Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges Review

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(More customer reviews)I am a long time fan of JGV cook books. Simple to Spectacular is my favorite cookbook ever, and I use it quite a lot - especially when I am looking for that wow factor.
JGV's new book is more Asian than fusion. Although it uses some western ingredients, such as creme fraiche and butter, the recipes are essentially Asian.
Also, unlike Simple to Spectacular, these are clearly restaurant recipes, and no effort was made to simplify them and adjust them to home cooking.
Many of the recipes are labor intensive - loads of pots and pans are used, and many steps. They are still very attractive and make me want to get in the kitchen and star cooking.
There are a few simple recipes - I tried the egg and tomato soup and it is definitely going to become part of my everyday repertuar.
Last comment: although Asian cuisine should be healthy, many of the recipes in this book contain loads of butter and/or sugar.
Summary: a good book for people who really like cooking, to be used for special occasion meals.

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Jean-Georges: Cooking At Home with a Four-Star Chef Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)We cook regularly from many different cookbooks and am thoroughly disappointed with this one. A friend has Vongerichten's Simple Cuisine & cooks from it & says it is excellent. He bought this one, too, & tells me that the recipes he's tried so far have not been very good (cauliflower was not at all like in the restaurant & puréed carrots were disliked with the beef). He is an avid (& good) cook. I have made 8 recipes from this book. Sableuse is a very plain cake but was good; Halibut in Papillote was good (very basic but I practically ruined my pans following the directions - do it in the oven not on the stove to save your pans), Savoy Slaw had too much ginger (a matter of taste?), Pork in Caramel was nothing special; Glazed Fall Vegetables tasted good (it has 1/2 lb of bacon so this is not surprising) but is not glazed at all & looks like a plate of mush & really is nothing special; Broiled Chicken with cloves was comletely bland with no flavor of cloves, just chicken & cream (my cloves were new & very aromatic); Lemon Yogurt Sorbet was okay, not great; the Apple Confit was a major disaster (as reported in a magazine which I read after I made it).
I do not believe that many of the recipes were tested properly. Also, the food is really JUST OKAY, NOT GREAT. Certainly not worthy of all the gushing done by Bittman. I will not make any of these recipes again except for the Sableuse. I think a public apology for the Apple Confit is in order, along with the correct recipe!
Before spending $ on this book, check it out from the library & make a few things first.

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