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DON'T PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD! EAT IT!"

How often did we hear that refrain from our moms while growing up?
But why not play with our food . and then eat it?
I think this is the question that greets Richard Blais when he wakes each morning and that then rides on his shoulder throughout the day, muttering in his ear. It's the notion that keeps him in his notebooks and in the kitchen.
It was clear to me from my first encounters with Richard and his food that he was a very talented guy with a very different way of looking at food. Like most successful chefs, he definitely marches to his own beat and has his own style. There is a reason Richard considers himself the Willy Wonka of cooking: He has the ability to find something fun and unusual and amusing to riff off of in a bowl of macaroni. Hence, his successful marriage of artistic creativity and scientific curiosity that lets him take "playing with your food" to new heights, as he wields his microplane and reimagines dishes in new, delightfully inventive, flavorful ways.
But, like Wonka, Richard's ability to find the whimsy in food goes hand in hand with a seriousness of purpose. In his sojourns on Top Chef, he maintained a staunch professionalism and kept his engagement in the competition solely about the food. I saw him push himself, and, as a result, I saw him grow in his craft. Kids learn through play-why can't chefs, too?
Luckily for the rest of us, Richard didn't heed his mom, nor does he plan to cease playing with his food any time soon. And now, in Try This at Home, he has managed to cleanly and clearly break down his process so that you can have a good time trying out some of his methods in your own kitchen. This is a cookbook from a serious chef who knows how to make fun of himself and lighten up the whole process. Cooking need not be an overly complicated, overwrought process with eighteen ingredients and fourteen pans. Though you can try using a good iSi siphon and a smoking gun (not that kind of smoking gun). And occasionally some nitrous oxide. Oh, and good ingredients, of course. Plus a spirit of fun.

YOU HAVE THE COOKBOOK. NOW, AS YOUR MOTHER WOULD SAY, "GO PLAY!"