¡Ceviche! The little woman loves ceviche. Our favorite Mexican restaurant is our most frequented restaurant because they make a great ceviche and have it on the menu most nights. It’s so good I consulted the chef there before preparing it for 200 as a demonstration dish at school.
Well, along comes a single subject cookbook on ceviche. Better still, the book has been nominated for a James Beard Foundation book award this year. “Got to buy this one,” says I. “ No need to look at it at the bookstore, just go Amazon.”
¡Ceviche! by chef Guillermo Pernot and Aliza Green, offers 48 ceviche recipes—and everything you need to know about this little side dish—along with chapters on salsas, salads and cocktails—all tied together with extraordinary full-page color photographs. That’s the good news. The bad news is that ingredients called for in most of the recipes are not readily available. To their credit, the authors have a chapter on special ingredients and sources, as well as a glossary of 54 entries pulled out of the recipes. Nonetheless, to make the dishes in this book requires a commitment to shop for and stock the pantry with niche spices, condiments, veggies, fruits and booze. The material on escabeches, salads, salsas, vinaigrettes, garnishes and cocktails is more user friendly, but even here the ingredient requirements are daunting.
The book is impressive from the culinary point of view. Pernot’s techniques are well grounded. The text is to the point and fun to read. His interest in Japanese fresh fish cuisine influences his ceviche creations in inventive and delightful ways. The food presentation, serving dishes and settings for the photos are terrific. In all, Pernot presents an in-depth look at ceviche.
No, there is more to this book. Upon reflection in the process of selecting some recipes that I might use in class, I now conclude (a week or so after writing the above) that Pernot takes civiche to new and creative heights. This book is “way out there,” in the manner of The French Laundry. It is full of ideas that experienced cooks will ponder and use. Which, come to think of it, is a desired outcome of reading any cookbook. Few chef/authors, however, reach this level of creative substance.
Tags: ¡Ceviche!