Craft of Cooking: Notes and Recipes from a Restaurant Kitchen
Tom Colicchio
Language: English
Pages: 272
ISBN: 0609610503
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
From Tom Colicchio, chef/co-owner of New York’s acclaimed Gramercy Tavern, comes a book that profiles the food and philosophy of Craft, his unique restaurant in the heart of New York’s Flatiron district, and winner of the 2002 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in America. From its food to its architecture and menu design, Craft has been celebrated for its courageous movement away from culinary theatrics and over-the-top presentations, back to the simple magic of great food.
Realizing that his own culinary style had grown increasingly unembellished, and gambling that New York diners were experiencing that same kind of culinary fatigue (brought on by too much “fancy food”), Colicchio set out to prove that the finest food didn’t have to be the most complicated. From its opening in March 2001, Craft offered diners simple, soulful dishes centered around single ingredients that went on to shake up many people’s ideas of what “restaurant food” should be like.
Craft of Cooking leads you through Colicchio’s thought process in choosing raw materials—like what to look for in fresh fish, or how to choose the perfect mushroom—to show that good food is available to anyone with access to a good supermarket, farm stand, or gourmet grocery. The book also features “Day-in-the-Life-of-Craft” portraits, which offer a fascinating, behind-the-scenes glimpse at areas of the restaurant beyond the dining room. These segments allow the reader to peer into the fast-paced prep kitchen, to witness the high drama of reservations, and to get a taste of the humor and empathy necessary to serve New York’s colorful visitors and foodies.
And then there are the recipes. Craft of Cooking presents 140 recipes that range from the simplest dish of spring peas to roasted fish; from lush but effortless braises to complex brining and curing of meat for homemade charcuterie, included to give the reader a “fly-on-the-wall” experience of visiting the Craft kitchen for themselves. Dishes are divided–like the Craft menu itself–into categories of meat, fish, vegetables, potatoes, grains, desserts, and pantry, and then further delineated by technique–roasting, braising, sautéing, etc.–with abundant suggestions and technical tips. Using Tom’s straightforward and friendly voice, Craft of Cooking offers recipes suited to any purpose—from a quick family meal to a festive dinner party for twelve.
As he did in his James Beard award-winning book, Think Like a Chef, Colicchio uses Craft of Cooking to teach, tell his story, and offer inspiration to cooks of any skill level. With more than 100 full-color and black-and-white photographs, Craft of Cooking is destined to become a staple of home cooks everywhere—the one “restaurant cookbook” they can’t live without.
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Ingredients that are scarce or singular. “I think once they taste a real diver scallop—that incredible sweetness when it’s caught a couple hours ago—or a piece of day-boat fish, or meat like this, something ‘clicks’ for them, and then the prices make sense.” He grins. “At least, I hope so.” While he ruminates on this, the service elevator starts to clank and wheeze once again, and another truck pulls up, ready to release the treasures inside. Braised veal breast ALLOW PLENTY OF TIME for this.
People—anywhere from recent immigrants to CEOs, aspiring actors to movie stars. It’s never dull, and it’s never the same two days in a row.” Katie looks up as a pair of walk-ins amble through the front door. She quickly steps into position beside a host, glancing at the list on the podium. “We don’t have a reservation,” one of them says, worried. “That’s okay. Welcome.” Katie says, giving them a smile. She turns to survey the room, set and at the ready. “Let’s see what we can do.” Butternut.
Mushrooms for pinholes that could indicate worms and weigh them in your hands; they should feel dense. Leave behind the ones that feel light for their size. I recommend wiping the mushrooms with a damp cloth, or scraping the stems clean with a small paring knife, since I think washing mushrooms makes them lose flavor. If you’ve chosen particularly gritty specimens, however, dunk the mushrooms into a bowl of standing water, use your hands to gently loosen the dirt, and then lift them out, blotting.
In London. At night he walks the floor at Craft, interacting with guests, opening wine, and playing the traditional role of sommelier. “Diners today are much more sophisticated than they once were,” he explains. “They used to ask for a glass of white or red. Now they ask by varietal—they say, ‘What kind of chardonnay do you have?’ or ‘Can you bring me a glass of syrah?’ ” Building the wine list at Craft began with conceptual questions, Matthew recalls, before the restaurant’s opening. “ ‘Single.
Butter. Mix until the dough feels pebbly. Add ice water until the dough feels ropey. Turn the dough out onto a table. Shape it into a rectangle and cut in two equal pieces. Wrap each portion in plastic and refrigerate overnight. TO MAKE THE BUTTER MIXTURE Mix the flour with the softened butter. Divide it into two square portions, wrap in plastic, and chill. INCORPORATING THE BUTTER Place a piece of dough on the work surface. Place a chilled butter square in the center of the dough at an angle.