The Culinary Works

Recently, a friend and I had a conversation about cookbooks. We debated over what makes a cookbook “good” and what makes us actually purchase one. For me, because we have A LOT of cookbooks, A LOT as in a whole wall plus some, it has to be pretty special for me to purchase it. But there are some books or specific things I recommend to people when they need one.

First, nothing frustrates me more than someone publishes cookbooks with recipes that don ’t work. I have had plenty of situations where I either tried the recipe and it was a failure or after reading it, I could just tell it wasn’t going to work. With baking especially, the recipes need to be exact. Often, pastry chefs have commercial recipes they try to convert for the home chef. Commercial recipes are typically much larger quantities so they need to be reduced, which just requires some simple math. Also, commercial recipes are created using weight for dry ingredients, not volume as the home chef would use. This conversion can be a little trickier because weight doesn’t evenly translate into a set volume (something I covered in another article, To Weigh or Not to Weigh?). When converted, the chefs have to devote the time to testing and adjusting them to be sure the results are the same. I find it frustrating when they just don’t care enough to do that. SO, once I find a chef who time after time gives me good recipes, I know who I can count on. Thomas Keller is someone who’s recipes I have used countless times and they always work!! Others include Ina Garten, Rick Bayless, Diana Kennedy, Tyler Florence, Bobby Flay, Gail Gann, Jacques Torres (my hero!) and a few others. I find their recipes are well tested and most people can be successful trying to use them. I am comfortable recommending these authors to them.

Next, I want a book to teach me something new or inspire new ideas. If I am cooking, I almost never follow the recipe exactly, it serves as the catalyst or idea and then I take off from there. I may add things or leave things out. I always want the book to have multiple things in it that make me think, wow, that ’s a cool idea, or I could do that with this twist. To me, this is the most important thing a book can do. If I am baking, I want pictures and I want to see a new twist on something or a new technique I havn’t used or maybe something I havn’t done in awhile. The pictures just serve to show me what they mean and honestly help me visualize the technique required and the complexity involved. Maybe it’s just me, but if it’s super simplistic or overly complicated…I probably don’t want to spend the money, either way, I probably wouldn’t end up using it.

My two all time favorite cookbooks are, and this is a hard choice, first, “Diary of a Tuscan Chef” by Cesara Casella. I have had this book for probably 10 years and it’s well used. It is filled with not only fabulous authentic Italian dishes but each is accompanied with his telling of it’s history, his family, his memories and why it’s a dish he wishes to share with you. It does justice to what makes true Italian cuisine amazing and is actually a joy to just sit down and read! Second, The Bouchon Cookbook by Thomas Keller. What I love about the book is that my idea of great dining is fabulous food that remains accessible. I may want to wear flip flops to dinner BUT I still want superb food. This book to me kind of represents that. The recipes ALL work, even the desserts. Nothing is over complicated and the pictures are a great reference.

Lastly, say yes to culinary textbooks. Honestly, I believe these are the best investment you can make in a cook book. They are typically a bit more expensive, BUT they teach you the fundamental cooking methods. THIS is the single most important knowledge any cook or baker can have. Once you master the method, you can create or re-create anything. They teach you how to scale a recipe up or down and can act as a reference for everything from methods to product identification and preparations. Also, the books typically have well tested recipes and menu ideas for appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, side dishes and desserts. All in all, I believe these are the best cookbook investments you can make. My favorite is the “On Cooking” and “On Baking” series, by Hause. You can find older versions for a good price at clearance stores or even on Ebay if you are a good bargain hunter. For the more advanced cook, “International Cuisine”, by Jeremy MacVeigh, is a fabulous addition to your book case that will give you tons of inspiration.

All in all, cook books are a great love of mine and when I ’m feeling like I need some inspiration all I have to do is go to our library of books and pull one out. I love having them but due to my not having unlimited space, I only purchase books I know I will use time and time again. I also never fail to peruse the cookbook section when I’m at the library, just in case I find something interesting.

Happy cookbook hunting!