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This Is Camino: [A Cookbook]
A cookbook about the unique, fire-based cooking approach and ingredient-focused philosophy of Camino restaurant in Oakland, CA, with approximately 100 recipes.
Russ and Allison first opened the doors to Camino restaurant in Oakland, California, just as recession forced would-be diners home. Faced with a walk-in refrigerator full of uneaten food and an idling staff, they got industrious—canning, preserving, brining. This efficiency borne out of necessity soon became the driver of innovation for Camino’s cooking and the marker of a truly waste-free kitchen. But Camino is not all prudence and grandmotherly frugality. There’s the smoldering fire at the heart of the restaurant, which likely has a whole lamb leg dangling from a string, turning as it roasts perfectly, its fat seasoning a pot of fresh garbanzo beans underneath. Or, eggplants grilling for a smoky and complex ratatouille. Or, fresh fig leaves browning over the hot embers for a surprising and unforgettable grilled fig leaf ice cream. The pared down approach to ingredients at Camino opens up a world of layered flavors and ingenuity—sophisticated but direct, revelatory and, in its own way, revolutionary. This Is Camino is an extension of the brilliance of the restaurant, full of deep knowledge, good humor, and delicious food.
Russ and Allison first opened the doors to Camino restaurant in Oakland, California, just as recession forced would-be diners home. Faced with a walk-in refrigerator full of uneaten food and an idling staff, they got industrious—canning, preserving, brining. This efficiency borne out of necessity soon became the driver of innovation for Camino’s cooking and the marker of a truly waste-free kitchen. But Camino is not all prudence and grandmotherly frugality. There’s the smoldering fire at the heart of the restaurant, which likely has a whole lamb leg dangling from a string, turning as it roasts perfectly, its fat seasoning a pot of fresh garbanzo beans underneath. Or, eggplants grilling for a smoky and complex ratatouille. Or, fresh fig leaves browning over the hot embers for a surprising and unforgettable grilled fig leaf ice cream. The pared down approach to ingredients at Camino opens up a world of layered flavors and ingenuity—sophisticated but direct, revelatory and, in its own way, revolutionary. This Is Camino is an extension of the brilliance of the restaurant, full of deep knowledge, good humor, and delicious food.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published October 13, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 20, 2016
3 stars
This is Camino is a unique cookbook to say the least. It is part philosophy, part method, part recipe, part journal. The sections are divided into The Basics, Vegetables, Fish, Chicken and Egg, Duck, Lamb, Pork, Dessert, and Cocktails.
For a cookbook, the writing is actually quite good. I don’t typically find myself chuckling along. But then again, there is a whole chapter devoted to “A Week at Camino” which details the comings and goings of the restaurant a la diary format…snore…I can’t imagine anyone really caring about this bit.
I would have to say that the most interesting parts, in my opinion, was the Basics chapter. There were so many great techniques that I cannot wait to try.
Chapter 1 The Basics:
-Staples
-Fried Farro
-Polenta…I am so so on Polenta and Camino’s version sounds divine
-Red Lentils
-Grilled Bread Crispy Flatbreads
-Cooked Greens
-Chile Sauce
-Pounded Herb Sauce
-Larder Red-Wine Vinegar….a how to on making…so trying this
-Pickled Chiles
-Sauerkraut…the traditional German way, not the American way…so excited to find this as it is the only sauerkraut I will eat
-Herb Jam…sounds awful and amazing lol
-Preserved Lemon
-Nocino “Italian after-dinner drink”
-Salt
-Cooking Fats
-Animal Fats
-Oil & Water Method
-Stock and Sauce
-Breadcrumbs
-Toasted Sesame Seeds
“If you have those iconic grill marks on your fish, there’s a good chance you’ve dried it out, and all you’re going to taste is the fire, rather than the delicate fish flavor. People think that’s what grilled fish has to taste like. But the truth is, once you learn to control the coals and the fire, grilled fish can taste like so much more. It can taste fancy. It can taste like a place—ideally nearby—and it can taste like a certain time of year. And in my case, it can taste like childhood.”
Chapter 2 Vegetables:
“I love when I come across the words “Organic when possible” in that sophisticated little font at the bottom of a menu. Really? When possible? In the Bay Area, it’s always possible.
I’m stubborn about this. I haven’t bought a nonorganic vegetable since the last millennium. Pay five cents more per pound. Make another phone call. Or go without that vegetable for two more weeks. It’s just not that hard. At Camino, we’re trying to give people an enjoyable meal. But it just doesn’t make sense to make the world worse for it. If that dinner is going to dump more petrochemicals in the water and deplete more soil and put small farmers out of business with more Monsanto monocrops—well, I should just get a job that pays well instead.”
THIS, so much this. Yeah, he sounds pretentious, I get it, but seriously, I feel so much better knowing that I am eating real food, not some genetically modified chemical-laden crap. For this alone, I love this restaurant.
They are also really big on ONLY using local seafood, no exceptions. Sustainability is always praiseworthy.
”This is Camino in a nutshell, or one of its nutshells: enforced creativity.’
I am not going to touch on every chapter, but the above statement really personifies this whole book, maybe to the point of detriment in some cases. Cooking should be simple and made with ingredients that are easily found. Camino likes get a little carried away with itself and use some off the wall stuff. Like Jaggery….who uses, let alone has heard of Jaggery? FYI, it’s a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in Asia and Africa. Yeah..
-SHEEP’S MILK RICOTTA GRILLED IN A FIG LEAF WITH HERB SALAD AND TARRAGON TOAST
-CHILLED BEET AND SAUERKRAUT SOUP WITH HORSERADISH CRÈME FRAÎCHE
-SALTED LINGCOD AND ROCKFISH STEW WITH SAFFRON AND PERSION MINT-GARLIC TOAST
-PU-ERH ICE CREAM WITH POACHED QUINCE AND PRUNES. Tea
-JAGGERY ICE CREAM WITH PERSIMMONS AND SALTY WALNUTS
-FRIED HEN-OF-THE-WOODS MUSHROOM, SCALLIONS, AND HERBS WITH YOGURT AND GREEN GARLIC
I received an arc copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley!
July 10, 2015
This is one of the best cookbooks that I've read this year. October is seriously my month for go-to cookbooks in 2015, apparently. I think this is a great book for cooks who want a touch of class added to their kitchen. While I think that it's pretty easy to follow, I don't think this book advertises to beginners though and I can see where one would be intimidated by it.
The recipes are sorted by ingredients, like duck, fish, veggies, etc. Then there are two more sections, drinks and desserts. This organization is a bit weird since it combines both ingredients and courses, but all in all it didn't bother me too much. The instructions are written in paragraph form, but are really well detailed. There's extra emphasis on explanation, making it easier to follow along and make sure that you're headed in the right direction as you proceed with making the dish.
I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a vegetable person. That sounds terribly unhealthy, and I do eat vegetables daily. But as far as cookbooks go, I tend to just kind of glance through those sections, with no real intention of making any of them. That's not the case for This is Camino. Even the veggie dishes sound and look absolutely wonderful. For me to say vegetables sound good, that's pretty high praise!
There's also a fantastic chapter on how to cook on a fire or grill, which I think is awesome. That's a skill I have not yet mastered, and I really appreciated the insight from professionals.
The photography in This is Camino is positively gorgeous, borderline art. That being said, I wish there were more photographs of the actual food. there's a lot of artsy pictures of ingredients and things like that, but not so many pictures of the final dishes for the recipes. I wish those stats would have been switched around.
I pretty much want to cook everything in this book, but I usually end my cookbook reviews with a short list of my most anticipated dishes, so I've had to narrow it down to a select few, which include Sheep's Milk Ricotta Grilled in a Fig Leaf with Herb Salad and Tarragon Toast, Baked Oysters with Absinthe and Bread Crumbs, and Grilled Duck Wing Confit with Pomegranate, Chiles, and Sesame.
I really, really recommend this book. It's well written, has great photography, and is chock full of recipes that I cannot wait to make. This book is adaptable and vegetarian friendly. This is a book I'll definitely be getting a finished copy of for my kitchen.
I received a copy in exchange for my honest review. This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.
The recipes are sorted by ingredients, like duck, fish, veggies, etc. Then there are two more sections, drinks and desserts. This organization is a bit weird since it combines both ingredients and courses, but all in all it didn't bother me too much. The instructions are written in paragraph form, but are really well detailed. There's extra emphasis on explanation, making it easier to follow along and make sure that you're headed in the right direction as you proceed with making the dish.
I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a vegetable person. That sounds terribly unhealthy, and I do eat vegetables daily. But as far as cookbooks go, I tend to just kind of glance through those sections, with no real intention of making any of them. That's not the case for This is Camino. Even the veggie dishes sound and look absolutely wonderful. For me to say vegetables sound good, that's pretty high praise!
There's also a fantastic chapter on how to cook on a fire or grill, which I think is awesome. That's a skill I have not yet mastered, and I really appreciated the insight from professionals.
The photography in This is Camino is positively gorgeous, borderline art. That being said, I wish there were more photographs of the actual food. there's a lot of artsy pictures of ingredients and things like that, but not so many pictures of the final dishes for the recipes. I wish those stats would have been switched around.
I pretty much want to cook everything in this book, but I usually end my cookbook reviews with a short list of my most anticipated dishes, so I've had to narrow it down to a select few, which include Sheep's Milk Ricotta Grilled in a Fig Leaf with Herb Salad and Tarragon Toast, Baked Oysters with Absinthe and Bread Crumbs, and Grilled Duck Wing Confit with Pomegranate, Chiles, and Sesame.
I really, really recommend this book. It's well written, has great photography, and is chock full of recipes that I cannot wait to make. This book is adaptable and vegetarian friendly. This is a book I'll definitely be getting a finished copy of for my kitchen.
I received a copy in exchange for my honest review. This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.
November 19, 2015
I have to admit that this is of the oddest cookbooks I have reviewed yet. The recipe chapters are broken down into The Basics, Vegetables, Fish, Chicken and Egg, Duck, Lamb, Pork, Dessert, and Cocktails. The book consists of recipes with many unusual ingredients that are not readily available outside of areas with specialty stores.
If you regularly visit Camino, then you may be interested in the people described and recipes included in this book. Chapter 3, A Week at Camino, is diary of the daily chores and duties involved with the running of Camino. For example, Wednesday 4:18 p.m., Becca the hostess, works a feather duster around the room. Thursday, 5:32 p.m. Allison readjusts the lights. It isn’t very interesting unless you are familiar with the people and restaurant.
I was excited to find one recipe “Fried Hen-of-the-Woods Mushrooms, Scallions, and Herbs with Yogurt and green Garlic, although it contains ingredients I have yet to find. I was a little less excited to find the Pig’s Head and Trotter Fritters. I did learn quite a bit searching for the definition of ingredients like Trotters, Jaggery, Korean Perilla and Shiso. Just in case I decide to build an outdoor kitchen, there is a lesson on cooking over a wood fire.
I suspect that restaurant insiders will love this book, but I didn’t find it interesting or useful.
I received a copy of this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.
If you regularly visit Camino, then you may be interested in the people described and recipes included in this book. Chapter 3, A Week at Camino, is diary of the daily chores and duties involved with the running of Camino. For example, Wednesday 4:18 p.m., Becca the hostess, works a feather duster around the room. Thursday, 5:32 p.m. Allison readjusts the lights. It isn’t very interesting unless you are familiar with the people and restaurant.
I was excited to find one recipe “Fried Hen-of-the-Woods Mushrooms, Scallions, and Herbs with Yogurt and green Garlic, although it contains ingredients I have yet to find. I was a little less excited to find the Pig’s Head and Trotter Fritters. I did learn quite a bit searching for the definition of ingredients like Trotters, Jaggery, Korean Perilla and Shiso. Just in case I decide to build an outdoor kitchen, there is a lesson on cooking over a wood fire.
I suspect that restaurant insiders will love this book, but I didn’t find it interesting or useful.
I received a copy of this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.
January 4, 2016
I love this book, a cookbook that is a good read. I was a regular at this restaurant in Oakland, CA and I loved it and the owners!
March 19, 2016
Such a wonderful book on fire-based cooking. It will make you want to cook outdoors on coal.
April 11, 2016
As much a philosophy book as it is a cookbook I loved reading how Camino sources and handles food and what they do with it.
January 3, 2018
Omg - I have been waiting for a book like this. I love the sourkraut, preserved lemons and chillies recipes - not sure what is so with quarts of them, but I'll try and scale down the recipes. Definitely going to be on the lookout for green walnuts, too. Can't wait to get stuck in to this properly.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews