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The original cookbook thread was archived but I thought this forum warranted another round. I love getting and giving cookbooks as gifts. However at this point in my life I feel I've gone beyond just following a recipe and appreciate books that go into greater depth. Books that go beyond just a collection of recipes and into more technique are a little harder to come by. Here are some of my essential book and I want to see yours. Ruhlman's Twenty by Michael Ruhlman A great book that really goes into 20 different basic cooking ideas. Each of the 20 chapters focus on one main idea whether it is an ingredient (Salt, Water, or Butter) or a cooking method (Fry, Roasting, or Sauteing). Ruhlman gets a little whimsical at times but he really presents these basic ideas in a way that can be generalized to your own unique dishes. Ratio by Michael Ruhlman Another Ruhlman book. This one focuses on the common ratios found in everyday cooking, again with the idea being that once you understand the reasons why certain ingredients are used in certain quantities you'll be able to expand to your own ideas. The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg There's not a single recipe in this book (as far as I can tell). Instead it serves as an index of what flavors pair well with others. The book let's you know which flavor combinations are superior than others in easy to recognize formatting. This book is great for when you have a farm share and might be working with unfamiliar flavors. The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt Probably the closest to an actual text book that I have. This one weighs in at over 900 pages but goes into incredible detail about why things are cooked the way they are. The book does side by side comparisons of recipe changes to help illustrate what might get your food to where you want it to be. Real great stuff if you're a food nerd. So what cook books do you find you either can't live without or won't stop recommending to others?
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Oct 17, 2016 21:18
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How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman I actually use the iOS app though I have the hard copy. Very simple recipes for a LOT of fundamental items, with variations or substitutions to make literally thousands of dishes. Nothing is truly spectacular or mind-blowing, but everything is nigh-bulletproof. Frankie's Sputino Every single thing I've cooked from this has been spectacular. My go-to tomato sauce, in particular.
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Oct 17, 2016 21:30
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America's Test Kitchen The New Family Cookbook. I learned to cook with an earlier edition of this book and got it as a gift from my sister several years ago. Assuming the new edition is similar, It covers basic technique, but also includes thousands of recipes that have gone through the test kitchen and includes small descriptions from the original articles written about them explaining why the recipe works. It's basically like a best-of of Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen with added detail on basic techniques. I still go back to this book on occasion for a specific recipe or for reference.
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Oct 18, 2016 19:21
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I recently purchased the Food Lab and it's great. But what I don't understand is how he can go on and on about science, and then having everything in imperial. Sometimes there is Celsius is brackets, but not all the time. Very inconsistent. And I loving hate using cups god drat it. Just let me use my scale. But otherwise it's good poo poo.
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Oct 19, 2016 01:26
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That's one of the things I really like about all of the Rulhman books I've used, that he usually cooks by weight. For me that's one of the things to look for to determine the quality of the book. The very first thing I look for is how long it tells you it takes to caramelize onions. If it says anything less than 30 minutes just put the book down and walk away.
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Oct 19, 2016 21:17
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No list of essential cookbooks would be complete without Larousse...
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Oct 19, 2016 22:02
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I spend a lot of time with Rose Levy Beranbaum, specifically the Bibles. Bread, Baking, and Pie and Pastry. She's absolutely detail focused, and her takes on what works are great points for working out my own recipes.
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Oct 20, 2016 00:06
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I'd honestly say Escoffier's cookbook is pretty worthwhile to have. It is slightly antiquated by now (when we learning from it, we joked how he would pass anything through a strainer to mince it and we were desperately searching for an instance of him using a whole chicken) and very much designed for those who already know how to cook as it is very terse and only gives you the basic outline, on the assumption you know enough to know how everything works. It also lists huge amounts of ingredients because it's assumed to be used for batch cooking. It was made back in the day when food processors didn't exist and you had underlings to prep everything for you, but with the advances in prep tech a lot of the stuff is actually far easier to do now. If you can get past the language and slight idiosyncrasies you probably have one of the best cookbooks ever made with literally hundreds of recipes, all fantastic.
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Oct 20, 2016 09:37
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lifts cats over head posted:Ratio by Michael Ruhlman This also has a companion app that has all the ratios with variations and a super useful calculator for each that can combine volume and weight measurements. If you're already pretty confident in the kitchen, it's probably worth it to still get this app, even if you don't get the book. I have both and I haven't touched the book since I got the app.
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Nov 4, 2016 02:10
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Essential Pepin, The Way to Cook, some old King Arthur bread making booklets.
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Nov 4, 2016 05:01
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Appetites by Anthony Bourdain and Thug Kitchen because I like cool pictures and a funny narrative in my cookbooks.
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Nov 4, 2016 11:16
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Minge Binge posted:I recently purchased the Food Lab and it's great. But what I don't understand is how he can go on and on about science, and then having everything in imperial. Sometimes there is Celsius is brackets, but not all the time. Very inconsistent. And I loving hate using cups god drat it. Just let me use my scale. But otherwise it's good poo poo. I think he said something about wanting to make his book as approachable as possible since in the US, most people measure stuff in imperial units, and portion ingredients using volume rather than weight. I too wish that everything was just listed in grams (though I have no beef with fahrenheit since it's the standard here), but it is what it is. Still a fantastic cookbook.
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Nov 4, 2016 14:17
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Test Pattern posted:How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman For pure convenience it's hard to beat the app and I got it for free from somewhere so for value it's just through the roof. That app and my CI Slow Cooker Revolution are easily my two most used cook books. I agree that the recipes are pretty close to impossible to screw up since they are often just the bare minimum of ingredients and steps. That's absolutely not a criticism.
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Nov 4, 2016 14:47
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Timing is Everything - Are you comfortable in coming up with your own flavours/sauces/spice mixes and just buy stuff at the store and want the basic question answered: how long to cook at what temperature. This is your book. Out of print, and used copies are $0.01 on amazon.
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Dec 8, 2016 22:02
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I always like to recommend How To Cook Everything: The Basics for new home cooks. Less complete than the regular How To Cook Everything, sure, but it has all kinds of technique tips and photos and is just generally more approachable. It's the book that made me think, "Yeah, I can do this."
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Dec 26, 2016 21:16
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As a spice blending maniac, I really appreciate the heavy DIY aspects of the Bar Tartine cookbook. They go over how to make your own cheese, vinegar, charcuterie, and a lot more. I just bought a dehydrator so I could try more of their ideas!
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Dec 31, 2016 01:46
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Any recommendations on cookbooks for middle-eastern or Mediterranean cooking? I picked up "Olives, Lemons, and Za'atar", and "My Cooking class: Middle Eastern Basics: 80 recipes step by step" and a couple others from the library and I love the way so many of these recipes involve a whole plethora of ingredients but often in very small quantities. The "Middle Eastern Basics" book was especially fun because the photography of the ingredients is really spectacular. I assume this is a series of cookbooks with photos like this? I'd love to get a few! 
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Jan 2, 2017 18:51
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I love America's Test Kitchen and their Cooking for Two cookbook is great. Everything we've made from here has come out perfectly portioned for two people and the recipes are ATK quality. The only downside is you don't get leftovers for work if that's something you need.
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Jan 2, 2017 19:15
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coyo7e posted:Any recommendations on cookbooks for middle-eastern or Mediterranean cooking? I picked up "Olives, Lemons, and Za'atar", and "My Cooking class: Middle Eastern Basics: 80 recipes step by step" and a couple others from the library and I love the way so many of these recipes involve a whole plethora of ingredients but often in very small quantities. Anything by Yotam Ottolenghi.
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Jan 2, 2017 19:26
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kittenmittons posted:Anything by Yotam Ottolenghi. That said however, I'm leaning more toward Palestinian/Lebanese/etc types of ethnic cooking rather than Israeli cuisine.. Especially since it seems as though it's really up in the air whether or not Israelis or someone else invented and/or make the best hummus/etc - which seems to kind of be a big deal. So yeah, if it doesn't involve Israelis, I'd be very interested. So basically I'm looking for traditional recipes and cookbooks written by minority groups which look to educate and spread their cuisine and the like, rather than "hey here's a British dude from Israel who's a boss on 'Middle Eastern cuisine'"... I mean I can look up a recipe for collard greens but if it's by Paula Deen, welp quote:“They call it ‘The Hummus Wars’ when Lebanon accused the Israeli people of trying to steal hummus and make it their national dish, hummus became a symbol,” Ronit Vered a food journalist with Haaretz, in Tel Aviv tells us. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 21:07 on Jan 2, 2017 |
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Jan 2, 2017 21:00
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coyo7e posted:Wow, his stuff does look great I'll be sure to check it out, thanks! Ottolenghi often collaborates with a Palestinian guy from Jerusalem in his books, and anyway Israeli cuisine is a part of Middle Eastern cuisine. He's not the expert on everything about it, but his cooking is an innovative take on a legit local food. Separately, Claudia Roden wrote some of the foundational cookbooks for the region.
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Jan 2, 2017 21:33
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the_chavi posted:Ottolenghi often collaborates with a Palestinian guy from Jerusalem in his books the_chavi posted:and anyway Israeli cuisine is a part of Middle Eastern cuisine.
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Jan 3, 2017 03:51
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TychoCelchuuu posted:Neither of them are Jews, which is great news not just for you but for everyone else who wants to avoid the chosen people in this era of Trump. heyyooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo #rtatchaboi
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Jan 3, 2017 09:58
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There is a debate over who first ground up chick peas with olive oil and so therefore you don't want any isreali dishes?
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Jan 3, 2017 14:06
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TychoCelchuuu posted:Neither of them are Jews, which is great news not just for you but for everyone else who wants to avoid the chosen people in this era of Trump. Oh good it wasn't just me reading that in.
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Jan 3, 2017 21:14
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Test Pattern posted:Oh good it wasn't just me reading that in. Yeah nope that's pretty much what I read there.
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Jan 4, 2017 02:43
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I reserved a few of the Ottolenghi books, they look to be a treat for me especially with the focus on vegetarian recipes. Also, didn't Rick Bayless obliterate the idea that a chef has to be the authentic part of a recipe?
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Jan 4, 2017 06:23
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Cloks posted:Also, didn't Rick Bayless obliterate the idea that a chef has to be the authentic part of a recipe?  ifyaknowwhatimean.
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Jan 4, 2017 16:24
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Rush Limbo posted:I'd honestly say Escoffier's cookbook is pretty worthwhile to have. It is slightly antiquated by now (when we learning from it, we joked how he would pass anything through a strainer to mince it and we were desperately searching for an instance of him using a whole chicken) and very much designed for those who already know how to cook as it is very terse and only gives you the basic outline, on the assumption you know enough to know how everything works. It also lists huge amounts of ingredients because it's assumed to be used for batch cooking. Do note that Escoffier's cookbook is for Haute (high or grand) cuisine, so a lot of the recipes do involve 'french' techniques that aren't used today due to the laborious involvement. Additionally, if you do decide to use any recipe from this book, make a habit of transcribing the recipes to paper.
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Jan 10, 2017 10:01
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For middle eastern I'd suggest the book Zahav. Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544373286 This is done by an Israeli if it matters?
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Jan 10, 2017 16:30
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TychoCelchuuu posted:This is true though. coyo7e, if you want recipes from minority groups, guess what: Jews are a minority! Hell, they're more of a minority in the Middle East than the people you'd prefer to look at. But in any case, in addition to Ottolenghi's stuff, check out Classic Lebanese Cuisine by Al-Faqih (which has some nice pictures, too, albeit not in the neato style you asked about) and Rose Water and Orange Blossoms by Abood. Neither of them are Jews, which is great news not just for you but for everyone else who wants to avoid the chosen people in this era of Trump. And thanks for the recommendations on Jewish cookbooks - can we maybe go back to not-Jewish cookbooks involving cuisine which may or may not have ben invented and/or appropriated by jews?
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Jan 11, 2017 03:16
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coyo7e posted:Not sure what your point is - are you saying that I'm mistaken and that "Jews Made Hummus - and It's Super Important to Bring up in lieu of nothing - becuase Trump Hates Jews"? coyo7e posted:And thanks for the recommendations on Jewish cookbooks - can we maybe go back to not-Jewish cookbooks involving cuisine which may or may not have ben invented and/or appropriated by jews?
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Jan 11, 2017 06:56
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I love how the Cookbook Recommendation thread isn't even 2 pages long and it's already being derailed with antisemitism.
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Jan 11, 2017 09:14
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Aside from the Hummus discussion which I agree is a total threadshit, does anyone have good suggestions for cultural Thai cuisine recipe books, preferably vegetarian? Looking for stuff along the lines of how https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Krishnas-Cuisine-Vegetarian-Cooking/dp/0525245642 is for Indian cuisine.
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Jan 11, 2017 14:03
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coyo7e posted:And thanks for the recommendations on Jewish cookbooks - can we maybe go back to not-Jewish cookbooks involving cuisine which may or may not have ben invented and/or appropriated by jews? Why does whether a Jew wrote a cookbook about a cuisine that Jews have been a part of for literal eons years have anything to do with the quality of the cook books recipes? You sound like a massive racist.
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Jan 11, 2017 14:43
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Land of Plenty and Every Grain of Rice by Fuschia Dunlop Best books for szechuan and chinese cooking I've ever come across. She was the first westerner to train as a chef at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine, and is a fantastic writer. And nobody mentioned The Silver Spoon yet? Spuckuk fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Jan 11, 2017 |
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Jan 11, 2017 15:56
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I bought the How to Cook Everything app. Does anyone have any personal favorite recipes from it?
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Jan 18, 2017 23:23
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Murgos posted:Why does whether a Jew wrote a cookbook about a cuisine that Jews have been a part of for literal eons years have anything to do with the quality of the cook books recipes?  But for real, how is one supposed to understand the cuisine of a group of people unless you go as far back to the real origins of that cuisine and why it came about, instead of just being satisfied with a co-opted version which has been filtered down through uncounted layers of indirection through time and tastes and availability of ingredients? You do the same thing with martial arts trainers - you try to find the best education which is as close to the source that you are looking for, as is possible. Half of the cookbooks I've found are actually more about the history, geography, climate, regions, etc, than actual recipes - but understanding how the themes in this cuisine came about does kind of take a wider perspective than "this book has a killer recipe for beet salad" (the Lemon, Olives and Za'atar book has a killer beet salad recipe) coyo7e fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Jan 19, 2017 |
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Jan 19, 2017 03:25
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SHOAH NUFF posted:I bought the How to Cook Everything app. Does anyone have any personal favorite recipes from it? The lamb couscous recipe! I make it regularly - only addition is that I usually add red wine for all or most of the cooking liquid.
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Jan 19, 2017 04:19
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coyo7e posted:But for real, how is one supposed to understand the cuisine of a group of people unless you go as far back to the real origins of that cuisine and why it came about, instead of just being satisfied with a co-opted version which has been filtered down through uncounted layers of indirection through time and tastes and availability of ingredients? You do the same thing with martial arts trainers - you try to find the best education which is as close to the source that you are looking for, as is possible. Your implication is that someones religion prevents them from having authentic recipes for a cuisine from the region where they live and their ancestors have lived for thousands of years.
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Jan 19, 2017 14:36
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