Johnny Iuzzini: Dessert Fourplay

By JULIETTE ROSSANT What makes Dessert Fourplay (Clarkson Potter 2008) so fun is Johnny Iuzzini. Take a look at him on the cover of his book: He stares out intently, smoldering in a black T-shirt with his arms crossed in front of him showing off rippling colorful tattoos. Beneath his arms are four desserts that play on berries - a red ribbon on strawberry ice cream, strawberry gelee between crispy chocolate, a strawberry drink, and a few strawberries tossed with shortcake - it's full of color and fun. Put the two photos together and you have a force in pastry. The introduction is Johnny's resume – how he went from dishwasher to the CIA to Restaurant Daniel and then to Jean-Georges, with side jobs working the door at New York's trendy clubs. But the book is about pushing the notion of "tasting" desserts to the limit, four mini desserts for each diner. I also decided to make the menu more focused by the highlighting a specific ingredient, for example, or combining the classic flavors of a particular season to make a harmonious dessert that was great than the sum of its parts. I wanted to grab the diner with every bite of each element on the plate. (p. 13) The idea is that you can make one of the desserts or all four, or choose different combinations. For the adventurous, the multidesssert presentation, with its careful construction and innovative techniques, will be a revelatory dessert experience. (p. 15) The book is divided up into chapters on the four seasons, plus chocolate and building blocks. There are three "fourplays" in winter: Citrus, Exotic, and Orange, for a total of 12 desserts. The exotic fourplay includes: Mango Llassi, Coconut Pain Perdu, Flambeed Bananas, and Pineapple-Polenta Cake (pp.125-131). The photographs by Gregor Halenda highlight the orange, yellow and brown hues and the shapes of the desserts – rectangle, circle, oval, and tall triangle. You may find yourself searching for component recipes elsewhere in the book as you assemble a fourplay – so read the recipes carefully first. Mango Llassi (p. 126)) is a traditional mixture of mango puree, yoghurt, and, in this case, rose water and cinnamon that is poured over exotic fruit and topped with carrot juice foam. The Coconut Pain Perdu (p. 127) includes a baton of brioche French toast, Cream Cheese Ice Cream (p. 223) and Papaya-Lime Compote (p. 251). The Flambéed Bananas (p. 128-29) call for Candied Peanuts (p. 215), Rum and Coke Ice Cream (p. 229) and Peanut Phyllo Crisps (p. 212), or you could simplify the recipe and just use store-bought vanilla ice cream, store bought cigarette cookies and chopped honey-roasted peanuts. But how would you ever have a revelatory dessert experience with store-bought? The last dessert in the fourplay, Pineapple+Polenta Cake (p. 131 is perhaps the most interesting, since it is a rethinking of the old fashioned Pineapple Upside Down Cake, but with a sophisticated cornmeal cake prepared in miniature and served with Pineapple Spice Sauce (p. 271). Substituting one component in a fourplay might work, but it seems that these recipes require commitment to be successful and exciting. None of the recipes are dauntingly hard, but to prepare all of them for a tasting requires organization and planning, many hands, and many utensils. That's how it fits into a Valentine's Day dinner – get all the ingredients ready (and anything that needs to be made ahead of time) and you and your Foodie love can have some fourplay. Previous articles: Valentine's Day: BlueStar Cookware Valentine's Day: American Honey [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbook reviews,. Johnny Iuzzini --> back to Cookbook Reviews --> back to Super Chef