French Laundry at Home
There are many reasons why we love the blog French Laundry at Home. The site is bold in its endeavor (to make every recipe in "The French Laundry Cookbook"). It's enamored of its subject (cuisine, cooking, and chowing down). And it vividly translates the joie de vivre of the kitchen to the webpage.
Carol, the tour de force behind the webpage, also has the humor and the moxie to respond to stove-side emergencies with flair. Check out this line from a January entry where things threaten to go awry: "I felt the presence of MacGyver enter my soul, and I flung (flang? flinged?) open the door of the corner cabinet in my dining room to see what I might be able to use." Naturally, the culinary secret-agent saves the day. We leave it to you to find out how.
Why did this passionate home cook (and full-time business woman) start the site—and has she heard yet from Thomas Keller, the legendary chef/owner of The French Laundry? We wrote her to find out...
Hey Carol! You have several great posts explaining why you embarked on this project. Was the blog always a part of your idea of the endeavor? Have you blogged before?
I'd helped clients and others set up blogs but hadn't really done one of my own. I knew if I did a blog, it would have to be interesting not only for readers, but for me. I didn't want to start something I couldn't keep doing, or would lose interest in. I think blogging is a great way to tell the "story" of what I'm doing with "The French Laundry Cookbook." I love the interactivity and the feedback. It's so much fun to hear from readers who've tried some of these dishes, and it's heart-warming to hear from people who are now buying the book and making the food because they've seen that someone out there is doing it and they want to be more adventurous in the kitchen, too. That's freakin' awesome.
We know you’ve talked to food writer Michael Ruhlman, emailed with the French Laundry’s one-time pastry chef, and toured the kitchen at Per Se, Thomas Keller's vaunted New York City restaurant. What about Thomas Keller himself? Any word from him?
Nope, no word from Chef Keller. I hope to meet him at some point so I can give him a big ole smooch and thank him. He has done so much to change the restaurant landscape in America, and I'd love to spend a day in the kitchen at The French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon, or Ad Hoc and just observe and absorb.
Food prep and cooking time aside, how long does the actual blog-work take, the photographing and writing and posting?
The photography is easy (have you SEEN the quality of my photos? I'm no Ansel Adams, that's for sure), and I write the posts in my head as I go. When the dish is done and the kitchen is clean, I open the laptop and start typing. Usually takes about an hour or so. I hold the draft for a day or two, then go back and look at it, tweak it a bit or fix typos, but what you end up reading on my site is the narrative in my head as I'm actually making the dish.
What has your lousiest experience been so far in the cooking process—cutting the heads off the crabs? Burning your hands?
I'd rather burn my hand again than see another *&#$%*! softshell crab. Strike that. I'd rather burn BOTH hands.
And the most surprising?
Oysters and Pearls. My readers know I've hated oysters with a passion for nearly 40 years. But this dish changed that. Oysters and tapioca—who knew? I won't eat oysters any other way. I was almost embarrassingly giddy when that was one of our dishes at Per Se. I think I actually did that bouncing in my chair while clapping thing. I'm such a nerd.
We know you love Ruhlman's blog. Any other food sites you can’t live without?
Ruhlman is fantastic, and he's now started a second blog called Elements of Cooking that is a companion to his new book by the same name; he's a great teacher. I always loved Megnut, but she's on maternity leave right now; I hope she'll come back. I also love Claudia at CookEatFRET, Kate at Accidental Hedonist, David Lebovitz, and Heidi at 101 Cookbooks—I'm addicted to her wheatberry salad.
What's next? Can Alice Waters expect a similar treatment?
Good question! If the El Bulli books were in English, I think I might just be crazy enough to try those... There are a few French Laundry dishes I'm going to go back and do once again, now that I know what I'm doing. I've also thought about taking each dish and coming up with ideas using those elements for things to make for a family dinner, or dinner for one or two. So, that's a long way of saying I'm pretty bummed out that I'll be done cooking all the dishes by early summer. My readers are fantastic and supportive, and I couldn't be more thrilled with the support I've gotten from the culinary community since I've started. This has been one of the most fun, interesting, happy, and humbling experiences of my life.
Thanks for talking to us, Carol. And thanks for the marvelous blog. Bon appetit!
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