Portrait of Joan Roca and her mother Montserrat Fontané. Cover of the book “Mother Kitchen” (Planeta Gastro).
“Where would we be without conventions? “They keep our lives in order and form the basis for marriage, family and social life (…),” reflects Sigmund Freud in the book “The Recipes of Dr. Sigmund Freud” (Gedisa Editorial). The edition, small, with a white cover, simple and delicious, is a compilation of texts and recipes by James Hillman and Charles Boer that show us the doctor's thoughts related to food. Its pages explore topics such as the person sitting at the table, the importance of certain ways of dealing with food, understanding anxiety, and the social and personal moments surrounding a recipe.
This little book jumps off the shelf when you are in the bookstore looking for writings that remind us of our origins and that give us an authentic traditional recipe book. They, of course, go to Freud, like the one who searches Google for the answer to all his doubts, to answer the question: “Why do great chefs always end up making a book about their mother's cooking and take it out?” further that Cover and you decide on a basic recipe book with one-pot soups and slow-cooked stews?
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“All the precious memories in our memory that give meaning to many things, that remind us who we are, where we come from, what we don't want to repeat, what makes us smile and who are the ones who really matter ( …) My memories are full of family dinners, Sunday get-togethers, shared smiles and kitchen cupboards (…) That's when I discovered my love for cooking (…) and discovered how my grandmother made a good stew without breaking a sweat or anything My mother cooked these recipes that managed to bring our family together and anchored in our soul flavors and sensations that we could not erase from our memory for a lifetime.” This is how chef Jordi Cruz begins his latest book, published by Grijalbo, Cocina en casa with Jordi Cruz. More than 100 recipes from our mothers and a few more surprises. As if the chef had sat down on the kitchen couch, where you are honest with yourself and begin to remember the flavors of your childhood, the recipes are presented like this, without duplication or flourishes: cannelloni, macaroni, stew… and also that He fondly remembers the dishes that connect him with his friends and professional colleagues, such as the shrimp omelettes of chef Ángel León or the sardine coca of the Torres brothers, to name just a few of the recipes that can be found in the book are.
Cover of Cocina como la mamma by Eugeni de Diego (Planeta Gastro).
Memories. The leitmotif for a family recipe book: “My great-grandfather Benigno Redruello was born in a Braña near Luarca (Asturias),” explains Nino Redruello at the beginning of his book Las Recipes de la Ancha. And so, with the naming of this family saga, which together has created one of the greatest concepts of gastronomy in this country, this book was developed that follows the line of Editorial Debate very well: books that go far beyond a recipe book They tell a story , that immerse you in a universe. Written with the word that comes from the gut, Nino Redruello traces the chronology of his life, through the dishes that characterized his house, the family restaurants, his own projects and with his brother, his family's stews, his wife and his sons . The anchovies in adobo, the porcini mushroom croquettes, the fried artichokes, the famous Gabino tortillas and even the pine nut soup, a family memory of his wife Paloma: “The pine nut soup is the dish that my wife Paloma loves the most,” reminds him of home . She says: “It's the soup my mother made when I was little and when I moved to London I had no idea about cooking, I only knew how to make pasta, my mother started a blog to Publishing recipes for it. “If I wanted to cook, I could jump in and make a dish.”
Avocado, apple and pine nut salad, accompanied by cream and cheese balls, from “La Ancha recipes”.
What our father Freud would say on this topic: When you leave home, you long for what you no longer have. He tries to revive his feelings and memories, then goes to the kitchen. Leaving the house or, let’s not forget, staying locked down due to a global pandemic. The latter was the reason why chef Francis Paniego (two Michelin stars) shared on social networks the recipes he had prepared for his family during the period of lockdown. In this way, he managed not only to remember his origins, but also to convey them to anyone who would listen. This is how the book Hecho en casa (Montagud publishing house) came into being. On an editorial level it is not a great book, on a content level it is a gift for those who like books by great chefs but leave their star zone and head to the kitchen to prepare their usual stews. There's a lot of family sincerity to be found here: the Echaurren croquettes, the Russian salad, the slices of cod braised with pil pil, the roast lamb…
In 2018, in the middle of the Madrid Fusion, chef Joan Roca took the stage together with his mother Montserrat Fontané (a chef by profession) to demonstrate to all the participants of this congress (one of the most avant-garde in the world). that foams, low temperatures and other modern techniques are of no use if we do not remember and applaud those who taught us not only to eat but also to cook. This affection and this memory have been summarized in the book “Mother Kitchen: Simple and traditional recipes for cooking at home” (Planeta Gastro). 80 recipes divided into “the traditional ones”, “our mothers” and “those that show a traditional development”. Family secrets of the Roca brothers: Thursday rice, escudella and carne d'olla or grandmother's squid in Roman style. On February 21, the publisher Planeta Gastro publishes a new softcover edition of the book “Cocina madre” by Joan Roca and Salvador Brugués.
Cover of “The Recipes of Dr. Sigmund Freud” by Charles Boer and James Hillman (Editorial Gedisa).
Based on what we have learned, but with the aim of teaching how to prepare authentic Italian cuisine, the book Cocina como la mamma (Planeta Gastro) by chef Eugeni de Diego has just been published. Start with memory, apply technique and use a recipe book that tries to convey the truth of a cuisine as traditional and familiar as Italian.
Sara Cucala is a writer, filmmaker and journalist specializing in gastronomy. She is the founder of one of the first gastronomy and travel blogs, has written numerous books, coordinated the culinary content of TVE's afternoon magazine and directed several films and documentaries. She is the founder and co-owner of the gastronomic bookstore and cooking school A Punto.
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