• Culinaryhermit on February 14, 2024

  Signed copy

• Vanessa on February 05, 2012

  This is a visually striking book. The layout of the recipes in this book follow a strict plan. While an interesting concept, it can make it a bit difficult to cook from them. Most recipes are displayed across 2 pages with a photo for every step (15 photos per recipe); the instructions are printed in a bubble within each photo. Thus, these recipes have to be either compressed or extended into 15 steps. The recipes tend to be pretty straightforward so there are lots of fluff photos. (To be fair, they did expand a few of the recipes to use another page, and a few recipes are also fit onto one page - how many photos do you really need for "Mandarins with Cointreau, anyway"?!)

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Bolognese sauce

  • cooking.monster on August 03, 2021

    I would reduce the butter (busing as little as 1/2). I would experiment with using more tomato.

• Barbecue sauce

  • treay on May 07, 2025

    Great recipe!

• Aïoli

  • cooking.monster on August 03, 2021

    Recipe scales well, and most homes will likely want to scale this down (e.g. make 1/4 of what is called for).

• Caesar salad

  • SpatulaCity on February 28, 2023

    This recipes calls for so many anchovies in proportion to the yolk and oil. I doubled the recipe except for the anchovy and it was still too fishy for my tastes.

• Santiago cake

  • DaveW on June 12, 2013

    The ratio is off for the single cake relative to the larger recipes. It should be 1.5 cups of almond flour, not 2.5 cups. This recipe can also be made using Splenda instead of sugar, and sprayed on olive oil instead of the butter/flour (which makes it gluten-free).

  • adelina on May 30, 2016

    I love the ease of this recipe. I did not find the ratio an issue with almond flour for the single serving even though it may be off. I did however, have to bake extra 5 to 10 minutes at 400 to brown the the cake slightly.

• Mackerel and potato stew

  • Astorienne on December 22, 2020

    This is a lovely stew, but next time I will use deboned fish. The presence of the bones made it too hard to eat.

  • cooking.monster on August 03, 2021

    Next time we will try to make this without cutting the mackerel into sections. Chopping the fish like this increased the number of free bones in the meal, while a whole mackerel has a bone structure that is easy to pick out of the cooked fish.

  • Peterkjsoe on January 07, 2026

    Used sardines instead of mackerel

• Chocolate cookies

  • volition on May 23, 2012

    I'd like to try this with my Freshly made Five Spice. In addition I need to work a better way to roll this in a log. As 1 side had a flat side obviously the one that needed to be connected to the bench. Lastly, Don't be tempted to grab them till they've cooled down they fall apart.

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on August 02, 2017

    Delicious and chewy, look beautiful. As Volition wrote, they will fall apart when you don't leave to cool.

• Vichyssoise

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on August 02, 2017

    Soup is very easy to make and delicious. I made the 63 degrees egg.. I'm not a fan, I guess.

• Beans with clams

  • treay on June 15, 2025

    A traditional Catalan recipe tonight. I added some prawns to make the dish a bit more substantial. You could also add some scallops. What really makes this dish delicious is the 'tomato sofrito' and the 'picada'. I have made them earlier so it was easy to put everything together just before dinner. Also, I used bought fish stock but if you have the time to make your own, then the recipe goes to another level of deliciousness!!

• Mango with white chocolate yogurt

  • volition on May 23, 2012

    I really like the sauce on this. Could maybe use a bit more White Chocolate and maybe put it through a siphon.

• Potato chip omelet

  • wester on November 01, 2016

    The children liked both the idea and the finished result. It was quite filling though - half a portion would have been enough for them. I finished the omelet under a grill instead of turning it over. This worked fine.

  • twoyolks on December 13, 2019

    I did not care for this. The omelet was under seasoned and the potato chips were weirdly half crunchy, half soft. I had trouble turning the omelet over as a lot of the egg just spread over the plate.

  • e_ballad on February 14, 2021

    Another ‘meh’ from me. I didn’t end up soaking the chips as I was hoping for a bit of texture, but they ended up soggy regardless. The kids were underwhelmed until I told them that there were chips in there, but that still didn’t result in them eating their portions.

  • ndschmidt on April 23, 2026

    Flipping the omelet is tricky. But it’s delicious.

• Pork loin with roasted peppers

  • crandall57 on January 02, 2017

    Not a favorite. Easy way to roast red peppers.

  • treay on May 17, 2025

    Another delicious recipe from this book. I added some white asparagus and avocado to make it a very nice light meal. The recipe is simple to make but I changed a couple of things. I had two very small capsicums and couldn't bother to roast them in the oven, so I cooked them in the airfryer and it worked really well. I only rubbed some drops of olive oil on the skin. Also, instead of blanching the garlic, I smashed it with a knife, added some salt, pepper and a bit of oil and cooked it in the microwave for 1 minute. It was good to use for the parsley sauce.

  • ndschmidt on May 10, 2026

    Quick and delicious.

• Coconut macaroons

  • ndschmidt on May 10, 2026

    Solid macaroons. Quick to make with only a few ingredients. Good the first day, but even better after 24 hours.

• Yogurt foam with strawberries

  • wester on January 20, 2018

    A nice idea but next time I want to use (relatively) more cream, a ratio that's nearer 2:3 than 1:4.

• Roasted eggplant with miso dressing

  • wester on March 13, 2021

    I made this with cauliflower as the recipe suggested using miso on other roasted veggies as well. The taste was excellent, but the sauce was very thin, not like the photos. Less water, maybe a drop of oil?

• Sausages with tomato sauce

  • wester on March 13, 2021

    There wasn't anything in this recipe that couldn't have been inferred from the title.

• Mackerel with vinaigrette

  • MarieMacCheese on March 08, 2023

    Extremely delicious even with questionable tomato quality. Make again in the summer.

• Thai beef curry

  • volition on May 24, 2012

    The Yellow Curry Paste Measurements are very different from Paste to Paste. I had to put in about 2 tablespoons to get close i suspect.

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on October 20, 2017

    I had no problem with the amount of curry paste. I had to use green curry paste, since the grocery didn’t have yellow. It was an easy recipe and the beef was very tender.

• Mexican-style slow-cooked pork

  • tagubajones on March 19, 2013

    Fairly easy to make and exceptionally good.

• Noodles with shiitake and ginger

  • volition on May 24, 2012

    This Recipe Ended Up being overly Salty. Going to have to look at where i can reduce Salt levels.

  • treay on May 07, 2025

    This was a fantastic dinner. In fact we had it over two nights. Yesterday we were not that hungry and only had the noodles, and today we had the leftover noodles with the duck. In the actual recipe, like all the meals in this cookbook, they are served separately as entree and main, and I really think it is a good idea, because both dishes are packed with flavour and it it a bit too much to eat them together. However, I thought they were both scrumptious and can eat them again easily. Hubby liked the noodles but he is not a big fan of duck!! What is even better is that the preparation is very easy for both recipes and you can easily have them as either a midweek meal or an easy weekend one. Big ticks from me, loved it!! P.S. I used both dry and fresh shiitake mushrooms.

• Duck with chimichurri sauce

  • treay on May 07, 2025

    This was a fantastic dinner. In fact we had it over two nights. Yesterday we were not that hungry and only had the noodles, and today we had the leftover noodles with the duck. In the actual recipe, like all the meals in this cookbook, they are served separately as entree and main, and I really think it is a good idea, because both dishes are packed with flavour and it it a bit too much to eat them together. However, I thought they were both scrumptious and can eat them again easily. Hubby liked the noodles but he is not a big fan of duck!! What is even better is that the preparation is very easy for both recipes and you can easily have them as either a midweek meal or an easy weekend one. Big ticks from me, loved it!!

• Pistachio custard

  • volition on May 24, 2012

    I did not get this custard to set as much as I'd like. I will look at the Measurements more closely. And maybe take it right up to 85 degrees celcius. Very tasty mind you.

  • wester on October 31, 2016

    My family didn't like the taste of this at all. They also thought the chunks of nut were too big.

• Watermelon with menthol candies

  • volition on May 24, 2012

    In Australia there is no Menthols without Eucalyptus. So I used Vapodrops. I will seal in a vacuum sealer before bashing them next time.

• Fried fish with garlic

  • volition on May 24, 2012

    This is really nice. Everyone loves the Garlic chips

• Caramel foam

  • volition on May 24, 2012

    I added the Liquid to the caramel too quickly. Do it in small batches as the caramel will harden too much and take forever too dissolve again.

• Cauliflower with Béchamel

  • treay on May 07, 2025

    Excellent recipe. So yummy!

• Pork ribs with barbecue sauce

  • treay on May 07, 2025

    I have made this recipe several times over the years, and it is always delicious.

• Banana with lime

  • tagubajones on March 19, 2013

    Simple and surprisingly delicious.

  • wester on January 17, 2018

    Made the version with rum. Husband loved it, the children liked it.

• Gazpacho

  • volition on May 24, 2012

    When i did this recipe i used my Hand blender. I think I's like to retry with my Vitamix. However it was just ok. It was my first time having Gazpacho and i don't think I'm a huge fan of the dish no matter how good it could be. But you never know. I'd like to try it again and really pay attention to the ingredients.

• Black rice with squid

  • treay on November 11, 2024

    The black rice is made with squid ink, and the traditional recipe uses cuttlefish but I had to use squid instead as we cannot get cuttlefish where we live. It is relatively mild in flavour, but the all i oli enhances the dish. The other important thing is to have a very good homemade fish stock. Also, you can add a bit of lemon juice to the cooked rice and it is delicious!!

• Peas and ham

  • Livia on January 02, 2022

    Portion for 2 is for a starter double up next time to serve as a main.

• Tagliatelle carbonara

  • treay on March 02, 2025

    This is the one pasta dish we love but only eat every so often.... too many calories!! Usually we cook it on days that we don't have much time to be in the kitchen, and we feel like eating pasta. It's soo delicious and comforting. This time we used spaghetti instead of tagliatelle. This is not the 'real' traditional Italian recipe, but I have been cooking it like this for many years before I learnt that you shouldn't use cream. We love it like this!!

• Garbanzo beans with spinach and egg

  • pluralcow on May 29, 2012

    This is a good, easy dinner recipe for a busy night.

• Potatoes and green beans with Chantilly

  • volition on May 24, 2012

    This one is pretty Nice. You could use the Chantilly for many other things.

• Quail with couscous

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on August 02, 2017

    Super easy, delicious way of preparing couscous. Did not have quail, used chicken breast instead. A great success, will definitely make this again.

  • treay on May 07, 2025

    Haven't cooked quails for a couple of years now. They are usually hard to get where we live and also expensive. I used to eat them regularly when I was a teenager living in Catalonia because my father and a friend had a small quail farm. Last time I cooked a very traditional Catalan recipe but tonight I tried this recipe and was simple to make and so delicious. Will make it again for sure. ??????

• Mussels with paprika

  • treay on November 26, 2024

    The mussels were nice but not exceptional.

• Veal with red wine and mustard

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on October 20, 2017

    Tried this for the first time and it was a very big success. Beautifully tender meat, you hardly need to cut it with a knife and a very intense flavor from the sauce. Probably making it again for Christmas dinner.

• Food52 by Celia Sack

  The 2012 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks vs. Christina Tosi's Momofuku Milk Bar

  Full review

• Fine Dining Lovers

  It was Adriàs idea that all of these meals could be prepared by 2 staff members in less than an hour...the book is more for "special" home dinners rather than what to serve on a rainy Tuesday night.

  Full review

• Kirkus Reviews

  A gem of a cookbook packed with fantastic recipes and tips from a master - the closest most readers will come to eating with him.

  Full review

• New York Times by Mark Bittman

  Nothing could have been more different from a meal at El Bulli...These staff meals are good, straightforward cooking; El Bulli food is over-the-top, insane, once-in-a-lifetime stuff.

  Full review

• Wall Street Journal

  The method is exactly the same if you're cooking six or 225 chicken wings...once you master a recipe for two people, it's a no-brainer to then make the same dish for a huge crowd.

  Full review

• Guardian

  Occasionally Adrià...swerved into El Bulli territory. Imagine, for example, announcing – after the cry "What's for pudding, Mum?" has gone up – that it is melon and mint soup with pink grapefruit.

  Full review