Judy Rodgers
A couple of weeks ago, I went to see Judy Rodgers at Cody's Books. Ms. Rodgers is the chef and co-owner of Zuni Cafe, one of San Francisco's best and most beloved restaurants. She was doing the local circuit, at least, for her new book, not surprisingly called The Zuni Cafe Cookbook.
I hadn't intended to buy this book, though I might have been more inclined if I had a steady income. But Judy Rodgers, it turns out, has a philosophy very close to mine. Indeed, when she said that at one point she had a wooden sign over her office door which said, "Stop. Think. There must be a harder way," I liked it so much that it's now my .sig in my e-mail. Of course she only uses the freshest ingredients; she and every other chef in a halfway reputable restaurant in San Francisco. But they really take the time to go over all the steps, and her book reflects that. It's tremendously unorthodox, essentially a book of essays with recipes mixed in. She goes into great detail on how and why she does various things, including one of the best breakdowns on making duck confit I've ever seen. The book is cross-referenced up the wazoo, but it shows how the various preparations can intermingle in various ways. And most of the recipes/techniques are straightforward, just time-consuming.
And so I did something I probably shouldn't have. I bought the book. Not that I regret it, but having a tight budget is a severely limiting factor in one's life. But I've been reading through it and enjoying it tremendously. Definitely something for the cooking foodie to at least look through.
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