# Essential Books For Home Cook



## Evilsports (Mar 26, 2017)

I had made a post about trying my hand at a demi glace-ish reduction, and one fellow recommended a book by James Peterson:








I don't know that I have a go-to cookbook for anything, to be honest. I'm looking for recommendations from people who are more skilled and knowledgeable than me.

What would you consider to be your quintessential cooking book?

I Google the question and inevitably end up with a list including Joy of Cooking, Mastering French Cooking, and the rest of the mainstream type cook books. I don't know that these are or aren't the books I'm looking for, but figured I'd try to save a bit of leg work and see what you guys consider to be a few of your personal grails.

Disclaimer: I'm just a home cook who would like to learn more about the craft.


Thanks,
Kevin.


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## Godslayer (Mar 26, 2017)

On food and cooking immediately springs to mind and to a lesser degree August escoffiers "a guide to modern cooking" and [email protected] are great resources. That first one is my absoulute favorite and I bought my mom and sister a copy each. http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/21076-Recommend-some-books?highlight=

May be of some use. It's a book thread I made a long long time ago. But classics never change. 

Off topic but YouTube has a few good guys. Bruno albouze is amazing for fancy stuff. For home cooking I like food wishes and bryon Talbot is also good. The best has to be matty matheson though(only a few videos, but very entertaining) chef steps is also good(for sous vide or playing around) 

Hope that helps, 

Enjoy the learning. :knife:


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## guari (Mar 27, 2017)

Youtube is where it's at. That said, i l do have quite a few good books, but I'd rather just youtube it..


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## Badgertooth (Mar 27, 2017)

Spy writer Len Deighton wrote this in the 60's and it super easily explains the basics and fundamentals of French cooking with really easy cartoon type drawings


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## khashy (Mar 27, 2017)

Not sure if it's for the home cook or not:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0982761007/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## Nemo (Mar 27, 2017)

From an Aussie perspective:

I use Neil Perry's "The food I love" (western food) and "Balance and Harmony" (Chinese food) a lot. Almost every recipee has a couple of pro tips to make your good food great.

I learned a lot about the theory of what creates taste, flavour and texture from Heston's "Heston at Home". The recipees are complex but demonstrate some great techniques and are well worthwhile for special meals (or just for fun). I learned lots of great techniques there as well.

I have a lot of staples from Stephanie Alexander's "The Cooks Companion". It's organised by ingredient so it's quite useful if using an ingredient that you haven't used much before.

I quite like many of Marcella Hazaan's Italian recipees. I cook her ragu a lot. A popular frozen dinner for the little ones at short notice.

David Thompson has some great Thai recipees. They are fairly complex but so are the flavours. My wife especially likes the Paenang curry.

I'm keeping an eye out for a cookbook by our Aussie members  (hope I didn't miss anyone).

Oh, and Adam Liaw's cookbooks are the only ones I have seen which feature great knives.


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## cheflarge (Mar 27, 2017)

The Omnivore's Dilemma - Wikipedia


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## Castalia (Mar 27, 2017)

Speaking of the Omnivore's Dilemma, I thought Michael Pollan's "Cooked" was an excellent way to think more about foods I enjoy making. It is not really a cookbook, but will get you thinking more about building flavor and what you are doing in the kitchen.

For a pretty good home cook reference I like: Cook's Illustrated, "The Science of Good Cooking." It doesn't have a recipe for everything you can imagine like Bittman's How to Cook Everything, but will get you pretty far. 

Another one in that 'science' vein that has been on my amazon wishlist for a while is Jeff Potter's "Cooking for Geeks"


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## Godslayer (Mar 27, 2017)

khashy said:


> Not sure if it's for the home cook or not:
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/0982761007/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20



They make a home cook version modernist cuisine at home which is 3-$400 cheaper and pretty good. I've never seen the full set because I cant justify $500+ cad for a set.


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## khashy (Mar 27, 2017)

Godslayer said:


> They make a home cook version modernist cuisine at home which is 3-$400 cheaper and pretty good. I've never seen the full set because I cant justify $500+ cad for a set.



I agree, way too much even for an encyclopaedia


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## Casaluz (Mar 27, 2017)

My thoughts here come from the perspective of a home cook. I will distinguish the books in two categories, books for methods and understanding cooking, and books for clear recipes and examples. For me, I consider everyone of these books indispensable as each one of them transformed the way I cook.
I) Understanding cooking:
- _On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen_, by Harold McGee
- _Jacques Pepin New Complete Techniques_, by Jacques Pepin
- _The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adria_, by Ferran Adria
- _Heston Blumenthal at Home_, by Heston Blumenthal

II) Cooking Recipes and cultural context
- _Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art_, by Shizuo Tsuji
- _The New Spanish Table_, by Anya von Bremzen
- _My Paris Kitchen: Recipes and Stories_, by David Lebovitz
- _Gran Cocina Latina: The Food in Latin America_, by Maricell E. Presilla


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## LifeByA1000Cuts (Mar 27, 2017)

+1 to McGee...


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## Badgertooth (Mar 27, 2017)

This thread is gold


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## malexthekid (Mar 27, 2017)

Nemo said:


> From an Aussie perspective:
> 
> I use Neil Perry's "The food I love" (western food) and "Balance and Harmony" (Chinese food) a lot. Almost every recipee has a couple of pro tips to make your good food great.
> 
> ...



Will have to look into Neil Perry's book. I love Stephanie Alexander's, her Bolognese recipe is so moorish.

I am also quite partial to Maggie Beer's Maggie's Harvest.

I have Heston at home. But only read it so far and David Thompson's Thai Street Food is on my to get list.

I Quite like Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home.


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## woyuskinny (Mar 27, 2017)

Cooking by Hand by Paul Bertolli sent me on many long paths in different directions....


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## rami_m (Mar 27, 2017)

Heston is really good if you have the time ( several days for a meal). When I had a few people over they were ultra impressed. Very simple steps and he highlights risk areas. With a nice amount of theory thrown in so you know what you are doing. 

A second favourite is the aww cooking school book. It's out of print, but I would gladly buy a couple if it ever goes back in print. Fool proof recipes that I could tell were tested until a baby can follow them and the results are quite good, abc of cooking.


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## Evilsports (Mar 27, 2017)

Well, this one seemed to be getting repeat recommendations so I started with it. (Also pre-ordered the November revision of Peterson's sauce book). 

What an interesting read thus far! I keep skipping from sauces to dairy to spices and all over the map.


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## DDPslice (Mar 27, 2017)

Badgertooth said:


> Spy writer Len Deighton wrote this in the 60's and it super easily explains the basics and fundamentals of French cooking with really easy cartoon type drawings




AWESOME


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## mauichef (Mar 28, 2017)

Some of my favorites........
The Flavor Bible - Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
The Food Lab - J Kenji Alt-Lopez is The Man!
Modernist Cuisine at Home - Nathan Myhrvold and Maxime Bilet
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
The Science of Good Cooking - Cooks Illustrated
Yan-Kit's Classic Chinese Cookbook
Nom Nom Paleo - Michelle Tam and Henry Fong
Meathead - Meathead Goldwyn
Any of the Culinaria Series.


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## LifeByA1000Cuts (Mar 28, 2017)

From first impressions, kind of overrated: Ruhlman's Ratio ... but maybe I just don't like the focus on un-hip western cuisine


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## MontezumaBoy (Mar 28, 2017)

mauichef said:


> Some of my favorites........
> The Flavor Bible - Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
> The Food Lab - J Kenji Alt-Lopez is The Man!
> On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
> ...



+1 to these (the others I don't know) but would add Keller' FL & Bouchon to the list if haut cuisine technique is your thing. FL kinda changed the way I do things ...

I have tried to dig Manresa (was a gift) but just too many elements for any given dish - lovely "table book" & photography though ...


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## krx927 (Mar 29, 2017)

I really liked Professional Cooking by Wayne Gisslen. I know it goes against the threads title but it's a great book to read as home cook.


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## LifeByA1000Cuts (Mar 29, 2017)

Since most here are about artistic, not utilitarian home cooking, exactly the opposite to the thread title is probably the best advice: Stay away from books that are explicitly tailored to the home cook (unless they are about traditional homestyle recipes and techniques and that is what you are looking for), especially if they are written by professionals. That usually just ends up in the writer giving their second best.

...

Something that i always find too unsexy to buy (but should), but which always impresses me when finding pieces via online book previews: Textbooks for apprenticing bakers and cooks. So information, much dense, wow!


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## nwdel (Mar 29, 2017)

cheflarge said:


> The Omnivore's Dilemma - Wikipedia



+1 to Omnivore's Dilemma, frames food choices from an almost moral perspective.


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## LenB (Apr 3, 2017)

Godslayer said:


> ...
> 
> Off topic but YouTube has a few good guys. Bruno albouze is amazing for fancy stuff. For home cooking I like food wishes and bryon Talbot is also good. The best has to be matty matheson though(only a few videos, but very entertaining) chef steps is also good(for sous vide or playing around)
> ...



I've culled my cookbook collection to a very small number, and generally use the internet, but in a fairly haphazard way. Thanks for pointing out good Youtube channels.

Does anyone have favorite cooking websites?


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## benito (Apr 25, 2017)

judy rodgers' zuni cafe cookbook 

specifically for the way she writes about recipes; i wish more cookbooks could be as insightful in their instruction.

i cook a lot of traditional mexican stuff when i'm not at work: dianna kennedy is awesome, but if i'm catering/cooking sufficient quantities; rick bayless recipes' tend to have the kinks ironed out, less guesswork, and translate well to a modern kitchen.

also, as a working line cook that sometimes has to make things happen in a pinch, ruhlmans' ratio has proven useful. in a nutshell; it helps one think about recipes as a relationship of ratios. 

all the cool kids are into brooks headleys' fancy desserts, the bar tartine cookbooks.


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