Charlie Trotter's Seafood

Charlie Trotter's Chicago restaurant is praised in the food press from coast to coast. Now the master of culinary innovation tests new waters, with astonishing new dishes featuring freshwater fish and seafood. Dishes include Oxtail-Stuffed Baby Squid with Cremini Mushrooms, Mustard Oil, and Oxtail Braising Juices; Wild Striped Bass with Stinging Nettles, Wild Mushroom/Balsamic Emulsion, and Hot and Sour Golden Beet Sauce; Steamed Lake Superior Whitefish with Fiddlehead Ferns and Potato-Apple-Celery Purée; Tuna-Crab Roll; and Tuna ?Tartare?s with Avocado, Crushed Black Sesame Seed Vinaigrette, and Coriander Juice.

The groundbreaking organizational structure of CHARLIE TROTTER'S SEAFOOD reflects the chef's characteristic visionary style and holistic approach to dining - the recipes are presented according to the wines with which he recommends they be served. Included are more than 100 recipes using common and exotic fish, 75 evocative duotones that convey the drama of the fishing industry and grandeur of the fish themselves, and Trotter's signature larger-than-life photos of every dish.
Review:
Charlie Trotter's in Chicago is rated as one of the finest restaurants in the world. Eating there is a leisurely and memorable experience because Chef Trotter is endlessly creative and meticulously precise in his cooking. He uses the best ingredients and says one should do as little as possible to embellish them. Does he practice what he preaches? In your dreams!
The simplest of the 75 recipes in Charlie Trotter's Seafood are for dishes like Olive-Oil Roasted Swordfish with Oven-Roasted Tomato and Black Olives, and the Slow-Roasted Salmon with Red Wine Risotto, Wild Thyme and Tiny White Asparagus. His more typical, and even more breathtaking, creations are often based on Hawaiian fish, like Steamed Gindai and Mussels with Lemongrass Broth. On the plate these dishes are all as artistically arranged as they sound.
This is food pornography at its peak. Every dish, as exotic and complex as a lesson from the Kama Sutra, is shown in gloriously intimate, obscenely alluring, vinaigrette-dotted detail by photographer Tim Turner. Ambitious cooks will appreciate Trotter's recommended piscatorial substitutions. Finding other ingredients, like bleeding heart radishes and shallot blossoms, is up to you. Not to mention making time to produce the infused oils and deeply flavored stocks often called for. The recipes are grouped, unexpectedly, by the wines best for accompanying them. Trotter starts with champagne and proceeds through 16 other kinds of wine, from white Viognier to red Syrah and Barbera.