Rick Tramonto - Amuse-Bouche: Little Bites Of Delight Before the Meal Begins

C OPYRIGHT 2002 BY R ICK T RAMONTO

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

R ANDOM H OUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

L IBRARY OF C ONGRESS C ATALOGING-IN -P UBLICATION D ATA

Tramonto, Rick.
Amuse-Bouche : little bites that delight before the meal begins / Rick Tramonto.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-679-64494-1
1. Appetizers. I. Title.
TX740.T714 2002
641.812dc21 2002022651

R ANDOM H OUSE WEBSITE ADDRESS: WWW.ATRANDOM.COM

Book design by Barbara M. Bachman

v3.1

BUTTER SUGAR FLOUR EGGS:
WHIMSICAL IRRESISTIBLE DESSERTS

with Gale Gand and Julia Moskin

AMERICAN BRASSERIE

with Gale Gand and Julia Moskin

TRU: A COOKBOOK FROM
THE LEGENDARY CHICAGO RESTAURANT

with Mary Goodbody

To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who always leads me down the right road
and who brings me through every storm every time.
To my son, Giorgio Montana Gand Tramonto, who keeps me laughing and
on my toes at all times. I love you.
And to all of my culinary friends and colleagues who were lost
at Windows on the World on September 11, 2001, and their families.
May God bless you; you will never, ever, be forgotten.

FROM RICK TRAMONTO :

Special thanks to Rich Melman, my mentor, my partner, my friend, my guru. I love you, and thank you for always believing in me.

Thanks to my friend and cowriter, Mary Goodbody, who helped me dish this into words and share with the world the beauty of the amuse.

Thanks to my longtime friend and brilliant photographer, Tim Turner, who keeps me focused and challenges me to make every dish the best it can be during those long photo shoots.

Thanks to my supportive and loving family, Eileen Tramonto, Frank Tramonto, Paul and Dorothy Tramonto, Sean and Brian Pschirrer, Ed and Mary Carroll, Gio Tramonto, and Gale Gand, who have shown me how to live and breathe outside the culinary world.

Thanks to my spiritual family, Pastors Gregory and Grace Dickow of Life Changers International Church, for their love and blessings, and for feeding me the word of God. Also to Van and Doni Crouch for Winning 101, and to Pastor Tom Bouvier and Bonnie Bouvier, Pastor Keith Cistrunk, Dr. Creflo Dollar and Taffi Dollar, Bishop T. D. Jakes, Jesse and Cathy Duplantis, and Pastor James McDonald at Walk in the Word for their wisdom and teaching of the word of God.

Thanks to my awesome agent, Jane Dystel, and my editors, Pamela Cannon and Mary Bahr, and the great team at Random House, who always make it seem easy and pleasurable, for their faith in this book and me. Special thanks to Jason Wheeler, my amuse chef de parti, for helping me test and organize these recipes in such a cheerful way.

Thanks to my Tru partners, Rich Melman, Gale Gand, Scott Barton, Steve Ottman, Kevin Brown, Jay Steibre, and Charles Haskel, for their deep friendship and for giving me a stage to play on every day.

Thanks to my magnificent eighty-member staff at Tru, who make it happen every day, for their dedication and loyalty. Especially to my chef de cuisine, Mark Andelbradt; my sous-chefs, Jason Robinson, Mark Bernal, Brad Parsons, and Elliot Bowles; my great management team; and my sommelier (the wine guy), Scott Tyree.

I would also like to thank the city of Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley, and the food press for supporting me and allowing me to hone my craft in this great city. A very special thanks to my vendors and the farmers across the country who work so hard to find and grow the best-of-the-best ingredients and products for me to use.

Thanks to those who inspire me on a daily basis and who support my culinary efforts: Oprah Winfrey, Pierre Gagnaire, Emeril Lagasse, Julia Child, Jos Andrs, Ferran and Albert Adria, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Alain Ducasse, Bobby Flay, Alfred Portale, Mario Batali, Patrick OConnell, Nobu Matsuhisa, Martha Stewart, Guy Savoy, Juan Mari and Elana Arzak, David Bouley, Danny Wegman, Randy Zeiban, Gray Kunz, Norman Van Aken, Charlie Trotter, Thomas Keller, Martin Berasategui, Michael Lamonaco, Daniel Boulud, Michael Chiarello, Wolfgang Puck, Francois Payard, Greg Bromen, Jean-Louis Palladin, Alan Wong, Rick Bayless, Tom Colicchio, and Roger Verge.

Thanks to my supportive friends whom I rarely get to see because Im always working all the timeI love you guys: Thea Gattone for your prayers for this book, Larry and Julie Binstein, Vinnie and Theresa Rupert, the late Bob Payton and Wendy Payton, Muhammad Salahuddin, Angela and Veronica Petrucci, Debra Ferrer and Jim Visger, Joan Cusack, Harold and Erica Ramis, Al Lipkin, Ina Pinkney (the breakfast queen), John Coletta, Jimmy Bonnesteel, Val Landsburg, Marty Tiersky, Rochelle and Gary Fleck (thanks for all the great Chefwear), and all of the folks at Lettuce Entertain You. Youre the best.

FROM MARY GOODBODY:

Heartfelt thanks to Rick Tramonto for welcoming me so enthusiastically to this project, for his generosity of spirit, patience, knowledge, and good humor, which kept the telephone lines humming and e-mails flying. I also want to thank our agent, Jane Dystel, for gently but firmly guiding the project from proposal to final book; our Random House editors, Pamela Cannon and Mary Bahr, for their belief in the book and their hard work; Carole Harlam for her careful help with recipe editing; and Laura Goodbody, who cheerfully pitched in to help where needed during the final, hectic weeks and who always supports and believes in her mom.

AMUSE:

To entertain or occupy in a light, playful, or pleasant manner; to appeal to the sense of humor; to supply amusement or diversion by specially prepared or contrived methods.

AMUSE-BOUCHE:

Little bites of food to amuse the mouth, invigorate the palate, whet the appetite.

I vividly recall my first trip to France in 1980. After the plane landed, I waited impatiently in line at immigration. As soon as I left the terminal, I grabbed a cab and raced into Paris, worried that I might miss my reservation at Jamin, Jol Robuchons famed restaurant. I had booked the table at least six months earlier, and during my flight across the Atlantic, my taste buds were primed for the meal to come. Once I was seated in the beautiful, flower-filled room, a tiny bite of ethereal food was placed in front of me. It was my very first exposure to the custom of greeting a diner with amuse-bouche.

I was completely charmed, and immediately made amuse-bouche part of my own menus. Over the years, I have become well known for them, which is a reputation I am happy to have. I especially appreciate the high level of hospitality that an amuse conveys, because for me, hospitality is the bedrock of a great restaurant.

Everyone who walks into my restaurant, Tru, is greeted with an amuse-bouchean intriguing bite of absolutely delicious food that is my way of saying, Welcome, I hope you enjoy your meal. Other fine restaurants practice this very French tradition, but I have a true passion for it. These little treats are so tasty, so exquisitely rendered, so beautifully presented and jewellike, that today I offer eight selections. We recently served four customers at a single table twelve