Need recommendations for a food/cooking reference book

[cinnabun]

I have plenty of cookbooks and will not stop buying those but what reference book do you suggest. I seen the visual food and I have gastronomique but thought I would buy another one also. Oh and I already know about Harold Mcgee's On food and cooking.

[CompassRose]

Shirley Corriher's Cookwise is excellent, and a very pleasant read as well.

[Beth]

I know there are some newer ones, and I'm thinking of checking them out for DS's birthday (thinking Alton Brown of Tyler Florence for him), but the two that I seem to refer to the most for general information are my Joy of Cooking and Julia Child's The Way to Cook.

[peachesncream]

Joy of Cooking is my go-to book, when I want to learn the basics about a recipe or type of food.

[shscharles]

The ones I go to the most are "Food Lover's Companion", Sharon Tyler Herbst and "Cheese Primer", Steven Jenkins.

The "Food Lover's Companion" is probably the most essential...

[AdGirl]

My favorite cookbook is "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman. I've never made a single thing out of it that wasn't amazing, and there is a lot of reference material in the book...

[cinnabun]

I think I will look into buying the food lover's companion.

[Luiza]

For a reference on cooking techniques I like very much Essentials of Cooking by James Peterson http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1579652360/qid=1121055405/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/103-2828822-6186241?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 . It's basically a picture book describing a lot of cooking-related tasks.

For a general reference, I recommend The Penguin Companion to Food by Alan Davidson http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0142001635/qid=1121055561/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/103-2828822-6186241?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 . It makes great reading.

[Kayaksoup]

Cinnabun, I have a couple favourites at the moment: The Oxford Companion to Food. Its a reference, not a recipe book. And The Mediterranean Feast for history of food.

[cinnabun]

I will have to check out the recommendations since I last posted but for now, here is what I just ordered:

• The Visual Food Encyclopedia : The Definitive Practical Guide to Food and Cooking
• The New Food Lover's Tiptionary: More Than 6,000 Food and Drink Tips, Secrets, Shortcuts, and Other Things Cookbooks Never Tell You
• The New Food Lover's Companion: Comprehensive Definitions of Nearly 6000 Food, Drink, and Culinary Terms (Barron's Cooking Guide)
• The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion: A Sourcebook for Understanding the Cuisines of the World
• Brilliant Food Tips and Cooking Tricks : 5,000 Ingenious Kitchen Hints, Secrets, Shortcuts, and Solutions

Has anyone bought or even looked at the The Best Kitchen Quick Tips: 534 Tricks, Techniques, and Shortcuts for the Curious Cook
by Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine? I do have some of their books and like them. I do have the book cookwise, but it is buried somewhere, may even be packed away. I always just considered that a cookbook though.

[Cookin4Love]

Yep, I have the Best Kitchen Quick Tips. There are a some novel ideas, and some that seem obvious to me--but so do the ones in the magazine. For instance, regarding blending natural peanut butter, the tips are as follows:

Turn the sealed jar upside down and allow the oil to rise again to the top. As the oil passes through the nut butter, the solids will absorb some oil and become soft enough to spread. Flip the jar right-side up, and the nut butter is ready to use.

OR:

Scrape the contents of the jar into a wide food storage container (such as Tupperware) and then mix very well. The extra space allows for mixing withou splashing oil, and mixing vigorously and completely keep the oil and butter blended. It also allows you to easily mix in a sweetener, such as honey, if you prefer.

I would look for it used if you want it. I don't think it's a "pay full price" book.

[jtoepfert100]

Originally posted by cinnabun

• The New Food Lover's Tiptionary: More Than 6,000 Food and Drink Tips, Secrets, Shortcuts, and Other Things Cookbooks Never Tell You


It's a dumb name, but I think you'll be glad you ordered this. I'm always amazed how often I refer to it. If nothing else, it's worth the money for the pan measurement comparison chart. My book automatically opens up to this page.

[CathyT]

I want to check out How To Cook Everything - saw it on another forum and it sounds like it's right up my alley since reference-type cookbooks are my favorite.

I recommend (like others) The Joy of Cooking and Brilliant Food Tip and Cooking Tricks. They are my go-to books when I have a question or want to use up an ingredient.

Cathy
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[Holly in KC]

I also refer to Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" and "Joy of Cooking". However, the most dog-earred book I own is "The New Basics" Rosso/Lukins. The recipes are mostly high fat, but the information in here is just fantastic.