Momofuku

This is a cookbook, yes, but it's more than that (otherwise I would have simply Googled the recipes). It's the story of the fast-growing Momofuku restaurant empire, the story of chef David Chang's rise to culinary stardom. It's written in his voice, and it's fun to read how they came up with many of the dishes featured in the cookbook, and to learn how one might go about making said dishes...more

This is a cookbook, yes, but it's more than that (otherwise I would have simply Googled the recipes). It's the story of the fast-growing Momofuku restaurant empire, the story of chef David Chang's rise to culinary stardom. It's written in his voice, and it's fun to read how they came up with many of the dishes featured in the cookbook, and to learn how one might go about making said dishes (although in all honesty, I don't plan to boil any pig heads, buy a water circulation machine for sous videing, or find meat glue for use at home). I was impressed at how he was able to elevate everyday, sort of low-brow Asian ingredients to haute cuisine. The book made me want to go into my mom's Korean pantry and start throwing a whole bunch of things together. And when a cookbook makes you want to cook, hasn't it done its job? Minus half star because some of the recipes aren't really for home cooks, but I suppose there are chefs out there who are like, whoah, I'm gonna try that, so I'm not sure it's totally fair.   hide