Finally the long awaited book from David Chang has been released.
The first time I ate in Momofuku was about a year and a half ago, we ate in Ssam. We were given the royal treatment and basically tried the whole menu as the table was booked by my friend Wylie Dufresne.
One of my strongest beliefs in the world of cooking is “You take out what you put in”! So I make it a habit to read everyday, but the books I read are not your typical books you read in bed to relax (although I do).
I love to read Conceptual cooking books (without recipes, only theories) as they encourage you to think for yourself without giving you all the answers. I also read books about industrial design and architecture as they give you a different perspective on visual presentations. Psychology is also another are of interest as we deal with some of the most interesting people on a daily basis who face some kind of a challenge when it comes to different food. Production industry text books are not for the light hearted as they contain so much heavy information, but in the same token if you can handle them they are a wealth of information and most things are able to transform into a restaurant setting (I only read 1 chapter per day as this is as much as I can handle). The last category of books that I read are Historical theoretical cooking books, As I find most of the theories which were “common knowledge” back then have all pretty much been proved wrong today. But in the same token I have the highest of respect for the Chefs who came before us as they were the pioneers of our trade and they were doing it with far less equipment and knowledge, in these books I will often come across some astounding theories which were way ahead of there time and very insightful.
Now getting to the point of the latest must read! It is the new book from Hervé This. I have every book from Hervé but so far this is by far the best. Again a pretty heavy read (compared to his usual style), but some really interesting pieces of information on the “Inner workings” of things we eat and use everyday. Find the link below for Amazon.