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 Calling all chefs, aspiring chefs and devout home cooks - today's cookbook is for you! The French Culinary Institute has transformed the essence of their six and nine week courses into their first book "The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine". While this book has more than 200 recipes, techniques are the focus of this book rather than the individual recipes. Organized as a series of sessions, the book presents fundamental techniques starting with those relating to vegetables and moves forward through techniques for stocks, sauces, meats, fish, braising, stuffings, pastry doughs and much more. Each session includes a description of the theory followed by the underlying technique complemented with recipes that serve as demonstrations of those techniques. For example see the demonstration below for preparing fresh noodles. The book aims to educate aspiring chefs in not only the proper techniques but the proper, and typically French, terms. Sidebars provide Chef and Dean tips from the many Chefs and Deans of The French Culinary Institute. This hefty, nearly 500 page book is an introduction for those who want to master the techniques of classic cuisine.
Demonstration: Pâtes à Nouilles Fraîches (Fresh Noodles)From The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine by The French Culinary Institute, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2007
Serves 4
Estimated time to complete: 2 hours
- 200 grams (7 ounces) semolina flour (see note) or half semolina and half all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling the dough
- 2-3 large eggs (see notes)
- 5 grams (3/4 teaspoon) coarse salt, plus more to taste
- 10 milliliters (2 teaspoons) olive oil
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Unsalted butter to taste, optional
- 6 grams (1 tablespoon plus 1 scant teaspoon) fresh herbs such as parsley or chives, haché to taste, optional
Equipment: Fork, plastic film, pasta machine, clean damp kitchen towel, rolling pin, large pot.
 Prepare your mise en place.
Place the flour on a clean work surface. If using the half-and-half mixture to make a firmer noodle, mix the flours together. Mound the flour slightly and make a well in the center.
Break the eggs into the well and add the 5 grams (3/4 teaspoon) salt. Add the oil and, using a fork, beat the wet ingredients together.
Using your hands, begin working the flour into the liquid, moving from the sides into the center. When the ingredients are well mixed, form the dough into a ball and knead it with your hands for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and feels leathery.
Form the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour The longer the dough rests, the easier it will be to roll out.
Set up a pasta machine on its widest opening, usually number 1.
 Cut the chilled dough into three equal pieces. Cover two with a clean, damp kitchen towel to keep them from drying out. Flatten the remaining piece with a rolling pin. Feed the dough through the rollers of the pasta machine at least three times, fold it into thirds after each roll to further knead and smooth about the dough. If necessary, dust the dough with a little flour to keep it from sticking. When the dough is smooth and satin like, it has been sufficiently rolled.
Begin to narrow the settings on the pasta machine running the dough through each progressively smaller opening once until you reach the desired degree of thickness.
Lay the dough out to dry for no more than 30 minutes. The time will depend on the temperature and humidity levels of the kitchen, so you must check the dough to take care that it does not dry out. It should be pliable and smooth - not brittle, moist, or tacky.
Cut the dough into the desired shape by hand or machine. For coq au vin, standard egg noodles would be the usual shape.
 When ready to serve, bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender (al dente, the Italian phrase meaning "to the tooth" describes pasta that is slightly resistant to bite). Drain well, season with salt and pepper to taste and, if desired, butter and fresh herbs to taste.
Note: Pâtes or pasta doughs, are traditionally made with semolina flour, a coarse-textured flour that is very high in gluten. When using all semolina flour, less moisture is often required; therefore use 2 eggs instead of 3.
About The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine
 In 1984, Dorothy Cann Hamilton founded The French Culinary Institute with a singular vision: She wanted to create a culinary school that combined classic French techniques with American inventiveness in a fast-paced curriculum. Since then, the FCI has gone on to become one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the world, boasting a list of alumni that includes the likes of Matthew Kenney and Bobby Flay and a faculty of such luminaries as Jacques Pepin, Andrea Immer, and Jacques Torres. But perhaps the greatest achievement of the FCI is its Total immersion curriculum, in which the classes prepare a student to cook in any type of kitchen for any kind of cuisine. The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine presents the six- and nine-week courses taught at the FCI that cover all 250 basic techniques of French cooking. Along with more than 650 full-color photographs, the book features more than 200 classic recipes as well as new recipes developed by some of the school's most famous graduates. Complete with insider tips and invaluable advice from the FCI, this will be an indispensable addition to the library of serious home cooks everywhere.
The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine is available at Amazon.com
Disclosure: Review copies of books discussed in this post may have been provided to Project Foodie by publicists and/or publishers.
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