Bullipedia: What Is Cooking (Signed Edition)

If you were interested in the first Bullipedia in English, Coffee Sapiens, you know that supplies of that book, signed or unsigned, were almost instantly scarce and erratically available. We counted ourselves lucky to get what copies we did.

We took a big position on What Is Cooking so that we wouldn’t have to turn people away when it was ready. And because we knew that this book really speaks to the heart of Chef Adrià’s entire philosophy.

There is never a single and sufficient explanation for what this chef tries to achieve. And the entire Bullipedia project is hugely ambitious in many ways.

But we can say that among its many facets, What is Cooking is a historical examination of how people have cooked and a statement about what lies ahead, according to the chef and his colleagues. It is a record of the evolution of contemporary cooking at elBulli and an analysis of what fine dining is and must be anywhere in the world. It treats humble everyday food with the same insightful analysis it brings to the creation of modernist innovations.

Like Coffee Sapiens,  What is Cooking is a large book: 464 pages printed on a fine coated stock. With a 13.5 x 10-inch trim size and nearly 2 inches thick, it's not a beach read. Fine photography throughout the book is supplemented by images from the chef's own notebooks, as well as visual materials developed for various courses he has taught worldwide.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout. In English.