Cooking Textbooks

I've been cooking for many years so I rarely consult my cookbooks for anything other than the odd favourite recipe that I've misplaced or how to instructions. However you can't go wrong with a good basic cookbook like "The Joy of Cooking" there is a reason that it's a continual best seller. If you want to know cooking methods, how long to cook, what type of meat/cheese/food to buy for what type of dish and what to look for, how to proof yeast, baking, soup how tos etc. etc. this is your book. The recipes are basic and while mine is an old one, I've noticed newer editions are a bit fancier, I think that the techniques are the centre piece for the book not the recipes.

I also own an old Fanny Farmer cookbook which is also helpful in the same ways.

I wouldn't recommend it, the paper would have to taste horrible no matter what they seasoned it with.

Okay, I'll be good. I'll second The Joy of Cooking. It's a great introduction and walk through for cooking.

The Making of a Cook by Madeleine Kamman is the closest thing I have in my collection to a cooking textbook. It's very technique-heavy and a great resource, but it might be overkill for the beginner cook.

Bootz said:

Any other textbooks?

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I'm working my way through Le Cordon Bleu At Home. I've learned a lot from that. Supposedly it mimics the actual cirriculum at LCB. The recipes increase in complexity, number of ingredients, and technique as you go forward. Pretty good recipes too.

The other day in the bookstore I was flipping through The Professional Chef, which I believe is the Culinary Institute of America's actual textbook. The book is put out by the CIA, at any rate. It offers a lot more illustration of basic techniques than did LCBaH. There were lots of two page layouts of sequential photographs showing (e.g.) Here's How To Bone A Fish: step 1, 2, ... , or illustrations of "diced" compared to "minced" as compared to... I'll probably pick that one up next payday.

3rding Joy of Cooking.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking isn't exactly a textbook, but it's very much aimed at educating the reader. She doesn't just say "do technique X" and assume you know what that means, she has illustrations and explanations for everything. It too is a classic for a reason.

Just yesterday I stumbled on a website called rouxbe.com, which is apparently an online video cooking school. It seemed to have a lot of short (1-2 min) videos of the basics--cooking pasta, knife sharpening, ... as well as longer videos about actual recipes. In general it costs money ($99/yr or $15/mo) but there are quite a few free sample videos that may be of interest.

I got a subscription to Cooks Illustrated for Christmas and so far I'm loving it. It seems to be aimed at the interested amateur rather than professional chefs. Unlike most other food magazines, it isn't a lengthy collection of travel and restaurant ads that occasionally throws in a recipe. The articles go into great detail about how they experimented to make (for instance) a credible imitation of dish X by Famous Chef Y, or really chewy brownies, or whatever. The articles focus on the experimentation the staff went through, what worked and what didn't, and occasional insights into the chemistry of why.

If you're going to get into the cooking thing in a big way you might as well pick up a copy of Escoffier and Larousse Gastronomique. From what I can tell, they're sort of Donald Knuth's Art of Computer Programming for cooks. No one actually reads them, but having them on your shelf enhances your credibility[SUP]1[/SUP]. When someone asks you something you don't know the answer to you get to say "I believe you can find that in Escoffier," just like the pros do. Or if something you make turns out inedible, you can say "this was okay, but next time I think I'll stick to the variation in Larousse Gastronomique."

[SUP]1[/SUP]A lot like having copper pans, but much cheaper.

Bootz said:

Where would be the best place to find old copies of Cooks Illustrated for cheap? Is there some sort of index anywhere?

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You can access every single back issue on line at the web site, but it costs money. I'm not sure how much money (my subscription another gift) but I use that a lot too.

Bootz said:

Where would be the best place to find old copies of Cooks Illustrated for cheap? Is there some sort of index anywhere?

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I have this book, which is written by the Cooks Illustrated editor. It may be a better bet than the individual magazines because it's quite comprehensive and organized. I think it might even contain some of the articles from the magazine. I bought mine used for $10.