Some really good cooking books you might not know.
I have spend a lot of time looking at cooking books. My selection is limited as when I do select to invest in a cooking book it has to meet my personal criteria on whether it is worth the money. What I am looking for is books that are:
- authentic
- traditional
- contain techniques
- explain the techniques
- use ingredients from nature
- explain why and what quality ingredients to use
So when opening a cooking book and it says in a recipe: use salt and pepper I want to know in detail what type of salt, what pepper and why it is used in that specific recipe. Most cooking books do not go that far and are just a bunch of recipes with very pretty pictures. But that does not tell me anything about the taste. Or let me evaluate a recipe before I actually cook it.
To give you an example look at this: I need some tomatoes to use in a Bolognese. Here in Norway the tomatoes are utterly tasteless. Usually these are imported from The Netherlands and not for nothing the Germans call them ‘waterbombs’. So making my own is not really an option as I cannot get any good tomatoes. Luckily, in Marcella Hazan’s cooking book the recipe says ‘canned San Marzano tomatoes’. San Marzano tomatoes are among the best in the world, maybe even the best. Believe me though, that walking through a field with ripe tomatoes in Tuscany and smelling and eating those is a different experience altogether. Anyways, Marcella does a great job and it is the first cooking book I want to mention in no particular order.
1. Marcella Hazan: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
Wow! This is a perfect gift and a must have in every kitchen. Timeless classic and we make the Bolognese almost every week. I have had this book for more than 30 years and I still love to browse in it and make Marcella’s recipes.
2. August Escoffier: Le Guide Culinaire
The French Classic. Codifying the French kitchen for the first time, this book is sometimes like a puzzle: ow.. he is using some ingredient to make a recipe and I have to browse to find out how to make that ingredient. Recursive cooking skills. Must have book for those that want to build their consciousness about cooking and techniques.
3. Le Cordon Blue: Classic French Cookbook
With 100 recipes this is a classic going into basic techniques. The book has great pictures and great explanations. Basic and easy
4. Michel Roux: Sauces
A good sauce will bring any dish to a whole new level. Three Michelin start chef Michel Roux makes this accessible to any home cook with this book. Hence this book is always in my reach in the kitchen. Whether savory or sweet, you can’t go wrong with any of the recipes in this book. And often very easy to make. Just follow the instructions!
5. Ken Forkish: Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast
Can you imagine how big an impact it had when I was able to eat real bread again? After 10 years of gluten free bread. But that is not just the same. I am gluten intolerant but can eat homemade sourdough bread. Making sourdough bread, pizza, focaccia, muffins, is a craft I must say and takes a long time to master. But my kids will not eat anything else and this saves me about 2000 dollars a year while eating better bread than ever.
6. Jean-Pierre Wybauw: Fine chocolates gold
As a professional chocolatier this book is the bible as it goes far beyond recipes and even chocolate. You will find the principles of chocolate making, ganache, spreads, lokum, candying fruit, marshmallows and so much more. In addition there is a lot of science and food technology in this book from the ‘Professor of chocolate’.
7. Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg: The Flavor Bible
What can I say? All about flavors, how to discover, interchange, combine them, pair them. A must have for the creative chef and home cook. Need an ingredient but you don’t have it? Use this book to find something that works as well.
8. Samin Nosrat: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
More than just a recipe book 🙂
9. Sjizuo Tsuji: Japanese cooking: a simple art
This is a classic on Japanese cooking. Wonderful book. I am a big fan of Japanese cooking and especially the art and craftmanship that go into it. Cooking with love, discipline. Essential book for professional chefs.
10. Jacques Pépin: New Complete Techniques
The standard work with all the basic techniques needed to create delicious dishes.
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