Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking Reviews

• Great Read, Classic Recipies. Great Fun. Highly Recommended

  
  By A20IIR0422G3A5 on 2004-10-05
  Culinary bad boy Tony Bourdain and his Les Halles owner chefs have written a very, very good cookbook. If you have an ounce of interest in reading good cookbooks, stop reading this and go to the top of the page and order yourself a copy.
  
  If you are still here, I will tell you that this is an excellent cookbook:
  
  1. Tony Bourdain is a very good writer. That means reading this book is very entertaining and worth the price even if you make none of the recipes. There are hundreds of good cookbooks, but Bourdain joins the very select rank, along with Alton Brown and Wayne Harley Brachman of culinary writers who can have you laughing out loud. It also means that he knows how to put things so you understand them and remember them.
  
  2. The book is all about demystifying classic Bistro cooking and in convincing you that with the right attitude and the right directions, you can do as well or better than any newbie professional cook entering Tony's kitchen to work for the first time. Bourdain lays out the reality of this cuisine in a way I have never seen before. If you ever had any reservations about whether you wanted to cook or had the aptitude to cook, this is the book for you.
  
  3. The book presents excellent directions for doing most of the basic preparations for bistro dishes, with special emphasis on preparing stocks. I even think Tony sells himself short when he says that if a chef used his directions at one of Thomas Keller's restaurants, he would be fired on the spot. I personally find Bourdain's stockmaking recipes as good or better than any I have seen short of the CIA textbook. All the right steps are there and all the right culinary reasons for doing them are there.
  
  4. The book explains some kitchen techniques and ways of thinking that I have simply never seen anywhere else explained so well. Recipes for dishes such as bouillabaisse and cassoulet which in most other books seem to be daunting projects are broken down into realistic steps which make them entirely manageable. This is the only place I have seen the very logical distinction between `deep prep' and `prep'. Deep prep is the type of work Beetle Bailey does when he is on KP duty. It is distinctly unskilled labor. Prep work requires culinary training and involves making stocks, glazes, compotes, and the like, and work that requires trained knife skills.
  
  5. The book gives us excellent recipes for all and only classic bistro cooking with wonderfully informative comments and instructions. (I am especially grateful that Bourdain gives both English and Metric measurements for all ingredients. The French, after all, cook entirely in metric.) There is no filler here. There are no recipes which would be more at home in a book by Mario Batali or Ming Tsai. It also means that if you have two or three good French books on `cuisine bourgeois', you will probably already have recipes for many of the dishes presented in this book. But, this book is so entertaining and the recipes are so well written I would not let this give you any pause. Buy it anyway.
  
  6. The book does not make itself out as the wisdom of a single mind. Culinary skill is highly social, done in a world full of influences and people to influence. Bourdain is generous with his being clear about the people and institutions to whom he owes his culinary skill, with special mention being given to Jacques Pepin. Yet, Bourdain has absolutely nothing about which to be modest. He has given us a major addition to useful culinary literature.
  
  Aside from excellent chapters on general principles and glossaries, the chapters are almost all the same you will find in any good English language book of French recipes. These are:
  
  Soups, including excellent comments on which preparations improve with age and which DO NOT!
  Salads, including a surprising method for preparing lardons. Boiled, not fried.
  Appetizers, especially gratins, snails, and mussels.
  Fish and shellfish: Lobster and dry scallops and pike, oh my!
  Beef, of course. Note the very important notes on how the French cut up the cow different from us Yanks.
  Veal and Lamb. The lamb stew recipe is especially good. Baaaaaa.
  Pig, from nose to tail. Bourdain is a great fan of Fergus Henderson and of using everything but the oink.
  Poultry and Game, roasted, braised, and rolled chicken, duck, and pheasant.
  The big Classics. You know the ones.
  Blood and Guts. Recipes for `the fifth quarter' of organ meats.
  Potatoes. I love a book that puts potato recipes in a special chapter. Way to go Tony.
  Desserts. Everything you expect. Crème Brule, poached pears in wine, and clafoutis.
  
  Even the trivial stuff is done right. The recipe titles are BIG. The recipe text is done in a very easily readable font. The binding is especially well made to take a lot of standing open while you prepare dishes from the recipes. The book is so well put together, I am surprised it was not published by Knopf , Scribners, or Harper Collins. The closest recent book to this volume is from the chefs at Balthazar, also in New York City. This book beats out that effort by a mile. My only complaint that this book shares with the Balthazar book is that some recipes are in French and some in English. Why not consistently give both?
  
  This book is not a classic like Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' or James Peterson's `Sauces', but, I have read several of Bourdain's references by Robuchon and Bocuse on French cuisine and I would recommend Bourdain over these luminaries for the clarity and fun in his writing.
  
  Very highly recommended for both clear recipes of popular dishes and the great support he gives to the confidence of the amateur cook.
  
  
  

• Bourdin is too good in this book. He's my new hero.

  
  By A19SGNC6LG5AWE on 2004-10-03
  This is easily one of the greatest food books I've ever purchased. It is as much a guide to bistro cooking as it is a collection of recipes from the restaurant. Bourdin's wry writing style comes through quickly and often. He gleefully pokes fun of dumb American palettes and those that would think the most expensive steak (tenderloin) is the best because it can be cut with a fork. The recipes are as good as they get and he never suggests taking short cuts. Those that properly make stock and demi glaze from the recipes at the beginning will do well later when the steak au poivre recipe calls for it. A valuable reference hysterically written that should find a happy home in your collection along with the Balthazar cookbook.
  
  

• If you cook metric, this book might pull the wool

  
  By AD7QI8F01SD7V on 2005-06-27
  Deserved accolades having amply been dispensed by others, I would like to point out (quite) a few errors throughout the book, especially as far as conversions of units are concerned. Seems to me somebody at Bloomsbury had been dozing off during those high-school science and geometry classes.
  
  p. 042 says
  1 cup / 225 gr white beans
  1 cup of beans would have weighed 225 gr only if dry beans had had the same density with water, which they most certainly do not.
  
  p. 042 says
  2 ounces/ 28 ml of olive oil
  2 ounces equals 56 ml, not 28
  
  p. 049 says
  2 tbsp butter / 28 g
  2 tbsp flour / 28 g
  According to many sources, Larousse Gastronomique and common sense included, the weight of two tablespoons of butter is double the weight of two tablespoons of flour (different density of the two materials). In other words, if you have kitchen scales and follow the weight measurement the recipe tells you to, the recipe won't work. It will only work if you follow the spoons (volume) measurement.
  This mistake, namely saying that a ½ cup of anything (dry or wet ingredient) is 110 g, regardless of that anything being parsley, breadcrumbs, flour, butter, or what-have-you, occurs DOZENS of times throughout the book. Pity... pity.
  
  p. 070 says
  ½ pound / 115 g
  ½ pound is 225 gr
  
  p. 109 says
  2½ lb / 225 g haricots verts
  2½ pound is 1,135 g. 225 g is ½ pound.
  
  pages 135 and 161 say
  turn the steak / lamb chop 180 degrees (on the grill)
  If my memories from high-school geometry are right, turning the steak 180 degrees will flip it and the left side will indeed become the right side. However, the lines (grill marks, in our case) will coincide. That is, the steak will be marked along exactly the same lines (or maybe parallel to the previous ones, if one's not careful with the flipping), and not in a crosshatch or crisscross pattern. If you desire the latter, you should turn the steak 90 degrees (for a square crosshatch), or something like 70 or 110 degrees (for a longish, lozenge-like pattern).
  
  p. 142 says
  ½ cup / 225 ml heavy cream
  ½ cup is 110 ml
  
  p. 143 says
  1 cup / 450 ml of the hot broth
  1 cup is 225 ml. 450 ml is 2 cups
  
  p. 143 says
  add ¼ cup / 112 ml
  ¼ cup is 56 ml
  
  p. 148 says
  1 cup / 225 g fresh bread crumbs
  Fresh crumbs are quite fluffy. How come they are 225 g to a cup? Maybe 225 ml (volume) not 225 g (weight) would have been better.
  
  p. 178 says
  1½ ounces / 32 g (for a bunch of parsley)
  1½ ounces is 42 g
  
  p. 209 says
  three plum tomatoes or 500 g canned tomatoes
  Is this possible? If three plum tomatoes (plum, mind you, not beefsteak) equal one 500-g can, this would make them unusually large ones. Also, a 500-g can of plum tomatoes contains 6 to 9 of them, which makes them hardly equal to the three fresh ones that the book claims. It seems that size should indeed matter, after all.
  
  p. 199 2nd line, says
  1 cup / 110 ml
  1 cup is 225 ml. 110 ml is ½ cup
  
  p. 207 says
  3.5 pounds / 1,350 g
  3.5 pounds are 1,600 g
  
  p 257 says
  yields 1¼ cup / 28 g
  C'mon! 28 g makes for quite a measly cup. 280 g is correct, not 28.
  
  p 259 says
  ½ a tbsp of honey / 7 gr
  Honey is quite thick (dense), as we all know. It is impossible for ½ tbsp of honey to have the same weight with ½ tbsp of water. Why not use ml instead of g and get out of this confusion?
  
  
  And now, for a couple of factual mistakes.
  p. 148 says (with reference to veau viennoise)
  This is not exactly French style, it's more of an Italian thing
  Isn't this more of an Austrian thing, if we notice the title which screams Vienna? What would viennoise mean?
  
  p. 158 says
  au moutarde
  Shouldn't this be à la moutarde ?
  
  p. 160 says
  place a sliver of garlic
  OK, we did that. That takes care of the 4 thinly sliced cloves of garlic that the recipe requires. Reading on, one sees that the 20 whole cloves of garlic (yup, 20 of them) that are listed in the ingredients are not included in the directions. Hey! Where did them 20 cloves of garlic go, uh? What are we supposed to do with 'em?
  
  p. 184 says
  piment d' esplète
  Nice French accent marks and all, but the word esplète is non-existent.
  In my humble opinion, it should be piment d' Espelette. Espelette is the name of the pepper-producing city in the Basque territory in France, non?
  
  Le mot juste
  (Reader from lands unknown)
  
  
  

• Demystifies French dishes with considerable wit and humor

  
  By A1PJNL7W8LNWP3 on 2004-11-02
  I read B. Marold's amazing review below and immediately bought the book, it must be said. Tony Bourdain's brilliant cookbook is brief history and bootcamp styled self-help. He truly helped me shine with my new in-laws with his book and wile away the hours in-flight.
  
  Went to Ireland to honeymoon with my in-laws on their dairy farm, an American gourmand alien to rural life. Ultimately brought this book with me to give to my Irish sister-in-law who's a fantastic cook. This book has both metric and English/American measurements and temperatures, which is a great help to all cooks stateside and abroad.
  
  Read the first chapter and fell in love with Tony Bourdain all over again, after avidly watching his "A Cook's Tour" series on FoodTV. It makes sense: the best chefs come from the poorest regions of the world. Why? They have to improvise with the 'scraps' made available to them and make the undesirable most delicious. That explains why some of my best dishes were made with paltry remains in the pantry days from payday or years away from real income.
  
  I offered to make my in-laws dinner one night with a recipe from the cookbook. Something basic and not frightfully exotic was the consensus. My intended feast: chicken basquaise. Feeding a family of five hungry adults in Ireland (or anywhere in the EU) is darned expensive. Lucked out at the local supermarket when eight pieces of chicken (thighs with bone and skin) were on sale, as all other options broke my budget.
  
  My wonderful, saintly mother-in-law regards cooking as drudgery and the kitchen reflects this sentiment. I regard cooking as essential therapy, All-Clad as instruments of mental health. I was shocked we spent over $100 on two measly bags of food for the meal. For the considerable expense of groceries and the toll my outsized ego would take, I prayed the meal would be successful.
  
  In the kitchen making the meal, I operated in less than ideal circumstances with limited overhead light (oh!), scant pots and pans (no!), and makeshift utensils (ugh!) on an electric stove (egads!). Kept glancing at Tony Bourdains really simple recipe, insisting it must be harder than it is. It wasn't.
  
  When the meal was done, we all sat around the large table and served them. I nearly cried to see everyone in my new family of simple eaters devour first plates and second helpings. We left the table stuffed and blissfully happy, repeating with newfound eloquence: chicken basquaise, ooh la la.
  
  If this American can impress pastoral people of Ireland with simple tastes and big appetites with one of Tony Bourdain's sophisticated recipes, then I absolutley assure you similar success with anyone. His explanations are sensible and inspire imagination. Following his logic and any of his recipes instills confidence.
  
  
  
  

• Warning: you may be laughing too hard to cook

  
  By A1TGO5OUZMJDCL on 2006-07-06
  The target audience for this book is the dedicated home cook, or "foodie." The introduction, and the comments interspersed, which aim to simplify and demystify professional cuisine, are worth the price of the book: you can get recipes anywhere, but they don't come with the benefit of Anthony Bourdain's years of training and exploration (which wasn't a walk in the park; read _Kitchen Confidential_ if you're curious about the underside).
  
  His passion makes the prose explode off the page. I actually read most of the Introduction out loud to my wife once, as I was finding it just too delicious not to share the humor and deep insight.
  
  I also had to give my first copy to my daughter (who, as a sous-chef at an Atlanta restaurant, is not in the target audience), but she can't get enough of "Uncle Tony"'s writing, either.
  
  The recipes spell out not only ingredients, but what tools are needed. Where else can you be instructed to make cotes du boeuf wearing "novelty apron or vintage Ted Nugent T-shirt," and to serve it with "an outrageously expensive Burgundy in cheap glasses to show [the guests] who's their Daddy"?
  
  All of the funky, sometimes ribald humor (you no like cusswords, you no buy da book, OK, paisan'?) serves to brand certain points into your brain (on using fresh herbs for poulet roti: "keep that dried trash away from my bird").
  
  The emphasis on prep and mise en place, as applied to the home kitchen, will do most cooks a world of good. He makes it clear that by thinking through what you need and what you're going to do ahead of time, and then organizing everything, you reduce mistakes, speed up the process, let go of a ton of stress, and make better food. Resistance is futile. You _will_ go buy a bunch of little stainless pinch bowls for chopped this and minced that. You _will_ sort out what you're doing ahead of time. You will _not_ put dried herbs in a roast chicken or burn the garlic. You _will_ burst out laughing while cooking, before the wine is even open, because you remembered some relevant point from this book.
  
  Perhaps you'll also recognize and incorporate some classic techniques into the making of other dishes, if you hadn't already.
  
  If you are not already a professional chef and this book doesn't improve your cooking, send me your copy and I'll videotape myself eating it with nothing but some _gros sel_ and maybe a little horseradish.
  
  There are lovely sauce and dressing recipes in their own section, and therein I encountered my only problem with the book. I'm not sure it's possible to get an aioli to emulsify with only one egg yolk to a cup of oil, for example; I'm going to have to try that one again. The nice, simple vinaigrette didn't emulsify either, but they're both delicious.
  
  If Anthony Bourdain didn't exist, someone would have to invent him.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Best. Lamb. Ever
  By A222AOJKOS1OAX on 2005-09-11
  Ok, so I am a foodie, I have been cooking for years, and made the decision to not kill that love by going to cooking school and making it my full-time job. Instead I went to law school.
  
  I have been a fan of Anthony for a long time now, his attitude and adventuristic style comport with my own. I received a copy of this cookbook, and had it kicking around on my shelf for a few months. Then came my wife's birthday.
  
  I am a cook who already knows what I want the end result to be, and usually just refer to cookbooks for temperatures and times, and the occasional idea for what else to add to a dish. I guess that I use cookbooks as reference manuals, not for rote instructions.
  
  I decided to make rack of lamb, as we were in the mood for meat, and that is an especially nice meal to drop on your guests: some veg, some potatoes, and three or four ribs of lamb with a red wine reduction. Pop a few bottles, and ... Nice.
  
  So I was cruizing my cookbooks for ideas, and came upon his book. I read through the recipe for "carre d'agneau au moutarde" and thought, geez, this is simple and looks really good. I decided to just do his recipe whole nut. It was spectacular. An absolute hit.
  
  Let me tell you, my family and friends are serious foodies. We love to get together for special occasions and blow a paycheck on an excellent meal with good wines. We all travel, and are the types to try all the freaky foods you find in local markets in far away places (most recently Beijing's stinky tofu and fried scorpions).
  
  We were all floored. The lamb was fantastic. It is a quick meal: you just take your racks, salt and pepper them, brown them in olive oil and butter, set them in your roaster, slather them with dijon mustard and then breadcrumbs, then roast at 375 for 20 minutes. Easy.
  
  I highly recommend this cookbook. The recipes are easy to make, and are truly the classic recipes, but cut down in time and process to make it doable at home. This is the type of recipe that is quick to make and could be whipped up for special occasions or an impressive business dinner. Get this book.
  
  
• Cook with it or just read it, but don't knock it
  By A19UNB28JAOGBA on 2005-03-07
  You can't go wrong. As someone who impulsively purchases cookbook after cookbook only to make one or two recipes in them, the entertaining and casually pedantic tone to Bourdain's book makes it a worthwhile read even if you don't ultimately make anything. That, however, would be a mistake. I've made the French Onion soup (to die for), the Mushroom soup, Poulet Basquaise and Iles Flotantes in the short time I've had the book. These recipes were surprisingly easy and delicious.
  
  I'm a bit confused and amused by some who claim to be die-hard Bourdain fans and then are surprised when he drops the f-bomb in the cookbook. Tony is Tony and that's what makes him so likeable in my opinion. But if you have a problem with the occasional swear and tough-talking language, then you're probably better off eschewing this book, but then, you probably know that already.
  
  I also purchased Thomas Keller's Bouchon cookbook and I note the differences in their approaches. Tony, being a bit of the food and restaurant historian, observes that everyone can make this Bistro food because it's casual and nonfussy by nature and because the home French cook who executes these recipes is not interested in being a fastidious culinary genious (a la Keller), but rather in easily feeding his or her family. In other words, you can have minimal skills and slop these recipes together successfully. On the other hand, Keller claims that for the same recipes it's all about technique. Keller advocates, for instance, putting ice in a stock part way through to further "clarify" it, or using cheesecloth to separate the meat from the vegetables to again further clarify the sauce in the beef bourginon. Tony would joke that unless your dinner guest is Thomas Keller he or she would not know the difference between a clarified or impure sauce for boeuf bourginon so why bother? But more seriously, I can't help but think that, as much as Tony adores Keller, he would say that Keller misses the point because this type of fussiness is not what Bistro food is all about.
  
  
• Jimmy Breslin meets James Beard ...
  By A9QRGGT3HMU0K on 2004-10-02
  Bourdain brings the same no-nonsense, hard talking patter that made Kitchen Confidential so enjoyable to an actual cookbook. He writes like he talks and in a universe where cookbooks are too often just artsy coffee table decorations that is refreshing. Throughout the book you get the sense that Bourdain is actually talking to you (OK, sometimes he's yelling at you) which makes the whole thing feel more like a conversation on cooking rather than a school text book. I'd been cooking for years but had never attempted to make my own demi-glace. After reading his passage on veal stock I gave it a try and it worked great. If you own a lot of cookbooks (like I do) and think you just don't need another go buy it anyway. You won't regret it.
  
  
• Get down with the brown (veal stock, that is)
  By A2V3425RD3GS21 on 2005-02-17
  Some folks go on about Tony's "potty mouth." I say, grow up and get with the program. The guy is taking you under his wing (OK, skull and chef knife insignia) to teach you like he would a newbie line cook--by solid lessons and friendly ridicule. His respect for and facility with true bistro cooking is phenomenal. He hooked me when he expounded the wonders of veal stock.
  
  How many "colorful" cookbooks have you bought this year with solid, basic, fully informed recipes and advice? Bourdain teaches you respect for the craft and the material; teaches you to laugh at yourself rather than take yourself so seriously; and, more than any other chef I can think of, lets you see the neat side of messy mise, the toilsome side of "thrown together" sauces, and the simple side of fabulous food.
  
  So eat peanut butter sandwiches for 3 weeks if you have to and get this book to learn how to live a little. Sell that Jamie Oliver fluff you got for Christmas two years ago if necessary. (Hugs, Jamie.) Or heck, auction your boyfriend's old CDs. Will he really miss Oingo Boingo?
  
  
• Reference for the science of cooking
  By A1TSIS3X4LZ6W3 on 2005-11-07
  I don't much mind being called an idiot by a cookbook (if I weren't, I'd be the one authoring it) and there were times where Bourdain's over-the-top crankiness made me snort out loud. And he really does have a natural pedagogue's way of making information accessible to the novice--he anticipates questions that he himself would never ask, and problems that he himself would never run into. This is a great book for reference and mental culinary exercise.
  
  When it comes to actual cooking, however, I not only seek good direction but also inspiration from my cookbooks. While Bourdain's athletic writing style makes for a great read, it didn't necessarily propel me to the kitchen. And while he acknowledges the art of real cooking in his anecdote of the poverbial french housewife making do with available ingredients, in the next breath he is hounding the reader to go to herculean measures to acquire just the right produce or dead animal. As he rants against food snobbery--which is in his mind squeamishness in the face of eating the guts of a bovine--he comes dangerously close to committing food snobbery of a different kind--a manifestation of obsessive-compulsion to acquire the "best" ingredients, an activity he equates to a junkie looking for his next hit.
  
  Now, I'm all for fresh produce, eating offal and taking the time to make one's own stock. But the tone of this book doesn't allow for much tolerance for anyone who may take a reasonable short cut here and there. And while Bourdain encourages culinary frugality (ie, eat the entire animal) while nodding in Jacques Pepin's direction, he does not allow for Pepin's largesse when it comes to making the best of what's available. Pepin has been known to rummage through trash to see if anything has been wasted that could have been salvaged into something divine. That, to a home cook, is infinitely more inspiring than a lecture on finding the nearest Halal grocery store for your lamb.
  
  While I hope that Les Halles takes Bourdain's advice on acquiring the best materials for its meals, the charm and reality of the home cook is that he or she makes do with what time, economy and reality allows them to. Getting the best ingredients and using the best equipment then putting it together to do as the restaurants do comes close to science--doing with what you've got and making something that makes your toes curl at the dinner table is undeniably an art. Five-star cookbooks make me an artist.
  
  
• can't put it down
  By AVACIEAYSF0N6 on 2004-11-03
  I was sick in bed when this arrived and found myself laughing out loud and sitting up in bed. This reads almost like a novel. This is not your typical cookbook, ie I wouldn't consider giving it to my French mother, due to Tony's (ahem) colorful style of writing. It is more geared towards the new wave of home cooks. However, I would gladly and wholeheartedly make any of the recipes for my mother, and she would be very pleased. These recipes bring back memories of my childhood. I simply cannot wait to gorge myself on rillettes just as I did as a child. Thank you, Tony Bourdain, thank you.
  
  
• Bourdain - walks the walk and now talks the talk.
  By A27C3AB8V8KZOP on 2004-11-25
  I should start by saying I am a big fan of Tony Bourdain. It all started with the "Cook's Tour" show on the Food Network. He seemed like a great guy, so I graduated on to the Cook's Tour book, then Kitchen Confidential, then Bone in the Throat, etc, etc. Love the guy, love his taste, love his sensibility, love his writing, love his humor,love those Global knives he suggested (grin), and now I love the man's cooking.
  
  Tony has never claimed to be the best cook or chef in the world either on TV or in his writings. He is actually humbled quite a bit when in the presence of many other chefs -- even in third world countries. He has the same great humble attitude in the book, but with the Tarentino-esque language we all know and love. French Bistro cooking sounds intimidating, but like Tony says, if he can train a dishwasher to cook then it can't be that difficult.
  
  I've subscribed to Bon Appetit for several years and have compiled a scrapbook of recipes that I am proud of. I'd say that Bon Appetit is 60% hit / 40% miss out of about 100 recipes I have made over the years. So far Mr. Bourdian is batting 1000% with the Les Halles Cookbook. I've made the Beef Bourguignon, Mushroom Soup, Pommes Sautees au Lard, Cote de Porc a la Charcutire, Poulet Roti, and Poulet Basquaise. ALL of these recipes are now in our permanent rotation. This is the best, hardiest, homiest food I have ever had (sorry Mom!).
  
  Best cookbook purchase I've ever made. Keep up the great work Tony.
  
  
• Great Book!
  By AMFYFSU00SV8Y on 2005-09-07
  This cookbook has been a consistent success for me--we usually cook something from it at least once a week. The pork recipes are particularly good (as is the roasted chicken!).
  
  Bourdain's instructions on how to make veal stock and demiglace were sufficiently inspiring to get me to attempt it and the results were as good as he suggests. I've had ice cube trays of demiglace in my freezer for months now and it is a magic ingredient for sauces.
  
  All in all an excellent cookbook. Don't be put off by the "attitude" other reviewers have complained about--it's more in the nature of coaching than real invective.
  
  
• many ingredients may be hard to find in suburbia
  By A1JPRV3DIQL93E on 2005-01-06
  This is a terrific cookbook written with great humor and flair. The recipes are authentically French, but are simple enough for an American home cook with middling skills.
  
  However, authentic French cooking requires authentic French ingredients. It's no fault of the author's that many of us just don't have access to the proper ingredients. It's not produce or spices that are the problem so much as fish, meats and poultry. There is an entire chapter about cooking with fresh mussels, which are supposed to be purchase alive. The 6 recipes in the chapter Fish & Shellfish require: 2 skate wings, 1 whole red snapper (with head), whitebait or smelts, sea scallops, 2 live lobsters, 5 lb. of pike, 1 lb. of crawfish, 1 lb. of fish bones and 4 monkfish tails.
  
  In order to procure these items, you are advised to cultivate a warm and cozy relationship with your butcher, your fishmonger and your other provisioners. You will be needing their assistance in finding the best quail, pheasant, duck and wild boar. Well, if you live the suburbs and shop at the supermarket, this just ain't gonna happen.
  
  If you are able to obtain the variety and quality of ingredients for such fare, this book will help you with the classic French dishes, as well as educating you on technique (if you are an amateur).
  
  If you are thinking twice about being able to obtain the ingredients, perhaps consider the Barefoot Contessa in Paris cookbook. It also has fairly simple French recipes with very good instructions, but with ingredients more widely available in American supermarkets.
  
  
• Most Entertaining Cookbook I own ... and the food is great !
  By A1XRCXZM858UMV on 2005-01-09
  I haven't read any of his previous books, so I wasn't a lifelong Anthony Bourdain fan, who was buying his cookbook because I liked his other stuff.
  
  However having read his cookbook, I will now try and read his other stuff, because as many of the other reviewers have commented, I was laughing out loud while reading it.
  
  Behind the Bourdain "attitude", there is solid cooking technique and food knowledge, and a lot of common sense about how to prepare classic bistro dishes.
  
  I also particularly liked the emphasis on building up a good network of food suppliers. People tend to think that professional chef's concentrate mainly on good techniques, their training and clever presentation tricks, to get the results they do in professional kitchens. What is often not so appreciated, is that they start with the best ingredients possible. This combined with good technique is the killer combination.
  
  Having just found an incredible range of suppliers for meat, fish and seafood in local Butchers, Fishmongers, and Markets in Manchester UK, I was already putting the "network of food suppliers" thing into practice before I got the book.
  
  It really struck a chord when I read this section in the book. Bourdain is 100% correct that if you make the effort, show that you are concerned about the quality of your purchases, and use the knowledge of these suppliers, that you can source really good ingredients. You can find things that you thought were only available to top restaurants, and in Coffee Table Cookbook Fantasy Land.
  
  I did have some sympathy for one reviewer who complained about the lack of availability of ingredients in his/her part of the USA. All I can say is that if you hunt around, I think you'll find that there are a lot of places hidden away in your locality, which you never even knew about. The Internet and Mail Order are also increasingly making it possible to get hold of exotic ingredients.
  
  Finding the ingredients used to be the part of cooking that I enjoyed the least. Now I get such a kick out of " scoring the good stuff " that I'm a bit addicted to it.
  
  Bourdain's cooking knowledge is the real deal, and the bonus with this book, is that he explains it in such an entertaining and approachable way, that you are far more likely to go ahead and try and make a demi-glace, or some of the other techniques outlined in the book. He makes the whole subject come alive.
  
  I already had several versions of the recipes included in the book, and this initially put me off buying it. The other Amazon reviews I read convinced me to give it a try, and I'm so glad they did.
  
  Bourdain's deep knowledge of food shines through in the introductory sections, and in the recipes.
  
  Only people who are not interested in cooking, or are offended by bad language should avoid this book.
  
  I now understand what all the fuss with Anthony Bourdain is about.
  
  This book combines the wisdom and guidance of an excellent chef, with a rare intelligence and wit. I can't think of any better way of recommending this book.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Bistro style how-to for pirates
  By A17MFX9D0WD92Z on 2006-03-17
  Bourdain has got his particular niche dialed in and locked down. If you like or want to learn to cook some elementary homestyle French dishes, this is a great starter kit, and one that will take you a long long way toward getting the French palate clocked. I'd especially recommend this to culinary school kids and new kitchen recruits, as it is stuffed with very practical, totally demystified procedures. Some absolute classic and fundamental preparations, solid recipes, all well described, and with an emphasis on the home cook - lists of necessary tools, how to set a proper meez for a given dish - the guy is thorough. I loved it - great addition for either the novice or the veteran.
  
  
• Best Cookbook in a long while
  By A13A3JUQ6ON9SN on 2004-10-20
  First, if you have not done so, read B. Marold's review. He says it better than I ever could.
  
  I'm a recent convert to the South Beach diet so many of the recipes are out of bounds (for now anyway). However, the front portion of this book is worth the admission price alone. Using his straight forward, in-your-face style that is signature Tony Bourdain he explains how to make cooking as stress free as possible, where to find the best ingredients, the importance of prep, how to make sauces, and why a good knife is indespensible.
  
  Buy it, you won't be disappointed.
  
  
• The only cookbook I've ever read cover-to-cover... twice.
  By A39VN18JJ69R1P on 2004-12-26
  Ever want a cookbook that was like a secret weapon? One that would really show you what it was all about, one that would help you make that next leap, even after you're pretty proud of your pasta carbonara and from-"scratch" mayo and hollandaise?
  
  You know what I mean... something for when you're used to ignoring recipes and doing it your way?
  
  This, for me, has been it. For the first time in a long time, I've been following the rules for once, nearly religiously.
  
  There is so much I've been learning from this book. It's the only cookbook that I've ever read "nose to tail" not only once but twice. And I'm sure I might do it again.
  
  Okay, so, by now you already know that I think it's great. You probably also know that the author is irreverent-- but you'd be wrong. In fact, he's extraordinarily /reverent/ toward food. :)
  
  Buy this book. There's so much love and so much knowledge inside of it, that I can just about promise that if you are a "home cook" it can be a revelation for you-- it will make those other books and their recipes make sense. Do it Bourdain's way, and then do it yours. But empty your cup to taste this tea, because it's damn good.
  
  Thanks, Tony, for teaching me so much. I promise that some day I'll make that recipe-- you know the one.
  
  
• The real world through a chef's eyes
  By A29LTLDS2ZLTUU on 2005-06-11
  The first 35 pages or so should be reprinted at the front of every cook book published. Truer words have never been written about preping food, cooking food, and eating food. All filtered through the mind of a serious, production oriented chef. I have found it almost impossible to explain to my friends what my life as a chef is/was like, and why I am the way I am when it comes to food, but this book, along with Kitchen Confidential, comes as close as anything I've ever read to my autobiography. This is great reading and Anthony should be commended for his efforts. Cooks are pretty picky about who they will work with, but I wouldn't mind looking over just before the rush hits and seeing Mr. Bourdain standing there waiting for a ticket. Better him than some of the prissy Food Network "talent".
  
  
• Outstanding
  By A17A47JLP4HPZV on 2006-01-22
  I love the idea of French food. I often times find the experience pretentious and off putting. I often find Chefs who cook French food to be the same. I was not prepared to like this cookbook, not one bit. I have seen Anthony Bourdain on The Travel Channel and find him to be a bit of an ass. I received a copy of Kitchen Confidential as a gift and found that his personality, while off putting on Tape was lively, interesting and abusive but usefully so when in print. I bought Les Halles with some trepidation and am very glad I did.
  
  Right now, as I type this I have a dark and delightful stock simmering on the stove. It perfumes the house and has made my home more warm and inviting. I am about to strain it and tomorrow I will reduce it with the appropriate amount of wine, shallots and time and make Demi Glace. Something I have been buying canned and regretting, not only for the prohibitive price but the canned taste. I will not have to worry about that again.
  
  While I cannot say I will be sampling the, dubious, delights of Boudin Noir in this lifetime there are many dishes I will be trying in the future.
  
  I am disappointed in the dessert section. While they look appealing they are not explained in the depth and wry wit of the rest of the cookbook. Mr. Bourdain is not a pastry chef and it shows. He has solid recipes but the joy of this book is not the recipes themselves, which in some cases are very old indeed, but the, "Hey you, numbnuts, you can cook this stuff. Put the Burger Meals down and eat something worthwhile" attitude he presents.
  
  All in all this is not your Momma's French Cookbook. (which was probably authored by Julia Child and is wonderful, don't get me wrong) Rather it's a "Come to the kitchen and make something wonderful and here's how to get the good ingredients" slap.
  
  It's not personal and the colorful language entertains. It now sits on the top of my Microwave with the cookbooks I use every day as opposed to the shelf in the family room where most of them wait for a special occasion. Brava.
  
  
  
• It'll Make You A Better Cook Even If You Never Make Any Of It
  By AULYE471P5YRE on 2006-02-23
  Many of the recipes in here are of the type that one makes not just because one wants to eat, but because one wants to cook. Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook is overflowing with the kind of straight talk we've come to expect from the salty-tongued kitchen rogue. It is also chock full of inspiration. If you're looking for another collection of half-hour recipes to cherry pick through for a few new bits to add to your repertoire, keep surfing for something from Jamie or Nigella. But if you want a book that's a fun read, delves a little deeper into what makes truly great food and which will make you want to put more care and passion into elevating the food you do make, this is it. That being said, there are also many practical, delicious classic dishes in here which are also extremely easy.
  
  
• Good food. Bad attitude.
  By A216LUCISSWW1U on 2005-01-03
  Tony Bourdain styles himself as a culinary "bad boy"; a quintissentially New York kind of gastronome who spouts culinary invective (he's referred to Emeril Lagasse as a "fuzzy-headed troll") and proudly takes credit for putting a nation off restaurant seafood. He's full of himself, but luckily he's also a world-class chef, and after two other recipe-light food-related books he finally delivers a tome of good old-fashioned bistro cooking. While I've heard mixed reviews of Les Halles itself, the proverbial proof is in the pate - Bourdain does deliver the goods recipe-wise.
  
  It's not for the squeamish, though. He has recipes for pates and sausages of the french kind - basically made from animal parts that americans often find horrible. If you can get past that, it's pretty rewarding. Also, the food is not everyday meal fare - it is often somewhat painstaking to prepare, and probably a bit rich for the average meal.
  
  This is also the only cookbook I've ever read that periodically insults the reader. I don't mean it insults the reader's intelligence by oversimplifying or whatnot, it genuinely comes out and calls the reader names. Use boneless meat in a dish and you are a "poor deluded bastard." Of course he's trying to make a point, that there's a right way and a wrong way to do brasserie cooking, and the dumbed-down american-grocery way is the wrong way. It sometimes gets tedious, however, to read through the Bourdain 'tude to get the point. Hey Tony, show me how to truss a chicken without calling me an idiot for not already knowing. It's a tough call - the gruff bad-arse approach to cookbook writing is often quite funny and certainly a refreshing change from the often over-reverential tone of most cookbooks, but it can sometimes get in the way of clear instruction.
  
  The food itself is wonderful, a rich sampling of classic dishes. From old-school forcemeats (the rillette, a wonderful slow-cooked pork and porkfat concotion) to still old-school (I think all bistro cooking is, really) but less well-known dishes like the fabulous chicken basquaise, you're not going to find a bad recipe in there. You'll just have to wade through Bourdain's self-righteousness, which may or may not be a problem for you.
  
  
  
  
• Just get it.
  By A1Y5RI57JC2K93 on 2005-02-03
  Although this man has a serious case of potty mouth, I suspect it isn't for effect but second nature to someone in the business. Plating efficiently and rapidly for service would even make a nun swear like a sailor.
  
  Tourette's aside, this book is a genuine reflection of Bourdain's deep passion and respect for his craft. You mustn't miss the intro or little tidbits scattered throughout the book. It's great reading. I was alternately amused, offended, charmed, disgusted, and fascinated.
  
  It speaks volumes about the chef and the recipes.
  
  And the food in the book? It's all good. From the caul fat wrapped pate to the blood sausages (yes, made with real blood...what did you think?) to the great (dare I say perfect?) roast chicken...you owe it to yourself to try it all.
  
  
  
• Bourdain brings bistro cooking home
  By A2FI4N8A2OWS8 on 2004-12-13
  For the last several years, Bourdain has caused a furor in the culinary world by revealing secrets about what goes on behind the scenes in top kitchens around the world. His book, KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, became the launch point for his nationally known career, as well as his hit Food Network series A COOK'S TOUR.
  
  Now, Bourdain is opening up the secrets about his latest place of employment, Les Halles, a popular New York City bistro. And he doesn't disappoint.
  
  Bourdain spends a few pages in the early part of the book describing his round about way of arriving at Les Halles, and how badly he wanted to work for this particular eatery. Then he goes over a few basics as handled in the kitchen at the bistro, including making stock, dealing with and choosing the right knives for the right job, and how to get the best ingredients for the dishes you'll be preparing.
  
  The bulk of the book is devoted to recipes from Les Halles, covering the restaurant's basic French fare, albeit with the bistro's own twists (Escargots and Cassoulet, for example). Some of the recipes are pretty basic (Steak Au Poivre), but some of the others are a bit advanced and may be a little difficult for the average home cook (Vieu Viennois). But with a little time and effort, a more advanced home cook could make most of these delectable-sounding dishes with ease.
  
  As usual, it's Bourdain's style that really makes the book. The chef has a way with words that some chefs simply do not have. His gift for writing basic recipes while still trying to be entertaining is not found often throughout the culinary world.
  
  If you're into French fare, and want to give your kitchen a workout, as well as having the chance to try some of New York City's hottest dishes, then the Les Halles Cookbook is well worth the price, and worthy of a spot on your cookbook shelf.
  
  
  
• Christmas Gift to Keep
  By A3QTFZ96195N7C on 2005-01-08
  I recieved Tony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook for Christmas from my husband. We're both fans of his previous books and Food Network Show. I have made Boeuf Bourguignon, Beef Stock(from the Veal Stock recipe, sorry, Tony) and tonight, Onion Soup Les Halles. C'est magnifique! The soup was marvelous, sweet, (credit the onions, of course, and the tomato paste used for the beef stock, and intensely flavorful. The cookbook is a hilarious read even if you don't cook. He writes like I talk, so I've enjoyed reading about recipes I have no intention of trying to make. He's right, though. You CAN make these French culinary treasures. Just follow his advice. I couldn't find the ugly brown crocks, so I got some from Le Gourmet Chef Store. They worked beautifully! Thanks for a great cookbook. Mussels are next!
  
  
• Wonderful
  By A2SUPHCWYZ5CFV on 2006-01-14
  This is a strange cookbook, at least for me. Don't get me wrong, the recipes are wonderful and I love the book. It is just a different style of cookbook, with a style that may or may not appeal to you. Thick pages (hardcover edition), Anthony Bourdain and his co-authors wrote the book to make Bourdain a "bad boy" chef. I guess this is for the yuppie crowd, who knows.
  
  His recipes don't need that. His advice is excellent and the recipes are well written and easy to follow. You will drool just reading some of them. This is a cookbook that you can sit down and read, as well as use.
  
  I have a few other French cookbooks and this one is by far the best. My measure of a good cookbook is recipes that actually turn out decently and with instructions I can understand. THis books has a wide range of recipes and most of the ingredients are easily found.
  
  Try the moules a la basquaise (mussels) and daube provencale (lamb). This is becoming one of my favorite cookbooks.
  
  
• What Do French Bistro Cooking And Ted Nugent Have In Common?
  By A2NOZB6VZCTOI4 on 2007-06-20
  I am a longtime fan of Tony Bourdain, and couldn't wait to read his cookbook. Although French food is not my favorite cuisine, I always enjoy learning more about different cultures and their foods. Bourdain is in fine form here, sharing many centuries-old culinary secrets and teaching even the most experienced cooks new techniques. I am a former professional cook, and have worked in several restaurants from the downright dumpy to the exceedingly pretentious. As a result, I have made many of the dishes in this book (albeit in different forms or with different, usually inferior, methods). I like the fact that Bourdain not only gives the "how" of a technique or procedure, but also the "why." I will be the first to admit that I have made many dishes as an automaton, without really putting much thought into them, but this book opened my eyes to the rationale behind some things I didn't know, or had never even thought to ask. His safety tips are also extremely well placed (take it from a victim of the sugar-vinegar napalm inferno he discusses in his duck a l'orange recipe). All of the dishes are separated into "deep prep," "prep," and "preparation" phases, a helpful methodology. Also helpful is the ingredients and required equipment lists for every recipe.
  
  There are many great recipes in this book and even if they aren't all to your taste, they are all worth reviewing for important concepts. Of course, this being a cookbook by Tony Bourdain, expect audacity and wit in abundance: my favorite example is in his recipe for côte de boeuf, which has an equipment list featuring "novelty apron or vintage Ted Nugent T-shirt," among other things.
  
  This book is not for everyone: most people will not want to make one of these dishes on a daily basis (for that I like Alton Brown's books). Bourdain is an old school "hooves and snouts" guy who extols the virtues of not only things like tripe in general, but different kinds of tripe, honeycomb and feathered. He is fond of all organs, an excellent example of which is the recipe for coeur de porc a l'armagnac, which features a pig's heart. One step in the prep process reads "Season the heart with salt and pepper and stuff the arteries with the onion-herb mixture." I can honestly say that if served this, I would try it, but I'm not curious enough to make it myself. Nonetheless, I am delighted to see a true master recording the brilliant things that can be done with pig's ears, duck fat, and wild boar shoulder.
  
  Bourdain helpfully provides a very insightful introduction where the important concepts of French cuisine are explained, as well as a glossary and supplier list (some of these ingredients are very esoteric). Although Bourdain can be abrasive and opinionated (I think his opinions on immigration are beyond the fringe) he is an excellent writer, and a chef with few peers. This book is well worth reading even if you never make a single recipe in it (although I recommend that you do) for the simple reason that nobody writes about food better than Tony Bourdain.
  
  
• What a man
  By on 2004-11-06
  When I watched Anthony on his amazing tv shows I would think, this guy does not know what he is doing, so that is why he is doing these incredible shows about food.He is beyond belife and crazy sexy in the way he lives. The book is great, written from the stove that he cooks at, the real deal, I can feel the heat of the kitchen, reminds me of the tune it don't mean a thing if it ain't got tht swing and do they swing at Les Halles. A really wonderful book for someone who loves the art of creating in the kitchen. God Bless you All.
  
  
• Makes a klutz look good
  By A387UN0QXWGQLB on 2005-08-21
  The very first time I made the beef bourginon, it was one of the best meals I ever tasted and I'm just a chef wannabe with virtualy no experience. Tomorrow I try Pot-Au-Feu.
  
  
• Great hands-on cookbook
  By A1WIEMMCD5YYEC on 2005-09-06
  Anthony Bourdains's Les Halles Cookbook is simply fantastic. The recipes are clear and precise: fun to read, fun to cook and the results taste superb. Many will recognize Bourdain's style from „Kitchen Confidential": this is a cookbook with attitude (the introduction to „Poulet Roti" is itself a miniature sarcastic masterpiece). On top of this, the book itself is beautifully made, with wonderful photographs. An unabashed hedonistic hit!
  
  

• Kitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)
• The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones
• The French Laundry Cookbook
• Bouchon
• A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines