Here’s a real find for front-line foodies, adventurous epicures, restaurant revelers and the many who are, by choice and/or necessity, armchair cooks and travelers, reaping the fun and wonder of the new and super-trendy from the cozy comfort of their homes. Coco: 100 Emerging Culinary Stars Chosen by 10 of the World's Greatest Chefs is part cookbook, part who’s-who of the international food scene and part guidebook to some of the world’s most intriguing restaurants (addresses, but not prices, are supplied).
Phaidon, a renowned art book publisher that has turned its talents to producing a fabulous line of international cookbooks, uses the 10 times 10 formula so successful for introducing emerging artists in different fields. Ten culinary icons—including Mario Batali, Alain Ducasse, Gordon Ramsay, Alice Waters and the legendary founder of elBulli, Ferran Adrià—select the 10 restaurant chefs he or she considers the most innovative and exciting, both in the food they create and in their cooking philosophies. Each selectee is introduced in a short essay by the selector, and presented with a brief bio, a sample menu, a few representative recipes and color photos of the chefs at work and dishes they're working on. What you get is a fascinating window into the wild world of today's cutting-edge gastronomy. And, as an added extra, each of the Masters offers a recipe for one of their own classic dishes. Few of the recipes are easy, simple or quick. But they are inspiring, even awe-inspiring, and become a kaleidoscope of contemporary kitchen craft taken to new heights by the new lights.
You’ll find fantastic dishes served in Copenhagen and Kyoto, Sydney and Seattle, Bali and Bilbao, Moscow and Marseille and, of course, London, Paris, Rome and New York. They range from relatively approachable (Gazpacho Aspic with Crabmeat; Raw Scallop with Green Apple and Dashi; Squab Stuffed with Squash and Chestnuts; Grilled Eel and Zucchini) to somewhat more elaborate (Black Radish Vacherin and Foie Gras Mamia; Cod Liver Snow with Bread Cigars; Bitter-Chocolate Cylinder with Coffee Mousse, Milk Ice Cream, Honeycomb and Irish Whiskey). Beware, should you have the culinary courage to undertake any of these recipes, that the measurements are metric, still strange and cumbersome for American cooks.
