Chef Bobby Flay looks back at the dishes that made him a star in new cookbook, 'Chapter One'
Entertainment
“I did it and it worked and it was amazing and people loved it,” he says
NEW YORK (AP) — Bobby Flay’s latest cookbook is really a sort of recipe for how Bobby Flay was made.
The chef, restaurateur and TV personality has compiled 100 of his most important dishes into a lush, beautifully photographed coffee table book he hopes will inspire home cooks.
“This is certainly my most important book to me and I think is going to be my most important book to people who consider themselves my readers,” Flay says.
“Bobby Flay: Chapter One: Iconic Recipes and Inspirations from a Groundbreaking American Chef,” has dishes from his restaurants like Mesa Grill, Bolo, Bar Americain and Gato, and his epic runs on “Iron Chef.”
“Interestingly enough, when I was going through the database of all these thousands of recipes, they popped out at me immediately,” he says.
Three dishes from Mesa Grill that stayed on its menu from the time the restaurant opened in 1991 to when it closed 26 years later — including Shrimp and Roasted Garlic Tamale — made the book. As did Steamed Baby Clams with Saffron-Tomato Broth and Scallion Croutons from Bolo and an “Iron Chef” stunner — Curried Fried Chicken with Charred Lime.
The book is broken up into just three sections — seafood, meat and vegetables — with Flay avoiding making a chronology of dishes for fear of confusing readers. All have been updated to reflect today’s ingredients and techniques.
“What I want people to do is, even though it’s this beautiful sort of coffee table book, I do want them to use it either by cooking from it directly or being inspired by it,” he says.
“So when somebody says, ‘I want to cook fish tonight, I got that Bobby Flay cookbook, let me open to the fish section’ — that’s going to inspire them.”
Most illuminating are the eight essays Flay wrote that describe a career that has won four Daytime Emmys, multiple James Beard Awards and the honor of cooking a state dinner for President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“I did it and it worked and it was amazing and people loved it,” he says. “The food world is a wonderful place because it’s helmed by people who are generous with their thoughts and their experience.”
He loves the camaraderie of the kitchen and the challenge and is tired of hearing negativity about the restaurant business. “Listen, it gave somebody like me a life, forget about a career,” he says.
“You’ll see on shows like ‘The Bear’ and stuff like that that it’s not so much about how much gratification the customer gets. It’s more about the battle and the challenge to get through the evening and work alongside people and get something good on the plate.”
