For a cookbook that hangs its hat on the simplification of its source material, Ducasse Made Simple by Sophie: 100 Recipes from the Master Chef Simplified for the Home Cook (buy at Amazon) is awfully settled in advanced home cook territory. 100 select recipes from Alain Ducasse's epic Grand Livre de Cuisine (buy at Amazon) were "simplified" by Sophie Dudemaine (who the New York Times called the "French Rachael Ray"), and then the recipes were "Americanized" by Linda Dannenberg.

That's a lot of filters between the home cook and the original source, and there has been some outcry against the possibility that Ducasse food, simplified, could remain Ducasse food, actually. The chef's recipes and techniques are famous for their precision and technique — why do we feel the compulsion to simplify recipes that are, of necessity, complicated?

So Is it Really Simple?

That question seems to be the obvious one raised by Ducasse Made Simple, but the truth is, I'm not sure the recipes are that much simpler. The word count is shorter, sure, but the recipe I compared in both books (Fried Pumpkin Purses) had pretty much the same technique. Not only that, but Ducasse's original instructions to mash the pumpkin is replaced by peeling and dicing before cooking, a substitution that oddly lengthens the process. The rest of the simplifcations mostly take out instruction that would likely help the home cook. For example, take the following excerpt from Ducasse Made Simple by Sophie:

"On a floured work surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll out the pastry dough to a 1/4 inch-thick rectangle. Using a 2- to 2 1/2-inch cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out 30 circles. Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of 15 of the pastry rounds. Moisten the edges of the rounds with water and top with the remaining 15 pastry rounds. Seal the edges by crimping with a fork or pinching with your fingers."

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