Product Description

Bursting with luscious color photography and clear step-by-step techniques drawn from the world's top chefs, this is a one-stop reference for all home cooks-from those who want to gain more confidence in the kitchen and hone their skills- to anyone who is eager to learn basic methods from scratch.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #282005 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 648 pages

Amazon.com Review
If you have somehow never cooked and yet want to, there's always that troublesome problem of where to begin. Fortunately, The Cook's Book, edited by Jill Norman and published by those masters of how-to books, Dorling Kindersley, has answered that question in over 600 glorious pages. With The Cook's Book you can pick your point of entry and launch yourself into the world of food with no fear.

You could order take-out for everything but dessert, for example, and start there. And whose holding your hand? Well, Pierre Hermé, one of the great pastry chefs in the world. Or how about if you build a dinner party around a fish course and order in everything else? Charlie Trotter will see you through to an excellent end. There are fully 18 internationally renown chefs represented between the covers of The Cook's Book. These are not the sort of folks who generally give introductory courses, and yet that's what this tome delivers in depth. Trotter's chapter on fish, the way it is lavishly illustrated and carefully explained, is a publishable masterpiece on its own. But it's only one chapter among 24 that guides the new cook through basic prep and cooking technique with side trips into a variety of international cuisines. Everything is explained editorially and visually in this brilliantly designed production. One glance at the photo of creamy risotto and you’ll know if your risotto is creamy or not.

This isn't to say seasoned cooks won't find themselves slavishly turning these gorgeous pages and licking their chops as well. But what's wonderfully important about The Cook's Book is that it is the answer for any neophyte wondering where to begin. --Schuyler Ingle

From Publishers Weekly
This superlative volume is a culinary arts education in itself: what foodie wouldn't want to read Charlie Trotter's tips on preparing fish and shellfish, or Norman Van Aken's take on Latin American cooking? Instructions from world renowned chefs like Paris's Pierre Hermé and Japan's Hisayuki Takeuchi ring with authority, though female chefs are notably absent, save for Sydney's Christine Manfield. This book takes a two-tiered approach by expanding on the basics in chapters on sauces and dressings, flavorings, and poultry and game birds, and exploring specific cuisines in sections on India, Japan, the Middle East and other regions. The book may be best suited to professional chefs; amateurs might not be ready to tackle Ferran Adrià's Potato Foam: 21st Century Tortilla, or Shaun Hill's Roast Woodcock, in which the head is left on, "since the brains are a delicacy... eaten in much the same way as a lollipop." Technically, this is more than just a cookbook, but the recipes (with luscious photos) for dishes like Paul Gayler's Venison with Cherries, Cinnamon & Walnuts; Peter Gordon's Vanilla & Duck Broth with Rice Noodles; and Dan Lepard's Flatbread with Pumpkin, Green Olives & Shallots are worth the price of the book alone. (Sept.)
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Customer Reviews

Worth it for beginners and for those of us who can't get enough of certain chefs.
I admit to getting this book solely for Dan Lepard and Pierre Herme's sections. I have books from both of these chefs and so I want as much new material as possible.
Also, I was interested in Ferran Adria's knowledge being shared (his comprehensive books are hideously expensive).
It's a small glimpse, but for the price, it's definitely worth getting.

In response to the reviewer who said beurre blanc is not an emulsified sauce, it is. It's definitely not a vinaigrette, though vinaigrettes are also perfect examples of emulsified sauces. Emulsions do not pertain to egg-based sauces. Milk is an emulsion.

Cook book
Good cookbook for those trying to improve their technique. This book covers a wide range of food types. Just don't expect too many recipes.

Balanced book covering common cooking techniques an 21st century Western household needs
This is a book that emphasises the basic and moderately demanding cooking techniques and more than 600 common recipes. The sections are contributed by different chefs from around the world including Pierre Herme from France (desserts), Marcus Wareing from Britain (meat), Charlie Trotter from the United States (vegetables and seafood), David Thompson from Australia (Thai cooking), Stephen Franz from Germany (cakes) etc. A lot of the things are basic like how to make a basic chicken stock and how a good roast beef and Yorkshire pudding is made, but there are also a lot of easy to moderate restaurant grade dishes like entrecote steaks bordelaise or sachertorte. It is by no means exhaustive and in a sense I have a feeling that it is trying to be too clever but comes short on both ends - a professional chef will find this nice although this will need to be supplemented by more detailed books as the coverage is too superficial, and home cooks will need something more like a household guide for more basic instructions to supplement this. Serious foodies will love this although they may decide to buy professional chef reference works altogether.

Having said this, I enjoy the chefs' takes on basic and not-so-basic recipes. And like some basic home cookbooks, photos of intermediate procedures are available for a majority of recipes which enables you to visualize how a dish done properly looks like.

There are some other reviewers who believe non-English speaking Western countries' cuisines should get their own sections. I believe their absence indicates more how the cooking of Germany, France, Italy etc are assimilated into the major sections. For example, much of desserts is French, cakes German, there is a specific section on pasta and gnocchis. In contrast, Chinese cooking presents examples on stir-frying and braising, Japanese section on sushi making, which are very different from Western techniques.

Although the book is touted as global in focus, in reality this belies the book is fundamentally Anglocentric by the fact that Britain has the largest share of home bases of the contributors. The selection of "ethnic styles" selected also reflects modern British tastes: Spanish is not counted as "ethnic cuisine" and assumed to be pretty mainstream, and the "exotic cuisines" receiving the most attention are Indian, Mexican, Thai, and Chinese. An Australian focus would probably have diminished the French flavours in the main sections and added non-Thai Southeast Asian cuisines like Malaysian, or an American focus would have more non-English speaking European cuisines like Italian and French as "ethnic" as well. It still doesn't hurt the quality of the book, but keep in mind the cultural background of the editor does influence the focus before you grumble.

All in all, this book is generally a worthwhile investment if you are interested in some serious cooking but do have want to invest your money on professional works or enrol into a culinary school.