HARVESTING EXCELLENCE

harvesting excellence

A book co-authored with alain ducasse | photographs by axel icard

EXCERPTS

Fourth Cover

Chapter | Makache

About the book

In 1999 and 2000, I traveled with photographer and artist Axel Icard in the footsteps of acclaimed Chef Alain Ducasse. We voyaged across the United States, from the coast of Maine to Sitka in Alaska, from the mountains of Arizona to the coves of Key Largo to pay tribute to the stories of “the people who take the time and care to nurture their harvests.”

Harvesting Excellence was produced and published by Assouline to coincide with Alain Ducasse’s opening of ADNY at the Essex House, which will earn four stars with the New York Times and three with the first Michelin Guide in New York.

from the media

Alain Ducasse "expects to show off American-grown products, which impress him so much that he spent yesterday morning in the Greenmarket in Union Square and is working on a book about American ingredients, ''Harvesting Excellence,'' with a French writer, Jean-Christian Agid."

“For a period of about 18 months, Ducasse and his assistants, particularly Gwenaelle and Jean-Christian Agid, searched the country to assemble a list of purveyors for the kinds of foods top-notch American chefs have come to take for granted. And even though his team had assured him the goods were available, he was happily surprised by their excellence.”

"In his new book, "Harvesting Excellence," Ducasse admits to "being bewitched by America." He goes into raptures over the quality of ingredients available. He treats the entire country as a marketplace. He buys olive oil from St. Helena Olive Oil Co. in California, has his King salmon shipped by Tinglit Indians in Sitka, Alaska, and sends to Miles Cahn in Pine Plains, N.Y., for goat cheese."

"In search of perfect ingredients for his masterly cuisine, the multi-starred Alain Ducasse takes to the American road in Harvesting Excellence (Assouline, $50). During his travels, the French chef plucks stone crabs from warm Florida waters and samples ripe peaches from an Ohio orchard. Despite the somewhat purple prose (a chapter on olive oil is entitled "A Woman and a Dream," another, "Bread That Sings"), Ducasse's love of fresh produce–and America–is evident."

"Après avoir confié à (...) Jean-Christian Agid (...) le soin de débusquer le top des produits gastronomiques à travers les Etats-Unis (...) le grand chef (Alain Ducasse) en faisait l'exclusivité de sa carte de l'Essex House. (...) Ducasse a révélé au monde l'excellence du terroir américain."

"Pour autant, Ducasse n'est pas arrivé en conquérant sur le continent américain. Avant d'ouvrir l'Essex House, il a envoyé un journaliste, Jean-Christian Agid, sillonner le pays pour écrire un livre sur les produits régionaux du terroir américain1. En tout, 46 reportages dans près de vingt Etats, 120 000 kilomètres parcourus en avion... « Alain savait de quels produits il voulait parler, et pour chacun d'eux, il fallait que je trouve une histoire à raconter, explique Jean-Christian Agid."

P. Debió ser toda una aventura buscar proveedores del más alto nivel en la patria de la fast food, ¿no? R. No tanto. Nos ayudó Jean Christian Agid, un amigo periodista que colabora con la Embajada de Francia en Nueva York, con el cual escribí luego el libro Harvesting Excelence, sobre dicha experiencia. Recorrimos más de 5.000 millas durante varias semanas para encontrar el salmón salvaje de Alaska, el buey de Tucson, las cerezas del Silicon Valley, el rodaballo de Maine, los quesos de cabra de una pequeña granja en el estado de Nueva York...