Charlie Trotter R.I.P.

Chef at work (Image Getty Images)

Yes, one of my cooking idols has passed away, last night at the young age of 54. When I was a young chef I looked with amazement at his cookbooks, full of brilliant ideas. He was basically the first that really explored the regional products and reading the ingredients in his cookbooks really showed the difference if you buy the one right and special potato or just a potato off the shelf in a super market. 

He was an absolute perfectionist, someone who will not serve anything below perfect. I found one of his menus on the net, served by table. Just look at the different items, absolutely wonderful. One can only imagine how much work goes into a creation like this

I was lucky enough to be invited by friends to his restaurant C in Cabo San Luca. This was an absolutely amazing treat, we had a chefs table and the head chef produced one of the best meals I had. I was working on the ship The World at the time and the residents who invited me did not tell me where we go. So my surprise was big when we drove in the One and Only and walked into C.

Of course I have a whole lot of his cook books, especially Charlie Trotter, Charlie Trotter Vegetables, Charlie Trotter Seafood,  Charlie Trotter Dessert and Charlie Trotter Meat and Game. These are amazing books, as well for the not so well trained chef, beautiful photos and accurate recipes, something one does not always find in cook books of top chefs

The photo of the baby carrot terrine is one of my favorite dishes he made, I have done it many times myself and every time it is a great success. The flavor combination is amazing. I think I will have to cook it again soon and share the recipe with you.

My favored Terrine

It is sad to see a great chef pass away, one who has trained other great chefs like Grant Achatz which is now one of the top chefs in the world.

But all I can say now is Charlie Trotter, we miss you RIP

A must read for any chef and cook

I am, like any other chef I know, mad about cookbooks. I could spend so much money on them it is actually frightful! And then there is such a huge choice of books, one has to be a bit careful not just to buy anything. Often cookbooks are similar to each other, so over the past couple of years I have reduced my buying drastically. Nowadays I only get a book if I feel that it is really special, like Harold McGee's McGee on Food and Cooking. I think this is a book every chef should not just have, but read from the first to the last page. It is not a recipe book as such, there are some guidelines in it, but it is an encyclopedia about what happens when food gets cooked. Why does meat get tender (or not) and why does scrambled egg turn green! Food is analyzed and broken down. After reading this book I understand a lot more of the actual happenings during the cooking process and I am able to cook food even gentler to have a better result. For me this book is a must.

But instead of just buying books, I subscribe as well to some magazines like the Australian Gourmet Traveler. A lovely monthly magazine with good food, a good variety of bistro food all the way to fine dining, special editions on Italy, France and Spain and of course there is always some Asian recipes in there. I enjoy reading about the latest trends (I feel the Aussies are way ahead there), the latest tools and about the travel. The travel section at the end of the magazine is lovely and gives plenty of good hints of what to do.

Then of course there are the "must have" books, but the only use for them, at least for most of us, is as a table top book. Foremost the books of El Bulli, without the proper ingredients and cooking material they are just a collection of fancy pictures of different hot and cold jellies, powders, spheres and so on. The same is with Hestom Blumentals latest book, "The Fat Duck".

One book I really enjoyed reading is "Made in Italy" by Giorgio Locatelli. Yes he is the madman on BBC Food Channel with the long hair, but his book is just beautiful. It is a mix of small stories, interesting facts about products and of course recipes. They are authentic and Italian, simple and deliciously tasty, just love them. It is a thick heavy book with more than 600 pages, worth buying the hard cover!

So yes, I guess it is a bit of an addiction, to buy cook books, but there are worse addictions