Eating Between the Lines

Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman Broadway Books, 420 pp., $45

You could look at this book as a series of little cooking classes between the covers. Jean-Georges Vongerichten -- chef-restaurateur of New York's Jo Jo, Vong, Lipstick Cafe, Mercer Kitchen, as well as hot spots in Hong Kong, Chicago, London, and Las Vegas -- has collaborated with Mark Bittman -- author of the weekly New York Times column "The Minimalist," and the award-winning book How to Cook Everything -- to methodically teach you how to think (and cook) the way chefs do.

The ingenious Vongerichten/Bittman system is relatively simple but quite effective. The authors identify 50 foundation recipes -- such as chicken stock, brown butter, mashed potatoes, or grilled shrimp -- and for each of these basic recipes, they create four adaptations/variations, each a bit more complex and sophisticated than the previous, building on the techniques learned in the foundation recipe. So, once you master the basics, then you can move forward with confidence. From simple to spectacular, one step at a time. Once you absorb the mechanics of a roasted stuffed tomato, you can stuff it with shrimp, bitter greens, sweet ginger and nuts, or Moroccan-spiced ground lamb.

The point is that this is the way that professionals cook, riffing on well-practiced standards, and this is exactly the methodology that culinary-school chefs use to teach their students. And when you think about it, this apprentice-journeyman-master system of learning has been around since the medieval guilds. Learning to cook well is really no different than learning to paint, or to sing, or to build a cabinet. Mastery of the fundamentals provides the springboard to creativity. First you walk and then you run.

In this big and beautiful volume, the collaboration between Vongerichten and Bittman is a happy one, with the reader-student benefiting both from the soaring ingenuity of the master chef and from the thorough deconstructions and explanations by the writer who understands the informational needs of the audience. The instructions for each recipe are explicit and well-explained, with lots of identifying information about how a dish should look and how it ought to behave at any given point in the process. Each section contains a "Keys to Success" section, with tips and tricks for best practices. Of course, learning is always easier if you can actually watch the execution of a procedure, but a great explanation is the next best thing.

Chef Vongerichten's sources are primarily northern European (French, Italian, and German), with serious influences from southeast Asia. The rabbit variations are good examples of how these elements come into play. The foundation recipe is rabbit chasseur, a simple braised rabbit dish with mushrooms and shallots, found all over Europe. The first variation is rabbit with mustard, which follows the same procedure, except that it is finished under the broiler with mustard and breadcrumbs. Following that is a superb rabbit curry, using Thai spices, coconut milk, cilantro, and lime. Next up, rabbit confit is a bit more complex -- marinated overnight, cooked in deep fat or oil, and served with sautéed and stewed vegetables, potatoes, and arugula with sherry vinaigrette. Finally, rabbit pho is a lovely Vietnamese meal-in-a-bowl, with broth, vegetables, and rice noodles. All of these dishes begin with a rabbit cut into the same 10 pieces.

Even the most sophisticated of the recipe variations are suitably adapted for the home kitchen, although obtaining a few of the ingredients (lobster roe, duck fat, veal marrow, fresh foie gras, black truffle) could present something of a challenge. Helpfully, the authors often suggest substitutes, or deem the hardest-to-find ingredients optional. Access to a good Asian market is almost a necessity for some of the variations; the aid of a full-service butcher is a great help for others. Fortunately, in Austin we are blessed with both.

Spectacular recipes aside, one of the joys of this book is that even the fundamental recipes are absolutely delicious and, by following the careful directions, relatively foolproof. In this era of pop star chefs pushing the envelope ever outward, the beauty of simplicity is frequently overlooked. Even if you choose never to progress past the foundation recipes in Simple to Spectacular, you will have learned from masters how best to scramble an egg, roast a chicken, create a consommé, or sear a steak. Simple food, perfectly prepared. Understanding that is a major step on the road toward becoming a great cook.