Steffen Sinzinger’s favourite recipe book
The Eleven Madison Park restaurant in New York, under the award-winning Head Chef Daniel Humm, was recently voted fifth best restaurant in the world. In Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook, the restaurant’s sumptuous cuisine (“modern french with a New York twist”) is adapted for the home cook. Below, our very own Head Chef Steffen Sinzinger of the Brasserie Le Faubourg explains why this is his all-time favourite cookbook.
dishes prepared by Eleven Madison Park's Daniel Humm ©Francesco Tonelli
If Steffen were to sum up the must-have Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook in a few words, these would be: “elegant, clear, detailed, brilliant, comprehensive, original, balanced, contemporary, diverse, consistent, quality, elitist, passionate, creative.” If he were to sum the book up in just one word, it would be: “perfect!”
Eleven Madison Park's Head Chef Daniel Humm and General Manager Will Guidara ©Francesco Tonelli
He likes cookbooks with a natural, understandable approach and avoids overly technical ones that are too reliant on highly-specialised gadgets. At the same time, he believes a good cookbook should show what is possible, not just what is familiar, and it is not necessary for every recipe to be easy to cook at home; it should also be a source of inspiration.
Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook
Steffen believes the Eleven Madison Park cookbook strikes a good balance, and is also beautifully presented, with photography from Francesco Tonelli, a chef turned photographer who specialises in food photography.
Eleven Madison Park in NYC ©Francesco Tonelli
Steffen is an avid reader of cookbooks. On his blog Berliner Speisemeisterei you will find reviews of many more of his favourites, plus recipes, advice and mouthwatering photography.
