The Art of French Baking
The best cookbook gift ideas for 2011
Reviewed by Monica Riese, Fri., Dec. 9, 2011
The Art of French Baking
by Ginette Mathiot (Phaidon Press, 368 pp., $45)I'm the child of a woman who makes a delicious Tex-Mex dish she calls Rabbit Hutch Surprise. Others balk at the questionable-looking casserole, but my mom taught me it's not always about how something looks, as long as it tastes good.
This is, without a doubt, a gorgeous book. Its modern design is eye-catching and well-executed, from the ever-so-slightly desaturated photography and playful illustrations to the sleek fonts and ample white space. There are also some helpful practical touches, including the dual built-in bookmarks, a vinyl cover, and heavy pages that seem perfectly suited to the gauntlet the book will inevitably be subjected to in a kitchen.
"Modern," though, is often a synonym for "sparse." And French cooking has a (deserved) reputation, aside from being full of butter: It's complicated. While the design of The Art of French Baking is appealing and functional in its own way, it doesn't make for a good or thorough guide for most home bakers. The Last-Minute Brioche turned out reasonably well, but I had several doubts and questions throughout the process that I just couldn't find any answers to in the book. The recipe for meringues is only three sentences long; one can't help but wonder if a few steps were either edited out (by Clotilde Dusoulier) or literally lost in translation (by Annabel van Nieuwkerk). Basically, I just wanted it to taste as good as it looks.
That said, this could be an ideal companion volume to a book of techniques or in the cookbook arsenal of a more experienced pastry chef just looking for a few new recipes. As it stands, though, it's just a little too much art and not quite enough French baking.