Book picks similar to
The Science of Spice: The Anatomy of Spices and the Alchemy of Cooking Them by Stuart Farrimond
cookbooks
cooking
non-fiction
food
The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread
Peter Reinhart - 2001
Never one to be content with yesterday’s baking triumph, however, Peter continues to refine his recipes and techniques in his never-ending quest for extraordinary bread.In The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, Peter shares his latest bread breakthroughs, arising from his study in several of France’s famed boulangeries and the always-enlightening time spent in the culinary academy kitchen with his students. Peer over Peter’s shoulder as he learns from Paris’s most esteemed bakers, like Lionel Poilâne and Phillippe Gosselin, whose pain à l’ancienne has revolutionized the art of baguette making. Then stand alongside his students in the kitchen as Peter teaches the classic twelve stages of building bread, his clear instructions accompanied by over 100 step-by-step photographs.You’ll put newfound knowledge into practice with 50 new master formulas for such classic breads as rustic ciabatta, hearty pain de campagne, old-school New York bagels, and the book’s Holy Grail–Peter’s version of the famed pain à l’ancienne. En route, Peter distills hard science, advanced techniques, and food history into a remarkably accessible and engaging resource that is as rich and multitextured as the loaves you’ll turn out. This is original food writing at its most captivating, teaching at its most inspired and inspiring–and the rewards are some of the best breads under the sun.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
Marcella Hazan - 1992
Designed as a basic manual for cooks of all levels of expertise—from beginners to accomplished professionals—it offers both an accessible and comprehensive guide to techniques and ingredients and a collection of the most delicious recipes from the Italian repertoire. As home cooks who have used Marcella’s classic books for years (and whose copies are now splattered and worn) know, there is no one more gifted at teaching us just what we need to know about the taste and texture of a dish and how to achieve it, and there is no one more passionate and inspiring about authentic Italian food.
Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats
Steve Ettlinger - 2007
And, like most consumers, he often reads the ingredients label -- without a clue as to what most of it means. So when his young daughter asked, "Daddy, what's polysorbate 60?" he was at a loss -- and determined to find out. From the phosphate mines in Idaho to the corn fields in Iowa, from gypsum mines in Oklahoma to the vanilla harvest in Madagascar, Twinkie, Deconstructed is a fascinating, thoroughly researched romp of a narrative that demystifies some of the most common processed food ingredients -- where they come from, how they are made, how they are used -- and why. Beginning at the source (hint: they're often more closely linked to rock and petroleum than any of the four food groups), we follow each Twinkie ingredient through the process of being crushed, baked, fermented, refined, and/or reacted into a totally unrecognizable goo or powder with a strange name -- all for the sake of creating a simple snack cake. An insightful exploration into the food industry, if you've ever wondered what you're eating when you consume foods containing mono- and diglycerides or calcium sulfate (the latter, a food-grade equivalent) this book is for you.
The Bread Bible
Rose Levy Beranbaum - 2003
The accessibility of Beranbaum's recipes and the incomparable taste of her creations make this book invaluable for home cooks and professional bakers alike. Easy-to-use ingredient tables provide both volume and weight, for surefire recipes that work perfectly every time.
BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts
Stella Parks - 2017
Whether down-home delights like Blueberry Muffins and Glossy Fudge Brownies or supermarket mainstays such as Vanilla Wafers and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, your favorites are all here. These meticulously tested recipes bring an award-winning pastry chef’s expertise into your kitchen, along with advice on how to “mix it up” with over 200 customizable variations—in short, exactly what you’d expect from a cookbook penned by a senior editor at Serious Eats. Yet BraveTart is much more than a cookbook, as Stella Parks delves into the surprising stories of how our favorite desserts came to be, from chocolate chip cookies that predate the Tollhouse Inn to the prohibition-era origins of ice cream sodas and floats. With a foreword by The Food Lab’s J. Kenji López-Alt, vintage advertisements for these historical desserts, and breathtaking photography from Penny De Los Santos, BraveTart is sure to become an American classic.
Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil
Tom Mueller - 2011
Today's researchers are continuing to confirm the remarkable, life-giving properties of true extra-virgin, and "extra-virgin Italian" has become the highest standard of quality.But what if this symbol of purity has become deeply corrupt? Starting with an explosive article in The New Yorker, Tom Mueller has become the world's expert on olive oil and olive oil fraud-a story of globalization, deception, and crime in the food industry from ancient times to the present, and a powerful indictment of today's lax protections against fake and even toxic food products in the United States. A rich and deliciously readable narrative, Extra Virginity is also an inspiring account of the artisanal producers, chemical analysts, chefs, and food activists who are defending the extraordinary oils that truly deserve the name "extra-virgin."
The French Laundry Cookbook
Thomas Keller - 1999
The most transformative cookbook of the century celebrates this milestone by showcasing the genius of chef/proprietor Thomas Keller himself. Keller is a wizard, a purist, a man obsessed with getting it right. And this, his first cookbook, is every bit as satisfying as a French Laundry meal itself: a series of small, impeccable, highly refined, intensely focused courses. Most dazzling is how simple Keller's methods are: squeegeeing the moisture from the skin on fish so it sautées beautifully; poaching eggs in a deep pot of water for perfect shape; the initial steeping in the shell that makes cooking raw lobster out of the shell a cinch; using vinegar as a flavor enhancer; the repeated washing of bones for stock for the cleanest, clearest tastes. From innovative soup techniques, to the proper way to cook green vegetables, to secrets of great fish cookery, to the creation of breathtaking desserts; from beurre monté to foie gras au torchon, to a wild and thoroughly unexpected take on coffee and doughnuts, The French Laundry Cookbook captures, through recipes, essays, profiles, and extraordinary photography, one of America's great restaurants, its great chef, and the food that makes both unique. One hundred and fifty superlative recipes are exact recipes from the French Laundry kitchen—no shortcuts have been taken, no critical steps ignored, all have been thoroughly tested in home kitchens. If you can't get to the French Laundry, you can now re-create at home the very experience Wine Spectator described as “as close to dining perfection as it gets.”
Japanese Soul Cooking: Ramen, Tonkatsu, Tempura, and More from the Streets and Kitchens of Tokyo and Beyond
Tadashi Ono - 2013
It’s time for gyoza, curry, tonkatsu, and furai. These icons of Japanese comfort food cooking are the dishes you’ll find in every kitchen and street corner hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Japan—the hearty, flavor-packed dishes that everyone in Japan, from school kids to grandmas, craves. In Japanese Soul Cooking, Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat introduce you to this irresistible, homey style of cooking. As you explore the range of exciting, satisfying fare, you may recognize some familiar favorites, such as ramen, soba, udon, and tempura. Others are lesser known Japanese classics—such as wafu pasta (spaghetti with bold, fragrant toppings like miso meat sauce), tatsuta-age (fried chicken marinated in garlic, ginger, and other Japanese seasonings), and savory omelets with crabmeat and shiitake mushrooms—that will instantly become standards in your kitchen as well. With foolproof instructions and step-by-step photographs, you’ll soon be knocking out chahan fried rice, mentaiko spaghetti, saikoro steak, and more for friends and family. Ono and Salat’s fascinating exploration of the surprising origins and global influences behind popular dishes is accompanied by rich location photography that captures the energy and essence of this food in everyday Japanese life, bringing beloved Japanese comfort food to Western home cooks for the first time.
Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking
Masaharu Morimoto - 2016
Japanese cuisine has an intimidating reputation that has convinced most home cooks that its beloved preparations are best left to the experts. But legendary chef Masaharu Morimoto, owner of the wildly popular Morimoto restaurants, is here to change that. In Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking, he introduces readers to the healthy, flavorful, surprisingly simple dishes favored by Japanese home cooks. Chef Morimoto reveals the magic of authentic Japanese food—the way that building a pantry of half a dozen easily accessible ingredients allows home cooks access to hundreds of delicious recipes, empowering them to adapt and create their own inventions. From revelatory renditions of classics like miso soup, nabeyaki udon, and chicken teriyaki to little known but unbelievably delicious dishes like fish simmered with sake and soy sauce, Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking brings home cooks closer to the authentic experience of Japanese cuisine than ever before. And, of course, the famously irreverent chef also offers playful riffs on classics, reimagining tuna-and-rice bowls in the style of Hawaiian poke, substituting dashi-marinated kale for spinach in oshitashi, and upgrading the classic rice seasoning furikake with toasted shrimp shells and potato chips. Whatever the recipe, Chef Morimoto reveals the little details—the right ratios of ingredients in sauces, the proper order for adding seasonings—that make all the difference in creating truly memorable meals that merge simplicity with exquisite flavor and visual impact.Photography by Evan Sung
BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes
Shirley O. Corriher - 2003
With her years of experience from big-pot cooking at a boarding school and her classic French culinary training to her work as a research biochemist at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Shirley looks at all aspects of baking in a unique and exciting way. She describes useful techniques, such as brushing your puff pastry with ice water—not just brushing off the flour—to make the pastry higher, lighter, and flakier. She can help you make moist cakes; shrink-proof perfect meringues; big, crisp cream puffs; amazing pastries; and crusty, incredibly flavorful, open-textured French breads, such as baguettes. Restaurant chefs and culinary students know Shirley from their grease-splattered copies of CookWise, an encyclopedic work that has saved them from many a cooking disaster. With numerous “At-a-Glance” charts, BakeWise gives busy people information for quick problem solving. BakeWise also includes Shirley's signature “What This Recipe Shows” in every recipe. This scientific and culinary information can apply to hundreds of recipes, not just the one in which it appears. BakeWise does not have just a single source of knowledge; Shirley loves reading the works of chefs and other good cooks and shares their tips with you, too. She applies not only her expertise but that of the many artisans she admires, such as famous French pastry chefs Gaston Lenôtre and Chef Roland Mesnier, the White House pastry chef for twenty-five years; and Bruce Healy, author of Mastering the Art of French Pastry. Shirley also retrieves "lost arts" from experts of the past such as Monroe Boston Strause, the pie master of 1930s America. For one dish, she may give you techniques from three or four different chefs plus her own touch of science—“better baking through chemistry.” She adds facts such as the right temperature, the right mixing speed, and the right mixing time for the absolutely most stable egg foam, so you can create a light-as-air génoise every time. Beginners can cook from BakeWise to learn exactly what they are doing and why. Experienced bakers find out why the techniques they use work and also uncover amazing pastries from the past, such as Pont Neuf (a creation of puff pastry, pâte à choux, and pastry cream) and Religieuses, adorable “little nuns” made of puff pastry filled with a satiny chocolate pastry cream and drizzled with mocha icing. Some will want it simply for the recipes—incredibly moist whipped cream pound cake made with heavy cream; flourless fruit soufflés; chocolate crinkle cookies with gooey, fudgy centers; huge popovers; famed biscuits. But this book belongs on every baker's shelf.
Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Cooks, and Good Food
Jeff Potter - 2007
Author and cooking geek Jeff Potter helps you apply curiosity, inspiration, and invention to the food you prepare. Why do we bake some things at 350°F / 175°C and others at 375°F / 190°C? Why is medium-rare steak so popular? And just how quickly does a pizza cook if you “overclock” an oven to 1,000°F / 540°C? This expanded new edition provides in-depth answers, and lets you experiment with several labs and more than 100 recipes— from the sweet (a patent-violating chocolate chip cookie) to the savory (pulled pork under pressure).When you step into the kitchen, you’re unwittingly turned into a physicist and a chemist. This excellent and intriguing resource is for inquisitive people who want to increase their knowledge and ability to cook.• Discover what type of cook you are and learn how to think about flavor• Understand how protein denaturation, Maillard reactions, caramelization, and otherreactions impact the foods we cook• Gain firsthand insights from interviews with researchers, food scientists, knife experts, chefs, and writers—including science enthusiast Adam Savage, chef Jaques Pépin, and chemist Hervé This
Illustrated Step-by-Step Baking
Caroline Bretherton - 2011
Classic recipes such as quiche lorraine and New York cheesecake are demystified and presented in a clear and accessible step-by-step format.If you want to produce the perfect tart, bake a cake fit for a king, or serve up a souffle that won't sink, Illustrated Step-by-Step Baking will guide you through every single stage with clear, illustrated, step-by-step instructions that have proved so popular with DK's readers.
Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking
Fuchsia Dunlop - 2013
Following her two seminal volumes on Sichuan and Hunan cooking, Every Grain of Rice is inspired by the vibrant everyday cooking of southern China, in which vegetables play the starring role, with small portions of meat and fish.Try your hand at stir-fried potato slivers with chili pepper, vegetarian "Gong Bao Chicken," sour-and-hot mushroom soup, or, if you’re ever in need of a quick fix, Fuchsia’s emergency late-night noodles. Many of the recipes require few ingredients and are ridiculously easy to make. Fuchsia also includes a comprehensive introduction to the key seasonings and techniques of the Chinese kitchen. With stunning photography and clear instructions, this is an essential cookbook for everyone, beginner and connoisseur alike, eager to introduce Chinese dishes into their daily cooking repertoire.
Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans
Michelle Tam - 2013
Nom Nom Paleo
is a visual feast, crackling with humor and packed with stunningly photographed step-by-step recipes free of gluten, soy, and added sugar. Designed to inspire the whole family to chow down on healthy, home-cooked meals, this cookbook compiles over 100 foolproof recipes that demonstrate how fun and flavorful cooking with wholesome ingredients can be. And did we mention the cartoons?Nom Nom Paleo kicks off with a fresh introduction to Paleo eating, taking readers on a guided tour of author Michelle Tam's real-food strategies for stocking the kitchen, saving time, and maximizing flavors. Also, sprinkled throughout the book are enlightening features on feeding kids, packing nutritious lunches, boosting umami, and much more.But the heart of this book is Michelle's award-winning recipes, 50 percent of which are brand-new—even to diehard fans who own her bestselling iPad cookbook app. Readers can start by marrying their favorite ingredients with building blocks like Sriracha Mayonnaise, Louisiana Remoulade, and the infamous Magic Mushroom Powder. These basic recipes lay the foundation for many of the fabulous delights in the rest of the book including Eggplant & "Ricotta" Stacks, Crab Louie, and Devils on Horseback.There's something for everyone in this cookbook, from small bites like Apple Chips and Kabalagala (Ugandan plantain fritters) to family-sized platters of Coconut Pineapple Rice and Siu Yoke (crispy roast pork belly). Crave exotic spices? You won't be able to resist the fragrant aromas of Fast Pho or Mulligatawny Soup. In the mood for down-home comforts? Make some Yankee Pot Roast or Chicken Nuggets drizzled with Lemon Honey Sauce. When a quick weeknight meal is in order, Nom Nom Paleo can show you how to make Crispy Smashed Chicken or Whole-Roasted Branzini in less than 30 minutes. And for a cold treat on a hot day, nothing beats Mocha Popsicles or a two-minute Strawberry Banana Ice Cream.Healthy cooking doesn't mean sacrificing flavor. This book gives you "Paleo with personality," and will make you excited to play in the kitchen again.
Tartine
Elisabeth Prueitt - 2006
Acclaimed pastry chef Elisabeth Prueitt and master baker Chad Robertson share their secrets, fabulous recipes, and expertise to create a truly priceless collection of culinary delights."One peek into Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson's sensational cookbook whisks you into their popular Tartine Bakery and reveals everything you need to know to create their superb recipes in your own home." –Flo Braker, author of The Simple Art of Perfect Baking and Sweet MiniaturesIt's no wonder there are lines out the door of the acclaimed Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. Tartine has been written up in every magazine worth its sugar and spice. Here, the bakers' art is transformed into easy-to-follow recipes for the home kitchen. The only thing hard about this cookbook is deciding which recipe to try first.Features easy-to-follow recipes meant to be made in your home kitchen. There's a little something here for breakfast, lunch, tea, supper, hors d'oeuvres and, of course, a whole lot for dessert.Includes practical advice in the form of handy Kitchen Notes, that convey the authors' know-how.Gorgeous photographs are spread throughout to create a truly delicious and inspiring party cookbook.Makes a delectable gift for any dessert lover or aspiring pastry chef.Pastry chef Elisabeth Prueitt's work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on the television program Martha Stewart Living. France Ruffenach is a San Francisco-based photographer whose work has appeared in magazines and cookbooks including Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple, and Bon Appétit magazines, and in Cupcakes, Everyday Celebrations, and Ros.