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wonderful concept brought foward, but flawed
This book appears to have been designed to provide value and economy for a wide audience and the author accomplishes this. The book is well designed and executed. It features good line drawings, interesting topics, and thorough instructions. For this, the book earns 5 stars. From a professional point of view however, having been in the culinary field for over 20 years, I feel the title is a bit misleading. The term "dessert university" brings to mind a reader who has some prior knowledge of the culinary arts but upon reading this book, I see recipes for basic recipes like chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, and plain poached pears. On the other hand, I see recipes for sophisticated cooks like peaches with chestnuts and figs with cantalope. Some of the recipes were just too bizarre. A good example is rum raisen ice cream with pears in red wine. My complaint? There is too much going on in this book to present a clear point of view. There are chapters for fruit, soft desserts, frozen desserts, cakes, cookies, and so on. For the experienced cook and baker, many of the recipes for these chapter headings are better found elsewhere, not that they are really needed here anyway. The chapters that offered more information on meringues, crepes, chocolate work, and sugar work were the only advanced subjects that you would not find in a common bakery book. Although this book is a great resource for people who want just one complete guide for baking, most of the consumers who really are interested and in need of instruction from a "dessert university" are likely to buy more than one book on the topic anyway. But for my own opinion as someone in the business, I would of liked to see this book geared more for the truly advanced person in the field of culinary arts. I would of liked to see a chapter on the use of eggs with meriques and souffles together and also a chapter with molded desserts together (frozen and creme). I would want to see more ways to use crepes that was shown in the chapter. Lastly, I would definitely want to see many more photos on the use of complicated processes like sugar work and chocolate decorations. For the reasons cited in the above paragraph, my personal rating for this book is 3 stars. JUST GREAT THIS BOOK HAS SOME DELICIOUS RECIPES AND USEFULL TIPS. CHEF MESNIER SAYS IN HIS BOOK THAT HE WILL ONLY USE INGRIDIENT THAT ARE NECESARY AND THAT MAKE A DIFERENCE IN THE RECIPE, SO HE WON'T MAKE YOU BUY AND GO CRAZY LOOKING FOR INGRIDIENTS THAT MIGHT NOT EVEN BE NEEDED. I'VE TRIED SEVERAL RECIPES AND THEY'VE JUST TURNED OUT GREAT, I MADE ALMOND DAQOISE, COCONUT MOUSSE AND SOME OTHER AND THEY'RE ALL GREAT. I TOTALLY RECOMEND IT! The French know Best !!! Roland writes a great book for the home cook and trained pastry chef. His style is wonderful and its hard to believe this is the man responsible for making the president of the United States Birthday Cake. I am going to keep this one forever! The perfect dessert book! I am quite picky when it comes to purchasing cookbooks. Like a number of other reviewers, I too have attended culinary school. Almost all of my instructors were Master European Chefs, and I have admired Chef Mesnier's work for years. I usually look at cookbooks and determine their usefullness based on how the recipes compare to those I was taught by my instructors. (Every chef has their own version of how pastry cream, buttercream, crepes etc...should be prepared.) Chef Mesnier's book is a work of art in itself. The recipes in the book are exceptional. The information included about working with sugar and chocolate are simple to follow and his tips are wonderful. His commentary throughout the book is enjoyable to read. (I thought I was the only person to prefer pastry crust prepared with Crisco rather than butter!) This book is an absolute "must have" for anyone who enjoys creating, presenting, and eating dessert! An Extraordinary Book from an Extraordinary Chef! I have enjoyed Chef Mesnier's cooking classes at major resorts for some years -- they are exceptional in every respect. His new book is even better, if that can be possible. Recipes are clear, easy to follow, and produce consistantly superb results. From family dinners to special occasions, its all in his book. If you love extraordinary desserts, love cooking them, love great cookbooks, or want the perfect gift for anyone who does, this is the book for you. After all, anyone who can please that many Presidents has to be a genius and a saint! | |
