Crave: The Feast of the Five Senses

For top chef Ludo Lefebvre, cooking is a sensual process that involves all five senses at every stage of preparation. In Crave, Lefebvre offers more than one hundred original, elegant, and unbelievably delicious recipes that teach us the joy -- and skill -- of cooking with the senses.

In dishes such as his signature Glazed Langoustines with Ceylon Cinnamon, he shows that through our senses we can bring creativity and a sense of playfulness to cooking while still preserving the great traditions behind cuisine. Lefebvre brings a whole new level to the sense of taste with groundbreaking techniques for contrasting and balancing spices; he shows how to choose meat and produce and how to test food through touch; he teaches the difference between the sound of butter and oil that's ready for cooking and the sound of burning; he offers visual cues that can enhance technique and presentation; and he introduces recipes that tantalize the powerful sense of smell to heighten both the flavor and experience of a dish.

Along with his desire to put delightful recipes into the hands of the home chef, Lefebvre wants us to expand our perception and understanding of the cooking process. "I want people to cook with love. I want them to be aware of what they're doing," says Lefebvre. "The act of cooking can be as much of a pleasure as eating, and if you really cook with your senses, you begin to find that cooking isn't work -- it's play."

These inspiring recipes will encourage you to slow down and become fully absorbed as you learn to cook with and for all five senses:

See: Oysters on the Half Shell with Red Beet Jelly and Shallot Cream
Touch: Fried Stuffed Tomato Beignets
Smell: Chicken Etouffée in Dried Verbena and Curry Leaves
Hear: Roast Beef with Long Pepper and Spiced French Fries
Taste: Lemon Sorbet with Saffron

With Lefebvre's highly original interpretation of French cuisine and his sensual, almost spiritual, approach to every culinary endeavor, Crave invites us to make home cooking a rich, sensual, and rewarding experience.