La Ferme de la Ruchotte: Fred Menager

This bilingual book is an account of eight years spent following chef Fred Menager, a one-time cook at Restaurant Alain Chapel who, in 2002, bought five hectares of land in Burgundy with his wife, with the goal of raising everything he would serve at a table d’hote restaurant. Particularly poultry.

Ferme de la Ruchotte serves only lunch, five days a week. Its menu has evolved to include a few ingredients from elsewhere (fish, chocolate, tea), but the chef’s interest in farming practices is just as intense as when he began, particularly biodynamic methods. “Know-how can be learned, but the ingredient can’t.”

As focused as he is on local foods, Menager incorporates techniques from Japan, and India, as well as tipping his hat to Josh Niland’s resourcefulness with fish. The more than 150 recipes are conversationally styled, many of them traditional French farmhouse fare, including a famous vol-au-vent a la bourgeoise.

There are photographs throughout the book, predominantly of the farm, animals, the gardens, and the kitchens. Journalist Jacky Durand and art historian/photographer Laurent Dupont are often content to quote Menager at length, letting the chef speak for himself.

Paperback. Color and black-and-white photographs throughout. Books are printed on uncoated stock and show some wear, despite coming directly from the publisher.