Cookbook review: Sous-vide Cuisine by Joan Roca and Salvador Brujes

Sous-vide Cuisine by Joan Roca and Salvador Brujes is the original how-to cookbook for sous-vide cooking (2005).  As an apprentices (our hungry little gang at the hotel), we were so excited by this book, but hindered by the fact that the book was so groundbreaking at the time, you couldn't get your hands on a circulator if your life depended on it.  Not to be left behind, we innovated - we had a vacuum sealer in the butcher shop and by placing a water bath on a low skillet and monitoring it with a probe thermometer, we more or less created a circulator.  

I digress to illustrate the impact this book had at the time, and even though sous-vide cooking has really moved along in the years since, it remains a powerful, relevant and educational volume on the cooking style.  With the greatest emphasis being on food safety and the quality of the end product, you can be assured that the book can be used for years to come and never go out of style.  When you are already cooking the perfect filet mignon, you can dress the plate up any way you like to suit the style of your guests, the meat doesn't ever need to change at all.  That said, the dishes in the book are not left wanting - Chefs Roca and Brujes are both El Bulli alumini (among others) - and the food is always centre stage on the plate and stunningly beautiful.  Throughout the book you will find informative essays charts laying out proteins, cooking temperatures, cooking times, and finishing techniques when it comes to service time.

If you are looking at books to educate yourself on sous-vide cooking, or maybe are intrigued by the historical position of this book, Chefs Roca and Brujes won't disappoint - CHECK IT OUT HERE.