[amazon-product align="right" alink="0000FF" bordercolor="000000" height="240" region="us"]1416566112[/amazon-product]
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking came out with a lot of hype in the blogging world. Some good, some bad, and others just downright nasty. Let me sum it up for you: this book is genius.
Ruhlman starts off stating that this book is the anti-cookbook. I agree wholeheartedly with him. When you peruse the book though, you will see the pages splattered with recipes. What gives? Isn’t this anti-cookbook supposed to be against recipes?
Hold on there! Ruhlman touches on what all us chefs who actually paid attention in class all know. Recipes are meant to be a guideline, not a straitjacket. The real power in a kitchen lies in ratios, and the relationship and interaction between ingredients.
Several detractors state that the book is over-simplified. The ratios inside could not work for such-and-such ingredient. What about whole wheat flour for bread? The ratio would not work. Thing is, the ratio is not a recipe (wich is really a straitjacket), it is a starting point. You are supposed to use the ratio as a base for what you are creating, then apply the technique to finesse the final outcome.
Have you ever wondered why it was so hard to convince a chef to whip off a recipe for her adoring fans? Worse, that recipe probably would not work! Well, doesn’t a great chef go to great lengths to protect “her” recipes? A great chef would never share “her” secrets, would she?
Not the great ones. They work with ratios as a beginning, then they refine their technique. It is hard to explain to someone who is expecting a tablespoon measurement of this, and how many cups of that?
You can see what I am speaking of here, Succulent Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb, where I tried to convey the chef’s way of thinking- in ratios. The idea beyond the book Ratios is nothing new to a chef. Until now, chef’s have not had a way to express it. Another great example of the chef line of thinking is Pork Ragu, where the recipe seems a little clumsy. Perhaps a good ratio workout would fix it up.
Is Ratio a must have book? Yes. While I have all the information contained inside is in my numerous notes from school, Ratio is a great read. For a seasoned professional like myself, it is a refresher. I know a lot of people would disagree with Ruhlman when he puts things down to the basic level, but that is what cooking is. Once you take all the bullshit away, the ego, all you are left with is the tool – the ratio. All the rest is refinement and skill. I count myself lucky that Ruhlman reminded me of that.
Into the Welldone! Chef! store the book goes.
{ 1 trackback }