The new story of alfred 4
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Having grown up in that tradition, he said, he was influenced by other cooks, too, especially Paula Wolfert, to explore other Mediterranean cuisines, but always based on the food of the Italian culture.He also trained as a chef living in France and cooking with people he characterized as "some of the finest chefs," before returning to the United States and New York.After doing two other cookbooks, he explained, "I\'d come to recognize that chefs take a lot for granted" and resolved to take another tack, that of the home cook, in this latest book."At home, I do most of the cooking in the summer, and at weekends, for family and friends," he said, adding that his wife is also a professional chef and very involved in the family meals.Aiming to make life easier for the home cook, he said, "I really and truly keep all the processes in mind, including the shopping and prepping. Dishes evolve and change, just as the restaurant menu changes with the seasons."He described the flavor of the book as being cross-cultural, centered on the kinds of cooking found around the Mediterranean."I come from a large Italian-American family, where meals and food and flavors were important," he said. "I developed all the recipes, and in the process I found some clever combinations that have come to the restaurant menu, too. But although most were worked out at home, some have graduated up to a more formal level."That\'s what is special about this book," Portale said. But the book, co-written by Portale and Andrew Friedman, makes it clear that there\'s still a link between Portale\'s stylish restaurant menus and the food he cooks at home with his family."The difference between recipes that we cook at the restaurant and those we cook at home is that they all have about four less steps" in the home versions, he said with a smile.About 90 percent of the dishes in the book are favorites that Portale cooks for the family, said the chef, a James Beard Foundation award-winner who lives in Manhattan with his wife and two teenage children. NEW YORK - His latest cookbook\'s mandate was "to create recipes that didn\'t require a lot of stuff," Alfred Portale said, getting straight to the point.That\'s his unpretentious style, in evidence in the book as well as at an interview in a quiet corner of his acclaimed Manhattan restaurant, Gotham Bar and Grill.The book\'s focus is home cooking, which gets top billing on the cover above the title, "Alfred Portale Simple Pleasures" (William Morrow, 2004, $34.95).