Etxebarri

Renowned for its remarkable use of wood-fired grilling, Asador Etxebarri is a Michelin-starred restaurant in the mountainous heart of Spain’s Basque region. Chef Bittor Arginzoniz, who is self-taught, designed and built a remarkable set of grills which he uses to prepare all his food over fires of different carefully selected woods.

Such a distinctive approach to cooking merits an unusual cookbook and the first two hundred or so pages of this handsome, 340+ page volume are devoted to the chef’s philosophy, the innovative equipment he has designed to fully exploit his fires, and the extraordinary lengths to which he goes in order to obtain his ingredients. The food itself is eye-opening. Arginzoniz cooks not only meat and vegetables, but rice, dairy products, sauces, stocks, and even desserts.

The dishes themselves are as remarkable as the techniques and equipment. Smoked goat butter is served as a dish in its own right. Chicken croquettes are cooked right over the flames. Cocoa beans are roasted over coals before being ground and incorporated into a meal-finishing shot.

In English. Color photographs throughout. Hardcover.