Between the Covers
Simon Thomsen
French
By Damien Pignolet
Lantern ($69.95)
Anyone with a passing interest in the Sydney restaurant scene will know that chef Damien Pignolet has had a profound influence on our culinary landscape for nearly four decades.
During the '80s he ran the seminal French restaurant Claudes. His legacy continues to this day, with this Paddington institution regarded as one of Sydney's very finest dining experiences. Then in 1993 he introduced the city to stylish bistro dining with Bistro Moncur at the Woollahra Hotel. It was a new way of thinking: you couldn't book, a huge black and white mural by Michael Fitzjames (who also designed the striking black and white cover of the book) dominated one wall, and it was a clever mix of posh and casual, serving classics like French onion soup, steak tartare, steak with Cafe de Paris butter and chips, and (sublime) pork sausages.
Pignolet's extraordinary talent, combined with intellectual rigour and a fierce dedication to his art, made this fourth-generation Australian of French decent one of our most impressive chefs. He's taught cooking for around 30 years and has been generous with his inestimable knowledge, so the publication of his first book is a landmark worth celebrating.
French is a book that deserves pride of place on any home cook's shelf beside Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion. This is a recipe book every foodie should have. It takes readers on an expansive journey through one of the world's great cuisines, starting with that most important of building blocks, stocks and sauces, and covering everything from charcuterie (cooked meats) to soups, salads and pastry, not to mention the Italian staples: pasta, polenta and risotto. With each of the hundreds of recipes in the 400-page book, Pignolet offers an anecdote, some explanatory details or tips for success. Photographer Earl Carter brings the luscious food to life with mouth-wateringly delicious pictures.
It's a book of remarkable breadth and depth (well, perhaps not when you consider the author) with recipes for all occasions and seasons.
The bold might like to consider cooking tripe and pig's trotters with calvados, while grilled tuna with pisto, tomato aioli with a fennel and kipfler potato salad would suit both grand and casual occasions.
Pignolet's wise advice when it comes to cooking is "always remember that the most important skill for a cook to learn is observation - one's senses of smell and sight should guide cooking towards taste". With French by your side in the kitchen, you're in the very best hands.
- Books available at Book Warehouse, Keen Street, Lismore and at Lismore Shopping
Square.
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