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7th out of 10 books
—
3 voters
Momofuku Milk Bar
The highly anticipated complement to the New York Times bestselling Momofuku cookbook, Momofuku Milk Bar reveals the recipes for the innovative, addictive cookies, pies, cakes, ice creams, and more from the wildly popular bakery.
A runaway success, the Momofuku cookbook suffered from just one criticism among reviewers and fans: where were Christina Tosi’s fantastic desserts...more
A runaway success, the Momofuku cookbook suffered from just one criticism among reviewers and fans: where were Christina Tosi’s fantastic desserts...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
October 25th 2011
by Clarkson Potter
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I feel about this book much the same way I felt about A day at El Bulli when I read that. I am genuinely in awe of and inspired by the great minds at the Milk Bar, but I just don't see any of these recipes coming to fruition in my kitchen. Most of the food in this book relies on familiar, comfortable flavor profiles (PB&J, for example) turned on their head with some interesting techniques (crumb, crunch, infused milk, sauces, crusts, brittles, etc) and re-imaginings. The list of recommended...more
This was an ARC from Netgalley.
I loved the Momofuku (which means "lucky peach") cookbook and the story of how chef David Chang created and developed the Momofuku Restaurant Group, which included the Noodle and Ssam Bars, Ko, and Ma Peche. I even loved the website (momofukufor2.com) where two fans created recipes out of the cookbook and blogged about it. I've never been to these restaurants but I know I would love the Noodle & Milk Bars. So I was very excited to see this cookbook. I like the...more
I loved the Momofuku (which means "lucky peach") cookbook and the story of how chef David Chang created and developed the Momofuku Restaurant Group, which included the Noodle and Ssam Bars, Ko, and Ma Peche. I even loved the website (momofukufor2.com) where two fans created recipes out of the cookbook and blogged about it. I've never been to these restaurants but I know I would love the Noodle & Milk Bars. So I was very excited to see this cookbook. I like the...more
First thought: this is a brilliant anthropological study on how to feed nostalgia to people who were nutritionally neglected in childhood. And I mean that in a good way. It's riveting and a fun read (if you, like me, appreciate cookbooks more for the book than the cook part). Second thought, when I got to Cereal Milk (emphatically trademarked!): Dear god, I think I'm going to throw up. The faded hipstamatic photos don't help. There are pages I have to skip because the styling is genuinely stomac...more
This isn't for the average home baker. This is more of the kind of cookbook that you buy as a fan, for your coffee table, but not to actually *make* anything. I have pretty good skills in the kitchen but never had the energy to devote two days to trying any of the recipes before my access through NetGalley expired.
Which is a shame, because with a few tweaks, this could have been a lot more home-kitchen friendly. We home bakers don't tend to bake cakes in sheets and then cut them into circles. We...more
Which is a shame, because with a few tweaks, this could have been a lot more home-kitchen friendly. We home bakers don't tend to bake cakes in sheets and then cut them into circles. We...more
This is such an interesting look at the growth and development of something more than a restaurant. The book is insightful and inspiring to all, even those of us who are not in the food world other than ardent admirers. The stories of the thoughtful development of the recipes, sometimes spurred on by childhood experience, are just as tasty as the recipes. Some of the ingredients are more specialized than all but the most serious cooks will have and some seem fairly time consuming, but oh the res...more
This book can best be summed up to the tune of Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" Sadly, yes.
I've read it, cooked from it and overall completely understand that this book is not for me. This cookbook is for the "LOOK AT ME I'M A FUCKING MODERNIST COOK! SHIT YEAH!" person.... not a fan.
Everyone can go gaga over how awesome, great, breaking ground, ZZZOMG THE CRACK PIE a book this is. However, I just don't get it.
Clearly, I'm more a Thomas Keller lover than David Chang. And you know what? That'...more
I've read it, cooked from it and overall completely understand that this book is not for me. This cookbook is for the "LOOK AT ME I'M A FUCKING MODERNIST COOK! SHIT YEAH!" person.... not a fan.
Everyone can go gaga over how awesome, great, breaking ground, ZZZOMG THE CRACK PIE a book this is. However, I just don't get it.
Clearly, I'm more a Thomas Keller lover than David Chang. And you know what? That'...more
I loved everything about this book. The recipes were appropriately drool-worthy without being pretentious. My favorite part was reading the chef's personal story in the introduction. I enjoyed her fearless take-no-excuses style juxtaposed with down-home creativity. She's the perfect mix of cutting edge and old-fashioned. Even if you never intend to make any of the recipes in this book (which I do in spades) it is worth a read to see what she has accomplished. Essentially she built a brand with c...more
First off, I love reading cookbooks. They are so interesting and so wonderful, I think there is just something special about someone giving you a seat at the kitchen counter so you can learn how they cook or bake. There is something deeply personal about it. Like making pie with grandma. Anyways this book tells a story, it also it straight up honest with you - about ingredients, about techniques, about tools. And then it shares all the secret recipes with you. Honestly, I've never been to milk,...more
If you've never been to the Momofuku Milk Bar, I suggest you get on a plane, fuel up your car, or load up your horse and buggy and DO NOT STOP until you have a piece of chocolate chip cake with passion fruit curd and coffee buttercream or a compost cookie heading directly towards your mouth. But if that's not an option, this enchanting new cookbook tells you exactly how to make it all yourself. Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi lays it all out for you, and her descriptions of the recipes' methods...more
Apr 25, 2012
Timm Higgins
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
From the novice to the pro baker.
All I can say is flippin brilliant. For those who seem to think that some of the 'exotic' ingredients are hard to source, it's a bunch of crap. The author tells you, you find things like the glucose on the internet - got to amazon.com it's all there I promise. I think even the novice baker can get something out of this book. Because I'm a cook (mostly savory) I'm trying to expand my knowledge in the pastry side of things, and this is right up my ally. And when I purchase a cookbook, I'm not one...more
Spectacular to read and contemplate, but not so great to cook from. The ideas are inventive and out there but most recipes have 4 or 5 components to put together. This is fine in a restaurant setting, where components are cooked by different people and waiting in the walk in when you go to make he cake or whatever. For the home cook, this is a pretty impractical book, unless you just like it for flavor combination ideas. I also do not think most home chefs know where to find acetateor want to wo...more
I'm not sure if this is a trend or that I have been picking out cookbooks with a lack of photographic common sense, whatever it is, it makes me steaming mad! I know this will sound rude, but I don't care about the sous-chef de cuisine, the line cooks, the saucier or the pastry chef. My indifference is so great that I don't want to see pictures of them clogging up my cookbooks.
I also don't want to see pictures of a stocked pantry. Pictures of a crowded kitchen, pics of someone walking around o...more
I also don't want to see pictures of a stocked pantry. Pictures of a crowded kitchen, pics of someone walking around o...more
COMPOST COOKIES MAKE MY PANTS ANGRY. As waistlines are naught to do, mine hates fat, potato chips, pretzels, refined flours and teeth-rotting candy. Christina Tosi must be the sworn enemy of hips and bellies worldwide because she has advised baking hopefuls everywhere to combine all of that shit in a bowl to produce humongous baked globs of pure deliciousness that leave unrepentant oil trails in their midst. They taste best while warm and gooey, so eat up, children! No, wait, they taste even bet...more
I have such a hard time reviewing cookbooks. I'm not an enthusiastic cook and even less enthusiastic about baking. But I do enjoy this book. I've flipped through it multiple times, salivating while reading the ingredient list and directions. I absorb the book like it's some guilty pleasure fiction novel. I haven't cooked a recipe from this book (or Momofuku which I do the same with). everything looks so delicious, but time consuming and like I said before I'm not an enthusiastic cook/baker so I...more
This is a "Junk Food" to the max cookbook! I loved it! The crumbs, crunches, crusts and sauces are all easy to make and have on hand. Baking a cake in a sheet pan and cutting it is much easier than all those little round pans you have to grease, paper, flour and clean, plus the cakes done have to be round, a square cake is perfectly OK in my book. It's also amazing how fast you can make a desert that puts everyone into a happy moment. I would rather have 1 full fledge desert once a month than su...more
I love the totally unique approach in this book to making super sweet 70s comfort foods. Captain Crunch meets a truly new approach to cooking. The ingredients and approach are totally interesting. Procuring the ingredients is not straight forward (I'm still not at the point that I want to mail order food from Amazon), and the number of steps for a person who has other things to accomplish besides cooking is totally daunting. For me, the effort to enjoyment ratio is not where it needs to be, but...more
Christian Tosi is awesome! What a great (and humorous) approach to desserts. All of the recipes are fairly accessible, with only Glucose being one of the tougher items to hunt down. However, she does offer substitutions for those items (in the case of Glucose she recommends Corn Syrup). She includes all of the recipes that made her desserts at Momofuku so interesting - Cereal Milk (GENIUS!), Crack Pie, Liquid Cheesecake etc. It is easy to see why Momofuku is so successful - David Chang and Chris...more
Beautiful book with many multi-part recipes that will be a nice challenge for the home baker, but achievable because of the good instructions. The thing that holds me back from more stars is a matter of personal taste - these recipes are so sweet they make my teeth ache, and at the risk of sounding like a snob, not very sophisticated tastes. Think Captain Crunch cereal. If you love SWEET and are looking for a pastry chef's re-interpretation of those flavors, this is the book for you! I have two...more
Two words: crack pie. In all it's delicious sweet salty complicated two day glory. And compost cookies.....people are amazed that someone will take the time and trouble to make the things. Even I am amazed at myself. But thrilled and proud as well. I love this book. I got it from the library last year because I am not a baker but you can bet I now have my own smudged copy. It is not even a year old and already well loved. This Thanksgiving my family wanted not pumpkin or pecan but CRACK pie. Chr...more
Every recipe I've made out of this cookbook (pistachio cake, carrot cake truffles, crack pie, grapefruit pie with passionfruit curd, milk crumb...} has been deeply involved. This is NOT the source to turn to if you are in a hurry to whip out something for tomorrow's bake sale. That said, every recipe I've tried has had an incredibly unique flavor profile and is generally downright decadent, delicious, and divine. My husband baked the pistachio cake (an expensive endeavor with hard-to-find specia...more
Two and a half stars.
The recipes look good (I'll update my review after I make the compost cookies), though involving many steps (make a sauce, make a crumble, make a crust, then make the pie). After reading other reviews prior to getting the book from the library, I was a bit trepidatious about the weird ingredients. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she does list some alternatives (light corn syrup instead of glucose, for example).
The narrative was, IMHO, a bit self-indulgent. I'm used...more
The recipes look good (I'll update my review after I make the compost cookies), though involving many steps (make a sauce, make a crumble, make a crust, then make the pie). After reading other reviews prior to getting the book from the library, I was a bit trepidatious about the weird ingredients. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she does list some alternatives (light corn syrup instead of glucose, for example).
The narrative was, IMHO, a bit self-indulgent. I'm used...more
I loved "Momofuku", David Chang’s widely popular cookbook/food narrative, and nothing could top it. After reading "Momofuku Milk Bar" by Christina Tosi, however, I came realize that Momofuku was just the first part of an ever-expanding religious experience.
The Foreward, Introduction, Ingredients, Equipment, & Techniques sections are more lengthy than in most cookbooks, but the narrative style throughout is so down-to-earth, funny, and insightful, I didn’t want to skip a word. More importantl...more
The Foreward, Introduction, Ingredients, Equipment, & Techniques sections are more lengthy than in most cookbooks, but the narrative style throughout is so down-to-earth, funny, and insightful, I didn’t want to skip a word. More importantl...more
I liked this cookbook quite a bit. There were some good solid recipes, some slightly advanced skills required for some of them, and some fun innovations to try.
The photographs were a little lackluster and I like my cookbooks to either have little charming handdrawn bits, nothing but the recipes, or photos so glorious you are inspired to make the recipes immediately. Sadly, none of the photos caused the heavens to open and the illumination of wisdom to come to me.
But there are recipes that I woul...more
The photographs were a little lackluster and I like my cookbooks to either have little charming handdrawn bits, nothing but the recipes, or photos so glorious you are inspired to make the recipes immediately. Sadly, none of the photos caused the heavens to open and the illumination of wisdom to come to me.
But there are recipes that I woul...more
Momofuku Milk Bar follows a similar look as the Momofuku book, making it an obvious companion. It is a book that appears clear, simple, and effortless. Momofuku only featured the fried apple pie, which Christina Tosi explains was the main dessert she first wanted to finalize when they started out. Now, Tosi shares the much loved cereal milk, cookies, cakes, pies, fillings, liquid cheesecake (you read that correctly), brittle, panna cotta, croissants, and the mother of all dough.
Some of the ingre...more
Some of the ingre...more
I can't wait to bake some sugary treats from this book! Be warned: this book is not for your average home baker, but if you want to take your sugary treats to another level and don't mind sourcing interesting ingredients, buying some equipment and making multiple recipes to make one multi faceted dessert - then buy this book.
I dove into this book this weekend just reading all the stories and recipes and couldn't get enough - I've found my new culinary idol in Christina Tosi!
I dove into this book this weekend just reading all the stories and recipes and couldn't get enough - I've found my new culinary idol in Christina Tosi!
Momfuku Milk Bar has to be one of the most beautiful dessert cookbooks I have ever seen. There is not a picture that does not leave you mouth watering. Even the ingredient photos are gorgeous. Ah, but wait till you see the Apple Pie Layer cake, Candy Bar pie, Kimchi Blue Cheese Croissants.... every recipe is beautifully constructed.
There is ice cream, cookies, crumb toppings, crusts, cakes, ganaches, breads, and brittles......
I made the Grapefruit Pie for my daughter and friends and it was gone...more
There is ice cream, cookies, crumb toppings, crusts, cakes, ganaches, breads, and brittles......
I made the Grapefruit Pie for my daughter and friends and it was gone...more
I don't mind that some recipes are complicated, that they need more steps or special ingredients. That's why I bought this book for and not a general "Cakes for Beginners" title. The recipes work perfectly and the way the book is written, encourages you to be creative with what it gives you.
I have tried half a dozen recipes so far and my only problem with the formulas is the extensive use of salt. These desserts are too salty for my taste, I even cut salt volume in half after the first recipe I...more
I have tried half a dozen recipes so far and my only problem with the formulas is the extensive use of salt. These desserts are too salty for my taste, I even cut salt volume in half after the first recipe I...more
I'm only downgrading to four stars because this book is a little more complicated than it originally leads you to believe.
Other than that this book is inspirational and is a great guide to opening your eyes to flavors you may remember (or have written off) from childhood. I'm super happy that I have this and I'm sure my coworkers will be too when I dump tons of new baked goods on them :)
Other than that this book is inspirational and is a great guide to opening your eyes to flavors you may remember (or have written off) from childhood. I'm super happy that I have this and I'm sure my coworkers will be too when I dump tons of new baked goods on them :)
Love this book! Yes, the recipes are long and complicated. But I enjoy reading the narrative, and have been very pleased with each of the recipes I've tried. The birthday cake rocked! It was worth every step, as were the gooey cornflake-marshmallow-chocolate chip cookies. If you're willing to take the time for the multi-process recipes, you'll be rewarded. If not, enjoy the read.
Desserts cookbook. This has the most unique recipes I've seen in a while, but if you don't already have a kitchen stocked with things like cake crumbs and liquid cheesecake and apple cider soak, it's going to take you quite a while to make a recipe from scratch. Much more tempting to just make the trip out to New York to sample the food. Gorgeous book, though.
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Dec 13, 2011 06:51pm
updated Dec 13, 2011 08:03pm