Search the Community

Financial Times of London When you buy a cookbook written by a famous chef, do you automatically assume that all of the recipes are original?Is this an important factor in your purchase? Does it matter that ghost writers may have "enhanced" or even altered the original recipes? or the writing for that matter?

Hi, I have been wanting to get into and learn how to cook various types of food from various regions, and I figured nows a good a time as any. I was wondering what books do you suggest teach Mediterranean and Vietnamese cooking best, easy or authentic? Any and all suggestions are appreciated, whether to a book or a forum already dedicated to this, I searched but couldnt find one, thanx. saltz

When I compare my German cookbooks with my American ones one thing which I don't like with most of the American cookbook is that they are lacking pictures of the dishes. I am not talking about "food porn" (where the pictures only cover lousy recipes) but I think a good cookbook only becomes an excellent cookbook if the visual part is also in place. And you will find hardly any excellent German cookbook without stunning pictures. There are of course exceptions (e.g. The Cook's Book etc.) but what kind of cookbooks do you have with great recipes and great pictures ?

Last year we had a good thread going with peoples comments and notifications of new cookbooks to look out for. Cookbooks published in 2005 I thought it would be a good idea to start the thread earlier this year to catch more of the new cookbooks published in the first half of the year. A cookbook coming out in June that I'll check out is Emily Luchetti's new dessert cookbook, "Passion for Ice Cream". ($ for egullet if you order through this egullet-Amazon link) Passion for Ice Cream (Hardcover) by Emily Luchetti, Sheri Giblin Any cookbooks from this year that you've already bought or ones that you are looking forward to checking out? edited to add: Here's a link with instructions on how to construct an eGullet-Amazon link. . Click

[Moderator note: The original Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 2)] Oh, Abra. Oh, Abra. Can we call this the Pork Altar? This is so effing unbelievable. So, who cares if it only took you three monts to get your mise in place. Which brings me how to construct my curing chamber (Chris, why in the hell did you choose black and not white for your container) and finding just the right place in the hosue. I'm such a lightweight and such a worrywort. It's only meat!

Many of you are already aware of José Andrés’s book Tapas, A Taste of Spain in America, also available in Spanish as Los fogones de José Andrés. In the Spain & Portugal Forum we’ve discussed how well Spanish cuisine travels given the dependency that many dishes have on very specific ingredients available only in Spain or even only in certain regions of Spain. The question lead to an interesting debate and we concluded somehow that the dependency for certain dishes was so tight that without the ingredient in question itself you’d only obtain a pale resemblance –if any—to the original dish, whereas with some others you could actually get pretty good results. I believe that José’s book does a good job collecting dishes that can capture their original soul even if you don’t have access to the genuine products. In any case, now you have a chance to share your experience and results obtained through cooking your way through José’s book. Rogelio (Rogelio Enríquez), Malawry (Rochelle Reid Myers ), Ronnie Suburban (Ron Kaplan) and I would like to invite you to join us in Cooking with Tapas by Jose Andres.This thread is the place to include your notes, and share with us photos of recipes you have prepared from it. This thread will begin in the Spain & Portugal forum and eventually be moved to the Cooking Forum. If you don't have the book, you still can cook some recipes from it: José Andrés and his publisher, Clarkson Potter, have graciously contributed three recipes which can be found in RecipeGullet: Squid with onions Potatoes with chorizo Chickpea spinach stew This is a "cooking with" thread, so please concentrate on the recipes and save general discussion for an eG Spotlight Conversation with José Andrés, which will take place later in the year, or in one of the existing threads of the Spain and Portugal forum.

Can someone recommend a good book for baking sweets? I'm looking for something that will cover the basics of various cookies and cakes, custards, sauces, etc. (Not interested in candies or ice cream.) Kind of like Peterson's book on sauces. Thanks in advance.

Does anyone know where or if there is a copy of le gout authentique retrouve by Hidemi Sugino? thanks, Jeremy Shapiro

I have a friend who would like to learn about wok cooking and has asked me to recommend a good book for the beginner. The books I learned from are old and out of print. What current books should I suggest? What about Breath of the Wok ( is that the right name?)? Thanks for your help Dianne Ross

Comrade eGer's, I am trying to pick up a copy of Alain D's Spoon cookbook for my collection. Problem is: it's not showing up in Amazon/Borders or B&N warehouse search engine (on line and in stores) any more. I do have the ISBNs for the tradeback and hardbound editions - either would be grand. While his website has them both for sale, I would like avoid having to negotiate in Euros (darn exchange rate). Do y'all know of a stateside retailer who's 'currently' carrying either/both of the books? Thanks! ~ C

Over in the miraculous, slightly obsessive, and wonderful Charcuterie topic, many eGulleteers have been learning from Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn's Charcuterie. As a result, we've got freezers full of bacon, andouille, hocks, pancetta, and who knows what else. This topic is for cooking with those salted, smoked, and cured products. For example, I'm going to start with a very basic recipe, just a simple few steps that lead to a fantastic plate: the classic bistro frissee salad with lardons. This salad -- frissee lightly dressed with a vinaigrette, tossed with lardons (thickly diced and well-cooked pieces of bacon), and topped with a fried egg -- is a fantastic showcase for the high-quality bacon you'll be producing if you start curing and smoking your own. Being able to add lardons that are both crispy and meaty into your salad is a remarkable joy. What else are people doing with their cured products?

The "Julie/Julia" project has given me the idea that I could learn a lot by working through an important cookbook with classic dishes. But which cookbook to choose? I thought something appropriate might be "The Cook's Book" by Jill Norman. It has the basics like stocks and soups, as well as varied cuisines. However, some of the recipes are famous chef's signature dishes, and I don't feel I can attempt those yet. Plus it feels more encyclopedic, rather than having chapters that build on previous lessons. Julia Child's books have the distinct advantage of lengthy texts where she explains everything in detail, including suggested fixes if a dish goes wrong. But do I spend a full year making French dishes I may never repeat? Or, is this a wonderful education that would be helpful in all future cooking, no matter what the cuisine? I thought of going down the path of Mexican food, which my husband and I both love, by using Rick Bayless' "Mexican Kitchen". That would be fun, but would not help me learn the European classics. Another book I own is Cook's Illustrated "New Best Recipe" with 1,000 exhaustively tested recipes, including things like "Easy Pork Chops". Will I learn the most from this book? And then there's the Culinary Institute's "Professional Chef" tome, which I don't enjoy because I have to convert everything down from 10 portion recipes. I know the obvious answer is that one can learn from any of these books, the trick is to get in the kitchen and start cooking. But, considering my over-the-hill age, I want to learn the most in the least amount of time, that will help me in all future cooking, no matter what the style or ingredients. Any advice?

It's great! I love the way it's organised, the fact that it also covers more unusual ingredients (rather than focussing on bland supermarket staples) and it's packed with unusual/surprising recipes that I'm dying to try out. So often with cookbooks I find the recipes given are variations on a theme that I'm already quite familiar with. I love the fact with this book you'll find things like 'Greek semolina pancakes', 'Peruvian Potatoes in the Huancayo style', "Okra with tomatoes' as cooked by the Indians of Uganda, 'Poached Eggplants with a Korean Hot Sauce', 'Boiled Peanuts, Indonesian Style' and Mango curry from Trinidad! It's exciting and unpretentious and does what a great cookbook should do; open up new worlds for you. I feel very inspired to go through the whole book and try everything out. I had a 100% success rate with a bunch of recipes I tried out on friends last night. My particular favourite was an Iranian puree of zuchini which involved tumeric, cumin, cayenne, garlic and a smidgin of tomato paste. Anyway probably everyone on this forum is already familiar with it, but if not, I heartily recommend it - particularly for meat eaters who are racking their brains as to what to cook for vegetarian dinner guests. (Hopefully triggering an end to the mushroom risotto/ratatouille/pasta with home-made pesto/roasted vegetables cliches of recent years - delicious though they can all be.)

Over in the Cookbooks You Actually Use To Cook thread, Geoff Ruby asks, It is a different tangent, and a good one that deserves its own thread! I tend to relegate the obvious howlers to the Salvation Army (bad advice, etc.), and I am wary of books that use nice pix to try to blind you to bad recipes. But I tend to keep books that repeat dishes that I make a lot, figuring that more information is a good thing. You? What makes you bail on a book?

.....some bads news...At a chocolate demonstration in Brussels recentlyI managed to catch up againwith the great Spanish patissier Paco Torreblanca. Unfortunately he is not planning to have his books translated into English as he is convinced there is no demand. I tried in vain to convince him otherwise but no luck,he was not convinced with my argument that I would buy 3 copies to start him off!...Suggestions please..

I noticed tonight that while I have a plethora of cookbooks to choose from when it comes to "normal" cuisine (i.e. american mainly) I always pull out the trusted Better Homes and Garden cookbook. I think I got my first version at a garage sale for for a dollar and received the 3 ring binder version as a gift years later. Every time I want to try a recipe for something I've not made thats pretty common (I grew up eating Thai food so somethings normal for you I don't have experience cooking quite as much) I find the BHG the old workhorse. Example I just started making buttermilk pancakes from scratch (used to use the box *hide*) and I'm in love with them. I have Nigella Lawson's Domestic Goddess and I don't care for her version as much. I was just thinking it's was wierd that for "exotic" cuisine (thai, chinese, japanese) I use recipes from all over but for "normal" I find the staid old BHG cookbook to be my favorite. Anyone else have this experience?

Does anyone have suggestions for menu items that I can teach my 7-year old daughter? Ideally, I’m looking for dishes that she can handle entirely from start-to-finish, with myself doing the appropriate prep work (measuring, chopping, etc.). The start-to-finish aspect is important, as it gives our little sous chef “pride of ownership” so to speak. So far, my daughter can handle a basic risotto from start-to-finish. The risotto has turned out to be the ideal “starter” dish, teaching her fundamentals such as paying attention throughout the cooking process, as well as flexibility in ingredient measures and tasting for doneness. She already knows how to do a basic dressing, so we will work more in that area. Please keep in mind that we are still talking about a 7-year old perched on a chair. Anything that involves a lot of lifting or high degree of dexterity is out. Stovetop cooking is a must but high heat cooking and flambes are out, for obvious reasons. Anything that takes more than 30 minutes will be difficult (attention span issues). Type of cuisine does not matter; suggestions for Japanese dishes are also welcome. I’m thinking certain soups (minnestrone) and vegetable sides would be ideal. Beef stroganoff is another idea. What did you learn to cook when you were seven? TIA -Kenji

This year, for Christmas, I made my Great Grandma's butter almond cookies (stamped with a tulip cookie stamp) and gave them to family members, along with a letter describing my idea for a family cookbook. Next year's present will be the cookbook. I've asked them to send me at least one recipe that they are known for in the family, one recipe from the other side of their family, and one recipe that they make at home on a regular basis. I've also asked them to send any of my Great Grandma's recipes they may have... I'm hoping that the cookbook can be sort of a dedication to my grandma. Along with that, I've asked for pictures and stories revolving around food, i.e. the first time my Great Grandpa had tacos and didn't know what they were called, and the time my dad chucked a roll at my mom's head, etc. I'm torn between sort of making it look homemade and scrapbooky or making it more of a professional presentation. I have a design background, so either method would probably work. What I'm wondering, is if anyone had done this and has any suggestions or tips? Also, if I do go for more of a professional look, does anyone know of resources for printing, paper, or that sort of thing? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Having read the thread with the Q&A session with Sam Mason, I got to wondering about what subjects in the baking and pastry arts is most lacking when it comes to books. ( and also about who I would like to see a book from ) In recent months I have read about the following PC's plans to write books, hopefully to be out sooner than later: Pichet Ong ( formerly of Spice Market in NYC ) Patrick Coston ( now Exec PC at the Ritz Carlton Las Vegas ) Kate Zuckerman ( PAD Top 10 winner, PC at Chanterelle in NYC ) Johnny Iuzzini ( Jean Georges PC ) Sherry Yard ( PC at Spago - a 2nd book for her ) I am looking forward to Coston's book, as I am a fan of his style, beginning from when he was in LV for the 1st time, at Picasso in the Bellagio. As far as subjects, I would love to see an AFFORDABLE book(s) on chocolate and sugar showpieces. ( The only ones I see recently cost more than $100 ). Also would like to see more books on Entrements ( for professionals that is - books on cakes for home cooks are easy to come by ). As far as for books by people, a book by Jean-Philippe Maury of the Bellagio ( on any subject ) would be a must have for me. My biggest problem ( besides having a list of books that cost $1,500 total ) is that I am very weary of buying a book that I can't browse through ( like from JB Prince or CHIPS BOOK ). I own many books but only go to a few for inspirations, so buying a book " blind" that could basically contain stuff that may be of very little use to me, plus cost so much, is very undaunting to me. So, who or what would you like to see written by or about? Jason

Hi Sara -- thanks for joining us this week and giving us your insights into your career and food world. I've been anticipating your Spotlight for a very long time. In terms of the outside sources by which you draw inspiration, what are some of your favorite cookbooks on your shelves? And which do you find yourself turning to most often? What has the most sentimental value to you?

Hello everyone! I need your advice, or for that matter any input of the following books. Have you used them? What did you like or did not like. Do you still use any? I've been cooking for year and want to improve my skills. I am looking for a book that will grow with me. I would love to take some professional courses eventually when work/life isn't as busy. So, this is the list I've gathered so far, please pass on you reviews. -The Cook's Book, by Jill Norman -I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking, by Alton Brown -On Cooking: Techniques From Expert Chefs, by Sarah R. Labensky -Essentials of Professional Cooking, by Wayne Gisslen -La Varenne Pratique,by Anne Willan -The Professional Chef, Seventh Edition, by Culinary Institute of America -Professional Cooking, by Wayne Gisslen Of course, feel free to suggest any other book. Thanks in advance

I just bought back a bunch of szechuan peppercorns fom china and was looking to cook w/ them. If I throw them in whole, they tend to make to dish feel "griity", kind of like dirt is in the dish. My wife doesn't care for it that way. Anyone have any suggestions for making them seem less "gritty"? -z

I've made a commitment to cook my way through the rebar modern food cookbook, and it occurred to me that we should start a thread on dishes you have made from local cookbooks. Which books by local chefs do you just look at and drool, dreaming of the next day you'll be able to go to the restaurant? Which ones do you cook from regularly? Let's record our failures along with our successes and learn from each other. This week I made the lemon pudding cake, substituting key limes for the lemon. I also subbed evaporated skim milk for the milk to give it a richer flavor. I halved the recipe for the three of us and used three of the tiny limes for one lemon. It's more of a baked custard pudding than a cake pudding. My family loved it-comfort food deluxe. A friend of mine makes the whole recipe for potlucks. Tonight I made the lime sugar cookies, which are cakey in texture and have crunchy bits of pepitas in them. I made them smaller than the recipe suggests, with a tablespoon of dough each, resulting in 21 cookies. My son likes them, and as the recipe suggests, they would be good with a tangy sorbet. I think I would be tempted to fool around with the recipe a bit-put the seeds on top instead of in the batter and dip them in a lime glaze for added zip. It occurred to me they would be good with a sprinkling of C's Citrus Salt on top. Zuke

i just found this little gem of chocolate cookbooks called "Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes and Home Made candy Recipes" written 1924 by Miss Parloa. its been released for free on the project gutenberg site, have fun !! cheers t.

Earlier this week, I attended a cooking class, demonstrated by Clifford Wright, on his new book, “Some Like It Hot: Spicy Favorites From The World's Hot Zones.” He cooked six spicy dishes from different parts of the world and the class got to sample all of them. And I'm still living to tell you about it. Here are the six dishes Clifford prepared: Chive pancakes (Korea): The pancakes batter had two red jalapeno chiles. Once cooked, you take a piece of the pancake & eat it with a Korean red chile paste (koch'ujang). This is slightly hot & sweet. Jerk shrimp (Jamaica): two pounds of shrimp marinading in the jerk seasoning which contained scallions, ginger, coriander, garlic, nutmeg, allspice, thyme, pernut oil, soy sauce, and NINE finely chopped habanero chiles. Everyone got one skewer of jerk shrimp. When we ate the jerk shrimp, WHOA, MAMA!!!! At this point, we took a ten-minute break to cool down. Aside from the spiciness, there was a very smooth flavor to the shrimp that I liked. This was definitely the spiciest dish of the evening. Vegetable curry in yogurt gravy (state of Kerala, India): While the spiciness was about medium (ten green jalapenos), the vegetarian stew (avial) had a wonderful satisfying flavor with the different vegetables (eggplant, sweet potato, peas, green beans, carrot, onion) included, as well as some fruits like mango & shredded, unsweetened coconut. Clifford commented how this vegetarian dish is satisfying to meat eaters. They don't miss the meat when eating this dish. The class agreed as well. Drunkard's fried noodles with seafood (Thailand): Wide rice noodles (pad Thai) are used to be mixed with the shrimp, scallops & squid, some seasonings (Thai fish sauce, tamarind water, garlic, lemongrass) and Thai chiles (or “sky-pointing chiles”; green serranos can be used). Quite spicy, but not as spicy as the jerk shrimp, the dish had a “light” & “clean” flavor, as opposed to the “warmer” flavor of the jerk shrimp dish. Mahi mahi with green chile and cilantro cream sauce (Mexico, Pacific side): The cream sauce is slightly spicy, because of the creme fraiche that offsets it. After the fish is browned, the spicy cream sauce is added into the pan, covered and cooks for about fifteen minutes. I asked Clifford if the fish will become dry after fifteen minutes. I tasted it and it was moist, not dry., because the mahi mahi were thick fish steaks. Ranchero steaks with chipotle chile sauce (Sonora, Mexico): This dish was delicious and barely spicy (to me). The sauce had tomatillos, garlic, & canned chipotle chiles. I mean, come on! Yes, I noticed how the spiciness of the dishes was tapering off as the evening progressed. I enjoyed the cooking demo tremendously. This was a great way to be introduced to this book, especially when the author was right there cooking all these selections. Thank you, Clifford Wright! edited for additional information & formatting