Caviar, Truffles, and Foie Gras PDF Download

Author: Katherine Alford
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 9780811827911
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Caviar, truffles, and foie gras--these luxurious ingredients create a dazzling orchestra for the senses and are appearing more and more on the menus at fine restaurants. This elegant cookbook explores the difference between Sevruga and Osetra, the controversy of foie gras, and the enigmatic nighttime world of truffle hunting. Over 50 tantalizing recipes demystify these sometimes intimidating ingredients with straightforward, simple techniques. For those who aspire to decadence in the dining room, it's now possible to enjoy at home the flavors of such sumptuous dishes as Steamed Lobster with Truffle Beurre Fondue or Whole Roasted Foie Gras with Winter Vegetables. Author Katherine Alford reveals the secrets to infusing home cooking with three of the most revered delicacies in haute cuisine.

Author: Inga Saffron
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0767911199
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
In the tradition of Cod and Olives: a fascinating journey into the hidden history, culture, and commerce of caviar. Once merely a substitute for meat during religious fasts, today caviar is an icon of luxury and wealth. In Caviar, Inga Saffron tells, for the first time, the story of how the virgin eggs of the prehistoric-looking, bottom-feeding sturgeon were transformed from a humble peasant food into a czar’s delicacy–and ultimately a coveted status symbol for a rising middle class. She explores how the glistening black eggs became the epitome of culinary extravagance, while taking us on a revealing excursion into the murky world of caviar on the banks of the Volga River and Caspian Sea in Russia, the Elbe in Europe, and the Hudson and Delaware Rivers in the United States. At the same time, Saffron describes the complex industry caviar has spawned, illustrating the unfortunate consequences of mass marketing such a rare commodity. The story of caviar has long been one of conflict, crisis, extravagant claims, and colorful characters, such as the Greek sea captain who first discovered the secret method of transporting the perishable delicacy to Europe, the canny German businessmen who encountered a wealth of untapped sturgeon in American waters, the Russian Communists who created a sophisticated cartel to market caviar to an affluent Western clientele, the dirt-poor poachers who eked out a living from sturgeon in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse and the “caviar Mafia” that has risen in their wake, and the committed scientists who sacrificed their careers to keep caviar on our tables. Filled with lore and intrigue, Caviar is a captivating work of culinary, natural, and cultural history.

Author: Ian Purkayastha
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 031638397X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
"[Ian Purkayastha] has a true, deep expertise in everything he sells--caviar, truffles, fish. He knows the stories that we need to sell the stuff tableside . . . he can disrupt the entire luxury foods market." ---From the Foreword by David Chang Ian Purkayastha is New York City's leading truffle importer and boasts a devoted clientele of top chefs nationwide, including Jean-Georges Vongerichten, David Chang, Sean Brock, and David Bouley. But before he was purveying the world's most expensive fungus to the country's most esteemed chefs, Ian was just a food-obsessed teenager in rural Arkansas -- a misfit with a peculiar fascination for rare and exotic ingredients. The son of an Indian immigrant father and a Texan mother, Ian learned to forage for wild mushrooms from an uncle in the Ozark hills. Thus began a single-track fixation that led him to learn about the prized but elusive truffle, the king of all fungi. His first taste of truffle at age 15 sparked his improbable yet remarkable adventure through the strange -- and often corrupt -- business of the exotic food trade. Rife with tales from the hidden underbelly of the elite restaurant scene, Truffle Boy chronicles Ian's high stakes dealings with a truffle kingpin in Serbia, meth-head foragers in Oregon, crooked businessmen and maniacal chefs in Manhattan, gypsy truffle hunters in the forests of Hungary, and a supreme adventure to find "Gucci mushrooms" in the Himalayan foothills -- the land of the gods. He endures harsh failures along the way but rebuilds with tremendous success by selling not just truffles but also caviar, wild mushrooms, rare foraged edibles, Wagyu beef, and other nearly unobtainable ingredients demanded by his Michelin-starred clients. Truffle Boy is a thrilling coming-of-age story and the incredible but true tale of a country kid who grows up to become a force in the world of fine dining.

Author: Mark Caro
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 143915838X
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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In announcing that he had stopped serving the fattened livers of force-fed ducks and geese at his world-renowned restaurant, influential chef Charlie Trotter heaved a grenade into a simmering food fight, and the Foie Gras Wars erupted. He said his morally minded menu revision was meant merely to raise consciousness, but what was he thinking when he also suggested -- to Chicago Tribune reporter Mark Caro -- that a rival four-star chef 's liver be eaten as "a little treat"? The reaction to Caro's subsequent front-page story was explosive, as Trotter's sizable hometown moved to ban the ancient delicacy known as foie gras while an international array of activists, farmers, chefs and politicians clashed forcefully and sometimes violently over whether fattening birds for the sake of scrumptious livers amounts to ethical agriculture or torture. "Take a dish with a funny French name, add ducks, top it all off with celebrity chefs eating each other's livers, and that's entertainment," Caro writes. Yet as absurd as battling over bloated waterfowl organs might seem, the controversy struck a serious chord even among those who had never tasted the stuff. Reporting from the front lines of this passionate dining debate, Caro explores the questions we too often avoid: What is an acceptable amount of suffering for an animal that winds up on our plate? Is a duck that lives comfortably for twelve weeks before enduring a few weeks of periodic force-feedings worse off than a supermarket broiler chicken that never sees the light of day over its six to seven weeks on earth? Why is the animal-rights movement picking on such a rarefied dish when so many more chickens, pigs and cows are being processed on factory farms? Then again, how could the treatment of other animals possibly justify the practice of feeding a duck through a metal tube down its throat? In his relentless yet good-humored pursuit of clarity, Caro takes us to the streets where activists use bullhorns, spray paint, Superglue and/or lawsuits as their weapons; the government chambers where politicians weigh the ducks' interests against their own; the restaurants and outlaw dining clubs where haute cuisine preparations coexist with Foie-lipops; and the U.S. and French farms whose operators maintain that they are honoring tradition, not abusing animals. Can foie gras survive after 5,000 years? Are we on the verge of a more enlightened era of eating? Can both answers be yes? Our appetites hang in the balance.

Author: Melissa Clark
Publisher: Friedman/Fairfax Publishing
ISBN: 9781567997439
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
What more delightful way to celebrate any occasion -- or no occasion, for that matter -- than with the classic pairing of two sublime tastes: champagne and caviar? Champagne's effervescence complements the delicacy of the roe, making this the perfect combination. Along with lovely photographs, a New York Times food columnist tells the story of these two unique delicacies, and reveals the secrets of just how and why they work so elegantly together.

Author: Norman Kolpas
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1789143780
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
Few ingredients inspire more soaring praise and provoke greater outrage than foie gras. Literally meaning “fat liver,” foie gras is traditionally produced by force-feeding geese or ducks, a process which has become the object of widespread controversy and debate. In Foie Gras: A Global History, Norman Kolpas strives to provide a balanced account of this luxurious ingredient’s history and production from ancient Egypt to modern times. Kolpas also explores how foie gras has inspired famous writers, artists, and musicians including Homer, Herman Melville, Isaac Asimov, Claude Monet, and Gioachino Antonio Rossini. The book includes a guide to purchasing, preparing, and serving foie gras, as well as ten easy recipes, from classic dishes to contemporary treats.

Author: Jim Christy
Publisher: Feral House
ISBN: 162731086X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
What is it about the desolate far North American wilderness that calls the intrepid traveler to uncover its sanctifying and deadly secrets? From Jack London (Call of the Wild) to Christopher McCandless (chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild) souls have found solace in the silent, frozen northern kingdom at the top of the world, the Ultima Thule. The forested flatlands give way to the frozen Rocky Mountains over millions of acres nominally in the dominion of both the United States and Canada and accessible by its 1532 mile shared umbilical cord—The Alcan Highway. Legendary vagabond, Jim Christy, a Canadian now but born an American travels this road throughout his life. First as a young man in the early 1960s hungry for rugged adventure then revisiting the journey every few years both observing and reflecting on the growth of Northwest in the Rough Road to the North. Christy vividly describes the history of the indigenous people and the hearty (and often foolhardy) pioneers who built the Alcan highway and opened the northern road. Christy’s lyrical text weaves fulsome magic about the siren call of the last unconquered land of North America. The forested flatlands give way to the frozen Rocky Mountains over millions of acres nominally in the dominion of both the United States and Canada and accessible by its 1532 mile shared umbilical cord—The Alcan Highway. Legendary vagabond, Jim Christy, a Canadian now but born an American travels this road throughout his life. First as a young man in the early 1960s hungry for rugged adventure then revisiting the journey every few years both observing and reflecting on the growth of Northwest in the Rough Road to the North.

Author: Bi AnHuaXi
Publisher: Funstory
ISBN: 163689853X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 610

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Book Description
On Tang Kexin's birthday, her boyfriend and sister were accompanying her. After drinking a cup of wine, she threw herself into her boyfriend's embrace. But when she woke up, she found herself in a dark place with a stranger next to her.

Author: Matthew Reilly
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers Aus.
ISBN: 1761565834
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
Matthew Reilly's blockbuster novel Hover Car Racer explodes off the page as a thrilling new graphic novel, brilliantly illustrated by John Hanna. Never give up. Never say die. Meet Jason Chaser, hover car racer. He's won himself a place at the International Race School, where racers either make it on to the Pro Circuit - or they crash and burn. But he's an outsider. He's younger than the other racers. His car, the Argonaut, is older. And on top of that, someone doesn't want him to succeed at the School and will do anything to stop him. Now Jason Chaser isn't just fighting for his place on the starting line, he's racing for his life. This is a specially formatted fixed-layout ebook that retains the look and feel of the print book

Author: Donald Olson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470069333
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 652

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Book Description
Europe offers some of the world’s most exciting cities, romantic landscapes, outstanding museums, important historic sights, renowned works of art, and awesome architectural wonders, plus great cuisine, incredible shopping, and all kinds of entertainment and nightlife. Odds are, you can’t do it all. Depending on your personal interests, this friendly guide helps you pick the right sites and make the most of your trip, with: Trip planning, including applying for passports; making reservations; dealing with trip insurance, health issues, and Customs; rail passes, train tickets, traveler’s checks, and more Detailed info on 15 of Europe’s most popular destinations: London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, Innsbruck, Prague, Naples, Florence, Venice, Madrid, Barcelona, and Athens Info on local customs, must-see attractions, and out-of-the-way gems, plus a little historical background to help you put the sites you’ll see in context Like every For Dummies travel guide, Europe For Dummies, 4th Edition helps you make the most of your vacation. It includes: Down-to-earth trip-planning advice Info on the best ships for every budget Tips on sightseeing at ports of call Handy Post-it Flags to mark your favorite pages Whether you want to marvel at majestic cathedrals or go on a pub crawl in Dublin, have a 5-star meal in Paris or a picnic lunch amidst the ruins of a Mycenaean city overlooking the Mediterranean, take in museums and castles or hike the Alps, explore the historic (or prehistoric) sites or experience diverse nightlife, with Europe For Dummies, 4th Edition, you’re on your way to a fantastic European holiday.