TOME COOKING

Photograph: Talia Simhi

Alain Sailhac has the kind of culinary pedigree that would make any Top Chef contestant salivate (even that rat-bastard Andrew). The executive VP and dean emeritus of the French Culinary Institute has held posts at Le Cirque, 21 Club and the Plaza Hotel, and was the first chef ever to nab a four-star rating in the New York Times. As a young lad, Sailhac used only one kitchen manual: this tattered copy of Le Répertoire de La Cuisine, which he received in 1952 at age 16. “We weren’t allowed to use cookbooks in our early days,” says Sailhac. “We had to memorize everything that we were shown! I would carry it in my back pocket to remind me of what ingredients were in each dish.” And what was his favorite recipe? Sole Cancalaise, which he says is filleted, folded and poached in oyster cooking liquor and butter, garnished with shrimp and poached oysters, and coated with normande sauce. His copy is on view, by appointment only, at the FCI student library (462 Broadway at Grand St, 212-219-8890).

—Erin Clements

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