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Sur La Table has entered the cookbook market, but instead of following Williams Sonoma's example of single subject books, they've come out with Things Cooks Love, (which is also the name of their new branded line of cooking gadgets -- I think it makes a better brand name than cookbook title, but maybe that's just me.) It's not surprising that much of the book seems to be dedicated to equipment. Not having seen the book itself, I can't say how useful it is, but it could be a good reference for the new cook. Likewise the "Global Kitchen" section, which is designed to give "comprehensive looks at the implements of global cuisines, detailed lists of essentials you’ll want in the pantry for a culinary tour, plus delicious recipes to put it all together." Regardless of the execution, it doesn't sound like something I'd get for myself, but I can see it being a nice gift if it's done well. Has anyone seen this?

This book is out of print, but Jessica's Biscuit is currently selling copies for $12.98 so I bought one. I've seen references to it, but not many recipe discussions. So, in anticipation of its arrival, I'd like to know: what are your favorite recipes from Paula Wolfert's World of Food?

Hi all, Some time ago I ran across a huge and very expensive book by a chef at Valrhona that included only savory chocolate recipes. Since then I can't manage to find the reference again. Does anyone know what that book is called? I know that Amazon.com did stock it. Best, Alan

I can't find a thread on here dealing with authentic Native american recipes. I've found several online references but wonder about their "authenticity." I'm helping cater a multicultural festival next week and the organizers wanted "authentic" recipes from a number of cuisines, most of which I am familiar - asian, african, south american, etc. But native american, not so much. And fry bread is out of the question- this is a huge, several-hour event and the food has to sit in chafers. Anybody have any ideas?

Books that I'm interested in for 2008: Ma Gastronomie by Fernand Point How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table by Russ Parsons A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France by Georgeanne Brennan Garde Manger: The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen by The Culinary Institute of America Artichoke to Za'atar: Modern Middle Eastern Food by Greg Malouf The Lebanese Cookbook by Hussein Dekmak The Belarusian Cookbook by Alexander Bely Classic German Cookbook: 70 traditional recipes from Germany, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, shown step-by-step in 300 photographs by Lesley Chamberlain What are you looking forward to?

I just received an Amazon gc, so I searched for any new dessert and pastry books coming out in 2008, and here's some that got me curious (in order of preference): Chocolate Epiphany: Exceptional Cookies, Cakes, and Confections for Everyone (Hardcover), by Francois Payard, Anne E. Mcbride Decadent Desserts: Recipes from Vaux-le-Vicomte (Hardcover) by Cristina De Vogue , Thomas Dhellhemmes, Delphine De Montalier The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehnsive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional by Glenn Rinsky, Laura Halpin Rinsky The Modern Baker: Time-Saving Techniques for Breads, Tarts, Pies, Cakes and Cookies by Nick Malgieri Ice Cream: From Cassata Semi-Freddo to Cider Apple Sorbet (The Small Book of Good Taste Series) by The Tanner Brothers Italian Ice Cream: Gelato, Sorbetto, Granita and Semifreddi by Carla Bardi, Emilia Onesti Advanced Bread and Pastry by Michel Suas Any advanced news on these? Others that you're watching?

...is it possible to store all of my cookbooks in one place? As someone who has a huge collection of cookbooks I use for reference on a daily basis, these new e-book readers seem like they'd be incredible for chefs to have all of their resources / recipes / etc in a neat little 10 oz. device. Does anyone know if cookbooks will be made available on these devices, or if we can copy the ones we have onto them?

Welcome to the Cookbooks & Reference Forum Index. This index has been created to assist you in finding common questions and topics. As you use this tool, please feel free to report any problems or suggestions to make it more efficient and usable. Likewise, if you feel a topic should be added, simply PM any of the forum hosts and we will review the topic for inclusion. Enjoy! Best, Worst & Annuals Reviews of Cookbooks by eGullet Members Essential Cookbooks Cookbooks Organized by Style / Genre / Course Ethnic & International Cookbooks About Cookbooks (Authoring, Publishing, etc) Collecting Cookbooks Food Related Non-Cookbooks

I've been perusing the Cookbooks & References topics from years past and didn't see anything on German Cooking. What are your favorites? BTW, any mention of German food leads me into my story of being 18 and in Bavaria for the first time. I refused to translate menus since I eat anything, and after 10 days of eating way too much meat, when I sat at a certain restaurant and saw "Wurst Salat" I was overjoyed at the chance to get a salad with a bit of meat on top. What came to my table 30 minutes later was a massive bowl of shredded bologna marinated in some dressing. No ruffage at all - none! Mmmmm...I ate 3 bites and was done. Now back to the books!

I may have missed this topic elsewhere in the forum - but what recommendations do y'all have? In addition, links or other references to prepare!

Over the past few years I've managed to build up my chocolate book library but I'm interested to hear what other people have read and their thoughts on the books. To start things off, some of my better books are: Fine Chocolates Great Experience: Jean-Pierre Wybaux I don't think this one needs any further description. THE book for many chocolatiers although it does assume some previous knowledge. Belgian Chocolates: Roger Geerts Another chocolate book I love. Lots of recipes, lots of photos on finishing techniques. Can be a little hard to follow in places as it has some assumed knowledge. As an aside, Geerts has now done a DVD to accompany this book. The Chocolate Bible: Christian Teubner This was a great find for me. I picked it up fairly cheaply at a bookstore and it has a wealth of information. Once again, lots of pictures of finished products. On the downside, the book is not dedicated to chocolate alone - there are also cakes and biscuits etc. Candymaking: Kendrick & Atkinson This was my introductory book to candy and chocolate making and still serves as a great reference for me - I still use the Creamy Fondant and Soft Caramel recipes. A little cheaper than some of the books above if you are looking for an introduction to the topic. Truffles, Candies & Confections: Carole Bloom Not many pictures, but choc full of recipes and tips. Covers a wide variety of chocolate and confectionary recipes. The Complete Home Confectioner: Hilary Walden A great introductory book more for confectionary than chocolate. Simple recipes but on a wide range of recipes and recipes different to those covered in the books above. Otherwise I'm waiting for Making Artisan Chocolates (Shotts) and Chocolates and Confections (Greweling) which seem to have been well received by the eG community judging by the posts. So what does everyone else read/use . . . ? (edited for typos)

So, I was mentally drooling over <a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showuser=19804">chrisamirault</a>'s description of savory egg dishes with curry over at the <a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=99435&hl=">egg thread</a> while simultaneously bemoaning my lack of real proficiency for making any type of Asian cuisine beyond egg rolls, won ton soup, rangoon, etc., and it occurred to me (with only a smidgen of prompting) that I should ask here to see if you all have some suggestions for some good, solid books that would get me on the right track in this, one of my favorite of all types of cooking. I see lots of titles in the bookstores, but I have no idea what to look for, or which are worth the expenditure... I have no frame of reference! I'd especially be interested in pan-Asian books; my family, friends and I enjoy the nuances in every region's special fare... although I'm not averse to indulging one of my few spending vices and purchasing individual books if they are especially valuable. Thanks in advance!

He's often quoted and was such a character but I can't seem to find any translations or anthologies of his Almanach. Amazon, Alibris, Addall, the Seattle Public Library reference librarians all come up empty, any suggestions?

So i'm in barcelona and enjoying the food here quite a bit. One thing i have found a bit tough is how to ask the butchers for different cuts of beef or pork. I'm not good enough with the anotomy of the animal to figure out where to ask from so if there is an online source that translates the different names of cuts that would be great. thanks, Jonny

I am participating in a class about Santa Fe and Taos. I have chosen to research the Cuisine and Indigenous Food of the Northern New Mexico. Can anyone recommend some good sources for my research? Often, Regional Cookbooks have excellent material and so I am looking for that type of reference. We will follow up the class with a week long trip in the area in April. You can bet I will comb this forum for your restaurant suggestions! Thanks for any help you can give me regarding comprehensive cookbooks.

If you are living in France and want to bake some American recipes, then you will need to print out a copy of David Lebovitz's invaluable guide: American Baking in Paris. I spent many hours trying to create my own list, but this is far more complete. Oh the time spent combing Paris for vanilla extract* only to discover that the French really don't use the same thing (arome de vanille NEQ vanilla extract). Or looking for a can of chicken soup… you're not gonna find it. *I was told, quite simply, that French chefs use vanilla beans when they want vanilla flavor! Imagine!

Inspired by the current recipe preferences thread, I got to thinking about recipe style guides. All of the newspapers I know of have style guides, and I can't imagine that they don't exist for recipes as well. If you have experience with these, can you share some insights about them? What guidelines are you given? Do they differ from magazine to magazine, publisher to publisher? Do they crimp your style, or keep you on the straight and narrow?

3 more for me. Debbie Moose's Deviled Eggs Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Mark Bittmans How to Cook Everything Holidays [Moderator note: The original Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 3)]

I have to admit that when I first read the teaser description of Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home on Amazon last fall, I was worried. Had Mario gone the way of Rachel Ray and FoodTV in general and surrendered to the “quick and easy” path that seems to plague the cookbook shelves at bookstores these days? As it turns out, there was nothing to be worried about. This is still the same old Mario, who can give a 5 second breakdown of Pugliese cuisine, make an obscure reference to a Rolling Stones song, and grill an octopus tentacle without pausing for a breath in between. So, while the subtitle includes the word “simple”, this is not the stuff of other FTV shows like Everyday Italian or 30 Minute Meals. You’ll find sweet and sour calves’ tongue, tripe, the aforementioned grilled octopus, and an anchovy and almond soup in these pages. In fact I’d say that “simple” is in fact a misnomer or at the least a relative term here: recipes do call for making the pasta yourself, or making your own mustard fruits, Cremona-style. The book is staggering in its scope and depth, and nearly every recipe has a beautiful, artfully composed full-color photograph by Beatriz da Costa to accompany it. It’s laid out in the usual Italian fashion, flowing from antipasti, to soups, to pasta, then onto seafood, meat, vegetables, and desserts. As always, his pasta recipes, both for dried and fresh pasta, seem to be the standout, and truly are “simple”, if you can get past making some of the pastas yourself. Peppered throughout are essays by Mario or other guest writers on Italian wine, the glories of cooking cephalopods, why ducks aren’t as popular in the U.S, and other varied topics, and Mario shares some of his dry, esoteric worldview in almost every pre-recipe writeup: when you break down a chicken, keep the thighs and legs and feed the breasts to the dog. That said, anyone familiar with his previous books will be a little dismayed at the number of recycled recipes here. Too, some recipes are only subtly different from one another, with only a minor variation in technique or ingredient to stand apart. The book starts with two fried cauliflower fritters, and there’s three antipasti recipes for clams on the half-shell. I’d rather have seen them rolled up into one master recipe, with variations listed afterwards, rather than blow a whole extra page and photo on them. Mario begins in the introduction by surveying his previous works as an overview of where he was at at each point in his career when he wrote them, and then continuing right up to this book, a summation of his total experiences with three cooking and two travel shows, and an ever-growing army of successful New York restaurants. It’s a look at the state of Italian food and cooking today, and he does indeed swing from Italian-American staples, to arch-regional specialties never dreamed of on these shores, to trademark, only-in-a Batali-owned-restaurant dishes. Mario’s strength has always been to walk the line between professional, restaurant-level cuisine and simple home-style cooking, and this is no exception. It’s hard not to argue that it doesn’t deserve a place on the cookbook shelf. Certainly anyone looking to get their first Mario cookbook should now begin (and almost end) here, but those with more familiarity of his previous works may have some misgivings. I gave a few of the recipes from this book a spin and made a weeknight meal for some friends. Here’s the menu: Antipasto: Prosciutto and Grilled Figs (page 100) Pasta: Spaghetti with Green Olive Sauce (Page 168) Main: Grilled Jumbo Shrimp with White Beans, Rosemary, and Mint Oil (Page 268) Vegetable: Asparagus with Citrus, Parsley, and Garlic (Page 418) Dessert: Peaches with Primitivo Syrup (Page 486) Total cook time from walking in the door to serving the antipasto: Almost exactly 90 minutes. No significant challenges or special techniques in making these items, the title gives almost an exact description of the ingredients. About the thing requiring an unusual technique was making the red wine syrup for the peaches, but seeing as how this was one of my first successful desserts back when I was learning how to cook, it can’t be that outlandish.

As some of you know, having doubtless hung upon my EVERY WORD with breathless excitement since my arrival here (), I am a total novice when it comes to cooking. It has only been within the past 45 days that I have moved past the "can boil water without being a danger to himself or to others" stage and on to actually making full meals. (For those of you who haven't seen my other posts, back in early December, I decided that I was going to try to teach myself to cook homecooked meals, in order to save money, and in order to provide my newborn son with homecooked food when he gets old enough to eat it.) In pursuing my education, I purchased (or received as a gift) the following books: Cooking for Dummies by Bryan Miller and Marie Rama I'm Just Here for the Food by Alton Brown The All New, All Purpose Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker I'm Just Here for More Food by Alton Brown How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman And since I am completely new to this whole cooking thing, and since you more experienced foodies probably get a lot of friends pestering you about which is the best cookbook they should buy if they want to get into cooking, I figured I'd share my thoughts. Cooking for Dummies -- Skip this one. Seriously. Technique-wise and ingredient-wise, there is absolutely nothing in this book that you can't learn from The Joy of Cooking, and there's a lot of info in TJoC that isn't in CFD. And TJoC only costs $15 more, and provides a vatload more info and recipes. (On the other hand, the first meal I made when I started down the path to being a home cook and foodie was the Shepherd's Pie recipe from this book. And it was pretty darned tasty once I doubled the amount of stock called for in the recipe. But, on the gripping hand, the Shepherd's Pie recipe in TJoC isn't significantly different from the one in Cooking for Dummies, so...) I'm Just Here for the Food -- I got this one because I'm a geek, and Alton Brown is a geek, and I figured there'd be interesting tidbits and info contained within its pages. And I was right -- there's a lot of good info in this book. However, it's info of a trivial nature, telling you things about molecules and heat transfer and things of that nature. And while this is useful information to enhance your technique, as a novice cook I was looking more for "Here's how to debone a chicken" or "Here's how to cook vegetables." It's a good book, and I'm glad I bought it, but it would have been mostly useless to me without some other book to give me the broad foundation I needed to really get the best use out of what Alton was telling me. The All New, All Purpose Joy of Cooking -- And, speaking of foundations, here it is. My mom got me this book for Christmas, and I read it cover to cover (only skipping the chapter on Candy, which just wasn't all that interesting to me). As far as "bang for my buck," TJoC has provided more info, both about ingredients and technique, than any other cookbook I've read. It has illustrations for many of the various types of greens, as well as mushrooms, pasta, chiles, fish, and cuts of meat. It explains cooking techniques in detail. It talks about meat and poultry in detail, and discusses how beef, pork, and chicken these days are a lot leaner than they were even 10 years ago, thus requiring changes in cooking technique. Additionally, it also contains interesting bits of food history, such as the likely origin of nachos, how sauces evolved, the competing accounts of how the reuben sandwich was invented, and so forth. It showcases all this information in a wonderful array of recipes, including a bunch of classic recipes from around the world, recipes for food that was considered "fine dining" in days gone by, and recipes for good, solid "blue collar" classics like the Hot Brown sandwich, the Muffaletta, and Brunswick stew. I'm Just Here for More Food -- This is Alton Brown's baking book, and generally provides the same sort of info about baking that I'm Just Here for the Food provides about savory cooking, and the same remarks made for that book can also be made for this one. However, this book has already been useful to me for one tip: If the dough doesn't wanna roll out, let it sit a few minutes so the gluten can relax. The homemade "leftover" pizza I made last night ended up putting this particular bit of knowledge to good use. How to Cook Everything -- I'm about halfway through this book. The blurb on the cover touts it as "a more hip version of The Joy of Cooking." While the tone of the writing is more modern, I would (so far, at least) tend to classify the book as "a lite version of The Joy of Cooking." The book does indeed provide useful info on technique and ingredients, but it seems overall less detailed than TJoC. The breadth of info is almost the same as TJoC, but the depth isn't. Also, as a matter of purely personal preference, I find the recipes in HtCE a bit...uninspiring. HtCE doesn't feature a lot of classic recipes, instead focusing on a more modern style of cooking. So the recipes all have names like "Chicken with thyme and pesto" or "Chicken with rice and mushrooms" or "Chicken with wine sauce and shallots," etc. These are names which just don't send my imagination soaring like, for example, "boeuf borguignonne" does. However, HtCE serves as a fantastic complement to TJoC. My personal preferences on naming conventions aside, the emphasis on modern cuisine serves as a nice counterpoint to TJoC's more traditional approach. HtCE also acknowledges the fact that people these days buy food from supermarkets, and says "That's okay if you gotta." (TJoC's attitude to buying anything less than the best, freshest possible ingredients is a little more rigid.) HtCE also has a spiffy section on kitchen equipment, and what gear you will find most useful, a feature lacking in TJoC. Based on my experiences in learning how to cook from books, if one of my friends asked me "I'd like to start learning how to cook. What books do you recommend?", I would say "Buy The Joy of Cooking and How to Cook Everything. Read the 'Equipment' section of HtCE first, then read TJoC cover-to-cover, then go back and read the rest of HtCE." That would, IMHO, provide a good start for anyone who wants to head down the road to becoming a foodie.

I have no idea how many cookbooks I have, but they currently fill one floor-to-ceiling bookshelf in the kitchen and most of one in the living room. I like to collect cookbooks from places that I visit, those of historical interest, and just plain odd ones. My sons find my collection very humorous for I never actually cook from my cookbooks. I have a slight anti-authoritarian quirk that does not allow me to follow directions, and I generally just make stuff up after comparing similar recipes from various sources. To Marmish: I'd really be interested in knowing where that bookstore in Forest Park is. I hang out at the Frugal Muse in Darien (75th and Lemont) now and then -- nice collection of used cookbooks there, too. [Moderator note: The original Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 2)]

I bought this book when I first decided I was going to start improving my cooking skills awhile ago. Then I fell into volunteering as an assistant at a cooking school, learned my basic skills there and never really opened Bittman's book much. I'm in awe of it as a reference work-- it's quite an accomplishment, but I still never open it much (though I still have alot to learn, that's for sure). Had some shrimp that needed to be used the other night, so I dusted off HTCE to see what ideas Bittman had. Ended up using his Shrimp "My Way", which was fine (However, I was a bit surprised to see the instructions telling you to broil the shrimp as close as possible to the heat source for 5-10 minutes! Yikes.) What good recipes am I missing in HTCE? The one I really like is the simple seviche.

I was just nosing around Amazon and noticed that the CIA has come out with a new professional book "Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft". Just published on March 1, 2004 and I haven't seen it in stores yet, so I was just wondering if anyone had heard anything or flipped through it to see what the deal is - Must have reference with best of class recipes, or dated, middle of the road stuff that's covered everywhere else already?

Okay, the cooking forum has one! Some books are fluff and not much more than a coffee table, pretty and glossy dust collector. Not that those do not have their own valued or deserved place within one's collection(s)... they do! Other books are fantastic resources for both the home mixologist and professional barkeep. Hence, all the above were inspiration to get the thread a'rollin. Another part of this came from the *glee* I felt yesterday when I unearthed the 1993 edition of a book I loaned out in 1996! It is 501 Questions Every Bartender Should Know How to Answer, a Unique Look at the Bar Business by Robert Plotkin. It was purchased directly from the man himself at the Vegas Bar Show. While I eagerly reopen it to read once again, I do realise that perhaps some of the info may be dated.... Meh. What's not to enjoy with sections on product knowledge (liquors, liqueurs, beers and wines), mixology (who, what, why, etc.), "Alcohol IQ," questions for seasoned pros and then on-premise bartending tests for entry, intermediate and advanced levels. Mmmm. Good stuff. Another recommendation is Champagne Cocktails, Including recipes, quotes, lore, and a directory of the world's poshes lounges by Anistatia Miller, Jared Brown and Don Gatterdam (1999). It even includes food preparations and recipes, such as Champagne Fondue, Steak au Champagne and Champagne Zabaglione. "Fizziology" I know there are a bunch of recommendations throught the 360+ threads here on the cocktail forum, and a I have a few myself, but which books are your faves?

Many of you probably have a copy of this book, but for those who don't and can't afford $69 for a copy (the lowest price I've found so far), it's being reprinted! Due out March 2004, though the release date according to amazon.ca is May 2004. It will be a much more reasonable $16.78 Canadian . The US Amazon site did not yet have details so I cannot report on the US price. I do have confirmation from University of Chicago Press, though.