintained. This, therefore, is not a book of trends and silly fads: A Sauce Perigeaux doesn't substitute button mushrooms, for economy (a sin I've seen committed too many times in ill-thought-out recipes), when truffles -- and only black, earthy $400-a-pound truffles -- are required.

The book is cumbersome to lug around. I've found that photocopying pages makes for the best use of space and spine in the kitchen -- and preserves the pages from slop and sinew. I really like this book, and find it worth the one-time tariff of $49.95.

Books reviewed in The Scarlet Pumpernickel
may be purchased at a discount from The Bookstall.

Fred Thomas has been in the magazine business for nearly two decades, first as tabloid editor at The Tampa Tribune, later as group editor for a chain of Florida magazines, and then as founding editor of Southern Homes. Now at home on the beach in West Central Florida, he specializes in writing about food and matters architectural.