Every celebrity chef under the sun now has a cookbook. I usually have to dig through all the celebrity chef cookbooks at the store to get to the really good, relatively unknown cookbooks, buried behind them.
In this recent Wall Street Journal article, it is mentioned that celebrity chefs write their cookbooks as if they are cooking in their restaurant kitchen. Too many steps, too much use of expensive equipment, too many ingredients. I want the cookbook from the chef who writes as if cooking in his restaurant kitchen.
Janky low-quality cookbooks are a dime a dozen. When I pick up a Thomas Keller
or David Chang
cookbook, I expect a level of quality. It's not a cookbook I will most likely cook from every night for dinner, but I'm buying their incredible experience in the kitchen, in recipe form.
I'm still planning on getting TK's new book and I already bought Momofuku. If you don't like these books and the recipes they offer, don't buy them. Personally though, I think that's your loss.
