The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adrià

Adrià was the master chef behind elBulli, the recently closed Michelin three-star restaurant in Spain, and this collection is his coda: 100 recipes based upon “family meals” that the eatery’s staff would regularly cook up for their group dinners. The entries do not necessarily match the restaurant’s menu, but are simple main dishes, sides, and desserts that can work equally well as the basis for a meal for two or a feast for six dozen. Phaidon continues to push the boundaries of cookbook design, and this book employs hundreds of photos and reads like a graphic novel or a collection of the world’s most delicious infographics. The book is divided into 31 three-course meals. Meal 10, for instance, is miso soup with clams, mackerel with vinaigrette, and almond cookies, while Meal 28 is melon with cured ham, rice with duck, and chocolate cake. Each meal plan begins with a two-page photo spread of the necessary ingredients accompanied by a list of what is pictured and a time line indicating when to prepare each course. On the next page is the smallest of text boxes offering a hint or two, and adjacent to that are quantity guidelines listing amounts needed to feed 2, 6, 20, or 75 diners. Preparation instructions are nearly entirely photographic, nine photos per page, augmented with thought bubbles of text, creating the impression that, for instance, a plate of ribs is dreaming of being topped with a fine grating of orange zest. (Oct.)