I was in the Coles bookstore in Brantford at the Lyndon Mall buying a gift for my mother, an early Christmas gift if you will, and thought I would walk by the cookbook section and see if anything would catch my eye, something that I may have missed on Amazon (love you Amazon, your the best). Unfortunately nothing did (again love you Amazon), but what did catch my eye was Mark McEwan’s new and only cookbook “Great Food At Home.” I have checked it out online but haven’t been able to actually look inside, so given the chance to see inside Mark’s first, and I’m sure there are more in the works, I picked up the book and immediately flipped to the back cover.
Now I can’t remember verbatim what the back cover said, but it wasn’t what I first expected, there instead of the usual reviews from other chefs, food journalists, or critics praising his opening to the cookbook circuit, there was this synopsis about the book; giving the reader an idea of what Mark likes to cook for himself, friends, and family when he is at home with no pretension and fancy presentation. Well that peaked my interest, I had to open the book and find out what recipes this culinary goliath in Toronto is offering the home (amateur) cook.
Opening the book to a random spot, about little over half way through, the first recipe I come across involves poaching a whole lobster in butter. Ok, so my first thought is, WOW is this guy is bold, he is going to try and challenge people. I then flip to another random page and I can’t even read the whole recipe description, all I can do is focus on the word…Truffle…
Hold on Mark, are you suggesting to us, that you take truffles home with you from any of your four restaurants, or grocery store and serve it to yourself and family? Or are you saying that you personally go out and buy them from your own pocket? Cause I’d assume that you’d go right into North 44, or Bymark, or One and walk right out with what you wanted.
What is the going rate for an average sized truffle these days anyway? White truffles must cost anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 per pound and black truffles must be from $400 to $600 per pound for the fresh stuff, of course. If anyone does know the most update prices for fresh truffles please comment and let me know.
Is Mark suggesting to the people who buy his cookbook that on a special occasion they should spend what must be a weeks pay for some and longer for others on a single ingredient for a meal? Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) did a census in 2009 citing the average earnings for Canadians before taxes and other deductions was $805 per week. That means that if an average income person wanted to cook dinner, for say his girlfriend, he’d have to make sure to pay all his bills for the month ahead of time, budget his meals for the remainder of the week and following week (most people get paid bi-weekly), figure out transportation for that period of time, etc…
Who is Mr. McEwan targeting his first cookbook towards? It seems like it may be a way for the people who frequent his restaurants to take this book back to their kitchens and recreate what they may have been cooked, possibly by Mark while he was still actually cooking, in his restaurants. No point in saying out right the calibre of guests that pass through the doors of his restaurants, needless to say, they wouldn’t have to budget around a single meal.
Then again I could be completely wrong about his venture into cookbook scene, I may have missed the point. I would love to know if I am. Please comment and let me know.
Thanks for baring with me through that rant.