Award-Winning Chef Laurent Gras Releases First Cookbook as Interactive e-Book

NEW YORK CITY, August 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --



LAURENT GRAS: MY PROVENCE

by Laurent Gras
with Mitchell Davis

Release Date: August 2012

New digital publisher Alta Editions is pleased to announce the release of LAURENT GRAS: MY PROVENCE by award-winning chef Laurent Gras. This innovative digital cookbook includes over 40 dishes from Gras's early years growing up and working as a young chef on the Côte d'Azur.

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This interactive online digital cookbook presents readers with hundreds of gorgeous high-resolution color photos, instructional videos and loads of chef tips. It also gives readers who cook the dishes the unique opportunity to share their own stories and photos directly inside the e-book.

Gras is considered by many to be one of the most talented and dedicated chefs in the world. Known for his creative and innovative cuisine, he has received three Michelin Stars for his cooking at three different restaurants over the course of the past 20 years. Rather than focusing on his restaurant cuisine, this cookbook finds Gras returning to the flavors and memories of his youth. Readers will find:

• classic Provençal recipes such as Ratatouille and Clams Marinière,
• creative preparations, such as Burrata Ravioli with Orange and Sage made with time-saving wonton wrappers instead of fresh pasta,
• the Pork Chop en Papillote with juniper berries much like Laurent would collect on his family's property in France and use to flavor meat and game,
• the Garlic Roasted Côte de Bœuf Laurent learned as a cook at the prestigious Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo,
• Laurent's grandmother's Gâteau de Galette, a gorgeous coffee-infused "cake" made with LU Petit Beurre cookies, chocolate and buttercream, like a French tirami-sù.  

Gras's recipes are not meant just to provide readers with instructions for preparing enjoyable meals, but also to act as template for how to become a better cook. The recipes explain how to get set up in the kitchen and how to stay organized while cooking. Accompanying step-by-step photos and videos provide a depth of information not available in traditional cookbooks.

Watch a brief video introduction to the book here: http://bit.ly/AltaEdMyProvenceIntro

This is the first title from digital publisher Alta Editions, a division of Jesta Digital, a leading global provider of next-generation entertainment content and services. Easily accessible to both experienced users and novices alike, LAURENT GRAS: MY PROVENCE is a browser-based HTML5 e-book designed specifically for use on the iPad, yet can also be viewed on any laptop or desktop computer. The next release in the series will feature a New York City-based chef from Tuscany and is scheduled for release this October.

"Using the much loved Time-Life Books Series from the 1960's and 70's as our inspiration, we're publishing the Alta Editions Cooking Series to explore the foods and stories that inspire great chefs," said Chris McBride, VP of Innovation for Jesta Digital and Executive Producer of Alta Editions. "With each new edition readers will discover new places, perspectives, and ideas in food and cooking."

LAURENT GRAS: MY PROVENCE is available for $9.99 at http://www.AltaEditions.com.

About the Author

Laurent Gras's trajectory as a chef began in Antibes on the Côte d'Azur in France, where he was born and raised within a family and culture focused on food. Early in his career he worked with a remarkable group of great chefs including Jacques Maximin, Guy Savoy, Alain Ducasse, and Alain Senderens. After attaining three Michelin stars at Alain Ducasse's restaurants in Monaco and Paris, Gras moved to the U.S. where he received widespread acclaim for his cuisine, first at Peacock Alley in New York City and later at the innovative Fifth Floor restaurant in San Francisco. He was named "Best New Chef" by Food & Wine Magazine and San Francisco Magazine. Gras's most recent restaurant, L2O, was named "Best New Restaurant" by Esquire magazine in 2008 and earned three Michelin stars in 2011 in the first Chicago edition of the prestigious guidebook.

About the Co-author

Mitchell Davis is a cookbook author, food journalist, and Executive Vice President of the James Beard Foundation with a Ph.D. in Food Studies from New York University. He is the author of three cookbooks: Kitchen Sense (Clarkson Potter), The Mensch Chef (Clarkson Potter), and Cook Something (Macmillan), as well as many articles about food and restaurants that have appeared in GQ, Food & Wine, The Art of Eating, Saveur, and Gastronomica. Davis also co-authored Foie Gras ... A Passion (Wiley) with Michael Ginor, Andrew Coe, and Jane Ziegelman, which won the International Cookbook Review's Prix la Mazille for Best International Cookbook of the Year. He is the host of Taste Matters, a weekly radio program on the Heritage Radio Network, and has appeared as a judge and culinary expert on Food Network's Best in Smoke and Throwdown with Bobby Flay and the Cooking Channel's Food(ography).

About Alta Editions

Alta Editions is a new interactive e-book publishing group from Jesta Digital, a leading global provider of next generation mobile content and services. The Alta Editions Cooking Series launches a new title every quarter. Each edition in the series is written by an acclaimed chef and is illustrated with beautiful photographs by an award-winning photographer. Each e-book is fully interactive and allows readers to share their own photos and experiences with the recipes. Alta Editions e-books are released in an HTML5 web app optimized for the iPad and desktop computers which enables them to provide a unique, highly interactive experience to readers without requiring downloads or any special software. Readers access the e-book by simply logging in at AltaEditions.com.

About Jesta Digital

Jesta Digital is a leading global provider of next generation entertainment content and services for the digital consumer.  For more than 10 years, the company has and continues to develop exciting new products and services that deliver a seamless experience via web or wireless connection on a significant range of devices in 18 countries.  Jesta Digital is home to established brands - Jamba, Jamster, iLove and Mobizzo - as well as expansive integrated mobile subscription, payment and ad monetization technologies. Jesta Digital is one of the largest companies in the digital entertainment sector delivering a vast array of products and services to more than 170 million customers since 2000.

LAURENT GRAS: MY PROVENCE
by Laurent Gras
with Mitchell Davis
Alta Editions
August 2012
$9.99 US
Interactive Digital Cookbook
Hi-resolution photos, video

iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple, Inc. registered in the US and other countries.

MICHELIN and the MICHELIN Guide are trademarks of Michelin North America, Inc.

SOURCE Jesta Digital