Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

This cookbook provides 150 recipes exactly as they are used at Keller's restaurant. It is also his culinary manifesto, in which he shares the unique creative processes that led him to invent Peas and Carrots--a succulent pillow of a lobster paired with pea shoots and creamy ginger-carrot sauce--and other high-wire culinary acts. It offers unimagined experiences, from extracting chlorophyll to use in coloring sauces to a recipe for chocolate cake accompanied by red beet ice cream and a walnut sauce. You are urged to follow Keller's recipes precisely and also to view them as blueprints. To keep them alive, they must be infused with your own commitment to perfection and pleasure, as you define those terms.

Keller's story, shared through the writing of Michael Ruhlman, shows how this chef was both born and made. After winning rave reviews when he was still in his 20s, it took a more experienced chef throwing a knife at him because he did not know how to truss a chicken to open his eyes to the importance of the discipline and techniques of classical French cooking. To acquire these fundamental skills, he apprenticed at eight of the finest restaurants in France.

Grounded in classic technique, Keller's cooking is characterized by traditional marriages of ingredients, assembled in breathtakingly daring new ways, such as Pearls and Oyster, glistening caviar and oysters served on a bed of creamy pearl tapioca. Continually piquing the palate, his meals are a procession of 5 to 10 dishes, all small portions vibrantly composed. For example, Pan Roasted Breast of Squab with Swiss Chard, Seared Foie Gras, and Oven-Dried Black Figs require just three birds to serve six. The result: you are never sated, always stimulated.

The 200 photographs by Deborah Jones include more than just beauty shots: they show how to prepare various dishes; how Keller, shown stroking a whole salmon, respects his ingredients; and how the perfection of baby fava beans still nestled in the downy lining of their succulent pod, or the seduction of an abundance of fresh caviar, calls out the best from the chef. --Dana Jacobi

Average Customer Rating:

French Laundry Cookbook	Customer Rating:
For the most part good. However, extremely disappointed in the large amount of information on foie gras. Told quite a bit EXCEPT how extremely inhumane the preparation of this brutal 'delicacy' is.

essential for the serious French food lover

Customer Rating:

Anything by Thomas Keller is a must-have for the serious French cook. This is definitely not the cookbook for the beginning home cook, as most of the recipes are multi-step--time-consuming for some. The recipes are unique, fresh, and simply delicious. The written instruction is clear and easy to follow. As an aside, I bought The French Laundry and Bouchon together, which saved me some money because I got free shipping from Amazon, not to mention the prices of both books was considerably cheaper then prices in book stores.

Awsome	Customer Rating:
This book is fantastic. The devotion and drive of Thomas Keller is unparalleled. I highly recommend this book for Chefs and Aspiring Home Cooks alike. The photos and lessons are great.

Great	Customer Rating:
This is book is amazing. It came just as described and shipping was on time. I'm so glad that it was all wrapped up as promised in the original plastic seal.

Precision Cooking Solely For Serious Home Cooks...

Customer Rating:

Physically speaking, "The French Laundry Cookbook" is dense, somewhat cumbersome, and teetering on intimidating--it will surely be the largest cookbook you'll ever own, and the statement is clear; this is not a cookbook for amateurs. On the contrary, this is a dense, meticulously-structured culinary opera aimed at those courageous enough to attempt to recreate 4-star dishes out of the home kitchen. Visually, the cookbook features countless, beautiful, full-page photographs of food so perfectly conceived that it comes off as easy, although once you read through any one recipe, you're sure to realize the difference between fantasy and reality. Keller is quite obviously a food perfectionist, and takes every extra step, every precaution, every effort, to make every component of every dish as flawless as possible. If this sounds like your cup o' tea, then you should order this cookbook with no delay. Granted, some recipes are on the easier side, but that's on the French Laundry spectrum, where easy is still more difficult than what you're probably used to. On the opposite end of the spectrum, this cookbook features recipes that, despite Keller's obvious and applaudable efforts to make his masterworks' a possibility for the at-home chef, are nearly impossible to pull-off, unless you have skill, patience, and around 4 days with nothing else to do. If you're very serious about cooking and want to take the difficulty level up quite a bit, then consider this cookbook. Every recipe you complete will make you a more well-rounded, knowledgeable cook, and that's the bottom line--this cookbook is like a portable culinary school. Just be aware that unless you go into the cooking process dedicated, patient, and determined, frustration could take over and the dish might not be worth the effort. If done right, some of the dishes in this cookbook, from sight to taste, are simply stunning, and like nothing else out there.