I bought a copy during another stellar lunch at l’Arpege a few weeks ago. A reporter spent some time in the kitchen, dining room and gardens at l’Arpege and wrote a graphic novel about the experience, including a few recipes that could potentially be duplicated by a home cook. He interviewed Passard of course but also the other cooks, the waiters, the gardeners.
Wonderful dry humor and insights into Passard and life working in a small 3 star restaurant. For example his gardens have three different soil types. Before using a new vegetable he’ll grow it in all three soils to see which one produces the best results - which is the best terroir for each seed.
After eating at the restaurant I said, “the main is a genius”. After reading the book I see all the obsessive hard work by so many people that go into making those deceptively simple dishes.
Coda - I made the first recipe from the book last night. My first thought was - this would be would be so much better with ingredients from his garden. But my second thought was - this is still really good! I’d be happy to serve this to guests even with grocery store shallots and garlic and the peas and grapefruit from Chelsea Market. The flavors combined in totally unexpected ways. I had no idea how marvellous the grapefruit would be for the dish until I tasted the peas with and without.
“Green Caviar” Petits Pois with Pink Grapefruit and Fresh Mint
In a large saute pan over low heat melt 1 tbsp of salted butter with 4 tsp of tiny fresh petits pois; 4 spring shallots (I used three since they were a bit large, I might go to 2 with the size I had), chopped fine; and 1 clove of garlic crushed. The size of the saute pan is important: the peas should cover the bottom but shouldn’t be piled on top of each other. When you stir you should see the bottom of the pan. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover with parchment paper to preserve the aromas, and allow to simmer and steam for 4 to 6 minutes depending on the size of the peas. [Note - the stirring happens after the 4-6 minutes]
Season with a pinch of fleur de sel. Serve in 4 warm soup bowls. Divide among the bowls a freshly peeled, pitted and thinly sliced grapefuit. Add 4 leaves of fresh mint or lemon balm (I bought a pot of lemon balm at the farmers market last weekend), chopped fine.
I thought the book was absolutely wonderful, and really captured the experience of eating in the restaurant and talking with Mr. Passard. Now you’re tempting me to try the recipes!
Thanks Jay. I was trying to reconcile the idea of 4 tsp peas with “the peas should cover the bottom”
If farmers market has small peas I’ll get and the let SheWhoCooksBetterThanMe decide amount.
Sounds like fun recipe
While buying this book as a present for a friend I discovered he also has a cookbook - The Art of Cooking With Vegetables. Of course I bought it and have been having a blast so far.
I’ve tried
Asparagus with the bases gently poached in clarified butter while the tops are basted, Strawberry/Rhubarb with Orange segments, and Peaches with lemon (I’d probably reduce the quantity of lemon a bit next time unless I’m serving it as an appetizer).
It also has a slight variant on the peas with pink grapefruit from the graphic novel.
It’s been a while since I’ve had so much fun with a new cookbook!
For those interested, there is a channel on YouTube where there are around 15 recipes or so, all in 3-4 min video format. It’s in French but all recipes are pretty simple so it should still be interesting for an English speaker.
There are some new ones posted regularly, but not in this channel. Google “Alain Passard Le Point recette” and you’ll find them.
Or, here’s the link to the main page (not sure all of them are here but with the yt channel, you should be set): http://www.lepoint.fr/invites-du-point/alain-passard/
I’ve considered going to L’Arpège for a while now, was thinking about it for my wife’s 40th birthday (went to Georges Blanc instead, was not disappointed). But the 400€ tag on the menu dégustation is a bit too much for what I’m ready to put on a menu, however great it might be.
But, I love his videos and his approach to cooking (colors & all), my wife loves vegetables and I’m intrigued so I’m still tempted.
So did you find it worth it? For example, it’s twice as much as L’auberge de l’Ill near Colmar, which is the only 3* I went to, apart from Georges Blanc recently. Even in Paris most other 3* are cheaper. Is it that good of an experience?
I’ve only gone for the lunch tasting menu which is much more affordable. The wine list is okay. Prices aren’t out of line and you can find something to drink but it’s not anything to get excited about. We were very happy with the 2009 Foreau Moelleux on our last visit.
The Rhubarb and Spinach (or Arrocho) dish was disappointing but I think a lot of the problem was in the direction to cover the rhubarb with water. I both had a large pan and big rhubarb so there was too much water in the pan. It collapsed pretty quickly so I’ll try again with a smaller pan and less water height.