And, of course, there are the desserts for which Le Bernardin is also so well known-from Chocolate Millefeuille to Honeyed Pear and Almond Cream Tarts. Essential to the experience of dining at Le Bernardin and to the Le Bernardin Cookbook are the dynamic and charming personalities of Maguy Le Coze and Eric Ripert, whose lively dialogue and colorful anecdotes shine from these pages as brightly as the recipes themselves. At Le Bernardin, seafood is always the star. From the day this posh restaurant opened in New York City, it was recognized for revolutionizing the way fish was prepared. Chef-owner Gilbert Le Coze and his sister, Maguy, quickly gained an exalted four-star rating for their original, impeccable, exquisite food, which you can now reproduce at home using their recipes. Le Coze avoided using classic sauces because, lacking professional training, he did not know how to make them. Instead, he created Carpaccio of Tuna, a kind of paper-thin sashimi on a plate, Baked Sea Urchins, and Roast Monkfish on a Bed of Sautéed Savory Cabbage with Bacon, a dish that is both rustic and rich. When Gilbert died in 1994, at just 48, his chef de cuisine, Eric Ripert, stepped in and has continued to dazzle with his own fish dishes. Ripert, who had a classical chef's training, is especially innovative in his Poached Lobster in Lemongrass-Ginger Bouillon. If following three pages of meticulously clear instructions for handling the lobsters, puréeing their coral, and much more is not for you, try the salmon fillets served in a magically cream-free but creamy lemon sauce, the Roast Cod Niçoise flavored with basil, capers, and black olives, or the saffron-and-orange-perfumed Fish Soup. Le Bernardin's desserts are famous, too. A reasonably competent cook can create ecstasy with the Bitter Chocolate Soufflé Cake, lavish with dark chocolate, butter, eggs, and just one tablespoon of flour. If you read mostly cookbooks, the spirited dialogue between Ripert and Maguy, their anecdotes of culinary adventures, and characteristically Gallic commentary may divert you. Typically, Maguy says, "My favorite way to eat calamari is with a nice green salad. How American!" Seems the French only ate a lettuce salad with meats until nouvelle cuisine came along in the 1970s, and Maguy still considers it an aberration with seafood. Just as her taste has changed, this book may open you to new experiences with seafood. -Dana Jacobi.

This is the book for anyone who has been lucky enough to find grains of paradise or Aleppo pepper and wonders where to go from there. " —Regina Schrambling, Los Angeles Times "Even those who never cook may find themselves often dipping into this intriguing read. " —CeCe Sullivan, The Seattle Times.

The major aquatic products in the book include fish, shrimp, crabs and shelled fish, and the first three categories include both freshwater ones and those from the sea. The ways of cooking aquatic foods vary according to the size of the ingredients. If the sea item is small, as in the case of shrimps, maintaining tenderness should be the top priority. Consequently, quickly stir-frying with different sauces or steaming techniques should be adopted. Typical examples are steamed fish, stir-fried shrimps and quick-fried shrimps with distilled grains sauce. In the case of a large fish, either part of it such as the head or the tail or the whole fish can be cooked in short time. Braised fish in soy sauce is one example. Shrimps can be cooked in different ways with the shells on. Or the shells can be taken off and the shrimps are wrapped with egg white and/or cornstarch to stir-fry in lukewarm oil. This way their fresh tenderness can be preserved. Otherwise the longer they are cooked, the tougher they become. All aquatic products carry a fishy smell. To remove this, cooking wine, scallions, ginger and similar fish-smell removing ingredients are essential. Bony and fine-meat fish can be used to make soup so that, after cooking, it will be easier to remove the bones. Smallsized fish can be deep-fried so that the bones become crispy and edible. Large fish that have thick meat can be cut into different sized chunks, slices, shreds, cubes, etc. Or they can be made into fish fluffing as an ingredient. Such methods of cooking allow the meat to fully absorb the contributing ingredients. All pages of the book are spiral bound and double coated for easy clean-up of any spills. Color Illustrations.