Review: The Bacon, Butter, Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook by Bruno Feldeisen

The Bacon, Butter, Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook by Bruno Feldeisen

Whitecap Books (2024) 

I'm pleased to have reviewed this cookbook for The British Columbia Review, which showcases Feldeisen's favourite ingredients. It was a pleasure to cook from! 

This article was originally published in The BC Review on February 17, 2025. 

***

Bacon, butter, bourbon, and chocolate. Four powerhouse ingredients, all of which can be used in a multitude of cooking and baking applications, and without exception, luxurious. As soon as I opened Chef Bruno Feldeisen’s latest cookbook, I knew I was in for a treat.

Originally from France, with German and Italian roots, Chef Bruno immigrated to the U.S. at age 23 and has carved a culinary career from East to West Coast, in restaurants and on television, including co-hosting The Great Canadian Baking Show, now in its eighth season. In the aptly named Bacon, Butter, Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook: Chef Bruno’s Favourite Ingredients, he has chosen four of his cherished pantry staples and presented recipes that highlight them. Each ingredient has its own section with plenty to choose from, a glimpse into Chef Bruno’s enthusiasm for good food and excellent eating.

Bruno Feldeisen, TV co-host, pastry chef instructor at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, and the executive pastry chef at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver, weighs in on comfort food.

He is unabashedly fond of these foods. “Each one remarkable on its own, and together they produce a range of tastes and experiences that we humans are greedy for: salty, sweet, silky, chewy. These four ingredients–from the old world to the new world–merge my past, present and future.”

The preface is four paragraphs of heartfelt writing that spoke to the power of recipes for their cultural value and their ability to unite us in our diversity:

More than ever, it is important to recognize the contributions of immigrants from all corners of the globe, without whose influence the food we enjoy on our table wouldn’t be possible: farmers, pickers, packers, drivers, cooks, bussers, waiters and storytellers; home cooks and bakers from boundless horizons that enrich our daily lives. Traditions from every part of the world enrich our daily meals.

This cookbook features relatively brief introductory sections, with concise notes on baking and cooking tips, “tools of the trade,” and pantry items that Chef Bruno recommends. His brevity in these chapters was welcome, and I liked that he got straight to the point with no complications. “Saucepans: You’ll need small, medium and large.” Check! And my favourite: “Moulds: Cake moulds in different shapes and forms enhance presentations and visual appeal, although a creative baker can always use an empty soup can or metal object to craft something unique.” Perhaps a handy tip if I ever try out as a contestant for The Great Canadian Baking Show!

Most of the book is devoted to the recipes, and each of the four sections has many options, from savoury to sweet, from stovetop to oven. The food is artfully photographed by Henry M. Wu, though in two of the recipes I tried, the photos didn’t entirely match the recipe description.

I decided on four recipes, one for each of the featured ingredients.

*

Reviewer Trish Bowering tries out Feidelsen’s recipe for Bacon, Oyster, and Corn Chowder. Photo Trish Bowering

Bacon: “Cured salted pork belly means bacon for breakfast, bacon for lunch, bacon for dinner, bacon for snacking, bacon forever.”

Bacon, Oyster, and Corn Chowder

It is winter on the West Coast, and a thick, briny seafood chowder feels cozy. The addition of oysters and bacon added a layer of luxury that called to me from the page, so I had to cook this. I love to try new ingredients, and I’ve never bought and cooked oysters. I found some pre-shucked fresh oysters locally, then made my own Crispy Bacon and Bacon Bits recipe à la Chef Bruno and I was set to make chowder for dinner. Sauté vegetables, then simmer potatoes and thyme in a clam juice and whole milk broth before adding the raw oysters and bacon: this couldn’t be simpler. Chef Bruno notes, “the key is not to cook the oysters on the stove but instead let the heat of the chowder slowly and gently warm them and capture their delicate flavours.” An oyster neophyte, I followed his advice and the results were incredible.

*

Trish Bowering pours bourbon glaze over a slice of Louisville Butter Cake. Photo Trish Bowering

Butter: “Butter–that beautiful fat made from churned cream.”

Louisville Butter Cake

My success rate for making a good cake is dismal. I can make a decent sheet cake, but a cake that uses butter and a bundt pan to create a delectable dessert fit for company is something that eludes me. Why not put myself in Chef Bruno’s hands and give this a try? He says, “An old fashioned and utterly buttery cake, the Louisville is easy to make and so delicious.” Indeed, he speaks the truth in declaring this cake simple to put together. It was a snap, surprisingly so, and as I poured it into the bundt pan and tucked it into the oven, I crossed my fingers and wished for the best. An hour later, I pulled it out, let it cool and turned it out of the tin. I made the quick and easy Vanilla Bourbon Glaze as suggested, and served it to company. A slice of this cake with a generous drizzle of the bourbon glaze was heaven! Moist and rich but not overly sweet, it was baked perfectly and had buttery notes. I did it! I made a great cake, with the help of Bruno’s fantastic recipe.

*

Our reviewer had a successful first go cooking with bourbon. Bourbon Maple-Glazed Sockeye Salmon. Photo Trish Bowering

Bourbon: “Deeply associated with Kentucky, bourbon is primarily made from corn and aged in new charred oak barrels that give it its unique flavours.”

Bourbon Maple-Glazed Sockeye Salmon

I’ve never cooked with bourbon but I was confident that this fragrant, rich ingredient would add a different note to my creations. I’d already made the Vanilla Bourbon Glaze, which tasted amazing, so how would bourbon pair with a savoury application? Salmon is on regular rotation in my home, and I’m always looking for a delicious way to serve it, so this glazed sockeye salmon caught my eye. I loved using fresh citrus: I juiced and zested an orange and added it to bourbon, miso and maple syrup and let it gently simmer before adding a good hit of garlic. Marinating and then cooking the salmon in glaze, I wondered at the low cooking temperature but decided to trust the recipe. I’m glad I did, because the salmon was cooked to perfection and it was a joy to eat. The glaze-imbued flavour was sweet, citrusy and perhaps a hint too subtle, lacking a true bourbon hit. Nonetheless, another simple and sophisticated recipe.

*

A treat to accompany afternoon tea. Orange Chocolate Banana Loaf. Photo Trish Bowering.

Chocolate: “We often forget that chocolate is at its core a fermented product. The cocoa beans are fermented before being roasted and crushed into a paste, then processed into chocolate after adding cocoa butter, sugar and often vanilla.”

Orange Chocolate Banana Loaf

Chocolate is not an exotic ingredient, and neither is making a banana loaf very unusual. Sometimes, though, it’s satisfying to bake with ingredients one has to hand on a weekend; a bit of effort and soon you have a treat with your afternoon tea. This is exactly why I felt inspired to make this loaf, and it was another recipe that came together effortlessly. The addition of orange juice and zest intrigued me, and I wondered if the flavours of the loaf would be muddled, with its competing flavours. I needn’t have worried. Sharing the loaf with friends and family, everyone agreed that it was tasty, and the varied elements came together magically. The banana was subtle but brought a moist crumb; the orange added a unique and sophisticated note; and there was just enough chocolate that it enhanced rather than cloyed. The crust was a deep brown and added an almost caramelized note. It feels excessive to rave about a loaf, but this merits the accolades.

*

After cooking and baking Chef Bruno’s recipes from The Bacon, Butter, Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook, I can confidently say that my initial instincts were right: I so enjoyed spending time with this book and making the recipes. I can recommend this as a cookbook where the recipes that I tried all make sense, are relatively easy to make, and taste greater than the sum of their parts. I felt in good hands with Chef Bruno as he shared preparations using his favourite ingredients, even as I explored some new-to-me items. I’m so glad that he’s shared his love of food and recipes with us.

The poetry of words and numbers contained in a recipe reminds future generations of their proud past. In the story told through cups, weights, volumes, or sometimes just scribbled guesses, a recipe can take the reader on a remarkable journey. Cultures are built on recipes, and a recipe is one of the most precious items cooks carry with them on their journey to new horizons. It shapes the culinary future of a community, and acts as a powerful beacon of hope and identity. A world without recipes is a world without an imagination.

Reviewer Trish Bowering “felt in good hands with Chef Bruno as he shared preparations using his favourite ingredients, even as I explored some new-to-me items.” Another view of Trish Bowering’s results in producing Orange Chocolate Banana Loaf. Photo Trish Bowering