Moto: The Cookbook

by Homaro Cantu

Overview

A masterwork of culinary genius: inside the kitchen at "trailblazing" (Eater) chef Homaro Cantu's Moto -- one of the most innovative restaurants in history.

At Chicago's world-renowned, Michelin-starred restaurant Moto, Homaro Cantu pushed the limits of cuisine to deliver an unforgettable experience at the intersection of food, art, and science. Each meal reimagined what cooking could be: edible menus imbued with the flavors of the dishes to follow, carbonated fruit that fizzed when bitten, a transparent box that cooked fish in front of your eyes.

Chef Cantu's work in the kitchen continues to captivate the imagination, delight the palate, and articulate how futuristic food can help solve global ills like hunger, poverty, and environmental destruction. From his "zero food mile" kitchen garden to experiments with miracle berries to end our reliance on sugar, Cantu's mission was to serve dinner with a side of changing the world.

Featuring hundreds of stunning photographs, Moto: The Cookbook is a living record of a restaurant and a chef who defined modernist cuisine. It reveals the inspiration and groundbreaking techniques behind 100 of Cantu's most influential and extraordinary dishes, and traces his development from a young chef to a mind on the cutting edge of American food. Moto: The Cookbook will inspire cooks of all abilities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316285346
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	11/07/2017
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	120 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Chef Homaro Cantu, heralded as one of America's most daring chefs, pushed the limits of known taste, texture and technique in a stunning, futuristic fashion. Homeless as a teenager, he credited his discovery of cooking with turning his life around. He grew up in Portland, Oregon and graduated from Le Cordon Bleu. He then worked his way up the ranks in nearly 50 kitchens on the West Coast before moving to Chicago to work at Charlie Trotter's restaurant before leaving to open Moto. Cantu passed away suddenly in 2015.

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/18/2017
Cantu, who was the executive chef at Chicago restaurant Moto until his death in 2015, had solidified his place as one of molecular gastronomy’s innovators alongside Wylie Dufresne, Grant Achatz, and Ferran Adrià. This outstanding cookbook is testament to his creativity and imagination (his collaborators and publisher completed his revisions). Those who never had the opportunity to dine at the cutting-edge eatery, which closed in 2016, can attempt to recreate many of its iconic dishes at home, provided they have the requisite equipment, time, patience and technical know-how. Though many of the recipes sound simple (birthday cake and ice cream, Reuben lasagna, cheese crepes), their preparation is anything but. Each recipe calls for multiple steps, and many require significant investments. Showstoppers such as M.C. Escher Surf and Turf (components of which include powdered duck confit, caramelized milk, and edible paper) take days to prepare. Others, such as the visually stunning beets and yogurt featuring a delicate sphere of beet, are more doable in a home setting. Cantu’s enthusiasm shines through in his introductions to wild dishes such as lobster with freshly squeezed orange soda, donut soup, and a pork sandwich that resembles a Cuban cigar. This is a spectacular take on molecular gastronomy from a master. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"Cantu is an international leader in molecular gastronomy-he is equal parts artist and mad scientist. Using science and technology, he is challenging the very definition of what is, and what isn't, food... The mind-bending dishes he is serving today could change what you eat tomorrow."—CNN's The Next List

"While Cantu is most certainly a chef, he is also someone whose approach to innovation has relevance far beyond the kitchen."—Fast Company

"Cantu was known nationally as a chef who incorporated his playful personality and the thrill of science into the menu at his high-end... restaurant Moto.... Cantu wowed diners with edible menus, carbonated fruit and a fish preparation that cooked before your eyes in a tabletop polymer box, but his ambitions went beyond culinary pleasures.... Cantu presented food and science as a way to solve the world's problems, particularly hunger."—The Chicago Tribune

"Homaro Cantu is the creative force behind Chicago's molecular gastronomy hot spot Moto and Cantu Designs, a future-focused firm where his team work on wildly varying food-related projects....[his] inventions range from the mad-scientist realm... to humanitarian efforts directed at issues as monumental as world hunger."—Gourmet

"Cantu [had a] trailblazing, futuristic style [that] earned him accolades for his restaurants...[and] actively embraced technology in the kitchen."—Eater

"Homaro Cantu's skill in the kitchen and creative spirit helped to make Chicago the culinary capital it is today."—Office of the Mayor of Chicago

"Homaro Cantu wasn't a cook, he was an artist, an inventor, a mad genius. His death devastates Chicago and the world."—Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me

"The recipes showcase Cantu's unparalleled wit and culinary curiosity."—The Chicago Tribune

"It's fascinating... to dive into Cantu's imagination, where food can be cooked in a tiny aerogel box that stays cool on the exterior, and a menu is turned into a giant tortilla chip.... You too can char wood chips to include in a sous vide bag with pork belly, and carbonate orange wedges in a whipped cream canister."—Maggie Hoffman, Plate

From the Publisher