Flavor

by Rocco DiSpirito

"Knockout dining" leaves fans breathless at this Gramercy New American "paragon" where "rock star" chef Rocco DiSpirito produces "sublime," "synergistic" dishes. -- Zagat , on Rocco DiSpirito's restaurant Union Pacific He runs one of the most successful restaurants in New York City. He is seen everywhere from David Letterman to Good Morning America to the Food Network. He has graced the cover of Gourmet magazine as "America's Most Exciting Young Chef" -- and Zagat calls him a "rock star." Now, Rocco DiSpirito unleashes his culinary magic with Flavor . In Flavor , DiSpirito shows readers how to create bold, intriguingly delicious food through combinations of ingredients both mundane and exotic. The cuisine is sophisticated but surprisingly easy for home chefs to replicate. Using the four flavors (sour, sweet, bitter, and salty) as basic building blocks, Rocco demonstrates how to combine and commingle flavors to create one-of-a-kind dishes. Some recipes included in Flavor -- Lemongrass Lobster Salad
-- Baby Lettuces with Pickled Squash Blossoms and Yogurt-Tahini Vinaigrette
-- Calamari with Coconut Curry and Green Papaya
-- Braised Veal Roulade with Root Vegetables
-- Cinnamon Glazed Duck
-- Lavender Creme Brulee
-- Peach-Phyllo Strudel with Goat Cheese Cream and much more

Genres: Cookbooks, Food

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

His best books?
The first five he did

Flavor - Nov 2003
Rocco's Italian American - Nov 2004
Rocco's Five Minute Flavor - Dec 2005
Rocco's Real Life Recipes - Dec 2007
Rocco Gets Real - Oct 2008

he made his reputation with fancy stuff like

scallops topped with sea urchin, tomato, mustard oil and black mustard

or grilling meat over Japanese Binchotan white-oak charcoal which is smokeless and doesn't smell but has a lot of flavor for a lot of money

and he sold his soul for reality television and diet books
and cookbooks with endless canned foods for a quick meal

[Sandra Rerecic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 2003 at the height of his star-studded and award-laden culinary fame. I bought the book after reading an article about the chef's meteoric rise and interesting take on cooking and life.
Flavor captures many of Rocco's ideas wonderful and food photography is beautiful. It's cook to see how far his has come as cookbook author, chef and overall person.

[Klyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to working with these flavors. Like the wine paring, time suggestions, pictures.

[Someone_IRL · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting more life knowledge but it's mostly French technique based cooking

[Laura Hartmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course DiSpirito is a poofy goofy gigolo with too many TV shows. But that's not the point. And no, these recipes will not change your life. But they might if you consider the driving idea behind them. DiSpirito organizes the recipes around four flavors: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and that strange, earthy fifth taste: umami. If you apply the same approach to anything you make, you will understand cooking. It is that simple. So I read these recipes as templates. It is unlikely that I will acquire the ridiculously expensive fishes or random ingredients for every recipe. But these are like sewing patterns for putting together magical ball gowns. If you follow the basic outlines, you can make something transcendent. Here's a bonus: there are so many pictures, it's practically a coffee table picture book. A sight for sore eyes. So when you are done reading the heavier stuff, turn off your mind and wander through "Flavor."

[Kellea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that everyone agrees that Rocco DiSpirito is one of the hottest chefs out there today, but for me, that's where this book ends. And while I love the book's colorful display of ingredients and how they're laid out on each page for each recipe, I think that some of the recipes like Eggplant Veloute with Figs or Black Sea Bass with Chestnuts and Blood Oranges, just to name a couple, are out of reach for the "common" cook. This book is definitely a "look" book but someone like me just wants regular recipes for regular people. I'm not sure who the audience is for these recipes, but I for one, won't have time in most busy days or weekends to craft most of these difficult looking recipes.

Thanks for reading my reviews.

See more of my book reviews at http://mysummerradinglist.blogspot.com

See more cookbook reviews at http://cookbookingschool.wordpress.com

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book if you are an aspiring gourmet chef. For the average cook at home, it is both very informative and overwhelming at the same time. I like the categories and the explanations about the 4 tastes. The color coding, recipe instructions and indexes are all great. However, the recipes are just not practical. The kind of food he is preparing is for 4 star restaurants, not a weeknight meal for your family. He may find them easy being a trained chef, but there are very few of these recipes I would attempt to try or be able to afford the ingredients for.

[Leigh Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring dishes and menus broken down by taste, season, and special events. I will certainly be trying the Mother's day menu: Lemongrass Lobster salad, rack of lamb with sour cherry glaze, baby carrots, Thai eggplant and pearl onions, and Lavender creme brulee.

[Oanh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visually stunning! The graphic design of this cookbook makes it easy to follow and execute the recipes.