Which one basic reference cookbook is the must-have?

[Ellen Forradalom]

Is the Joy of Cooking still on the top of the heap, or has it been supplanted by a superior volume?

[Warpy]

1. I never liked that one

I preferred The Doubleday Cookbook. I've never found a bad recipe in it and the calorie counts are great.

The foodie bible is Larousse Gastronomique. I read that one the way sensible people read novels.

The bread bible is Crust and Crumb. The general baking book is The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Baking Book.

Just those 4 books will allow you to cook just about everything, even some ethnic stuff.

[buzzard]

24. I never liked it either although I own it.n/t

[Arkansas Granny]

2. In my kitchen, Joy of Cooking is my go to cookbook. There may be some other

fine, basic cookbooks out there, but it's still my favorite. My daughter swears by the one I gave her a few years ago and I'm giving one to my son for Christmas this year.

[Shakespeare]

3. Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything is outstanding.

He's done a couple of follow-ups that are good, too, but I'd consider this one a must-have.

[BluRay01]

8. This one is our standby as well...

We browse and buy cookbooks as much as or more than any other kind of book, and I often search a few websites when looking for inspiration or as a reference. But more often than not, Bittman's book is where we find what we need. We have his vegetarian book also, but haven't gotten any others of his yet.

[Shakespeare]

9. That reminds me--I'll add Michael Ruhlman's Elements of Cooking.

If anybody wants to learn good, basic technique, this book is fantastic. And nicely written, too (as is everything Ruhlman does).

[Warpy]

10. I have his "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian"

and, while his seasoning is distinctly bland, he often suggests a variation on an ingredient I hadn't considered yet.

It's got a permanent place on my shelf.

I haven't gotten his first book because quite honestly I don't eat much meat and everything else is covered in much more depth in the vegetarian book.

However, I'd certainly second your suggestion of it as a permanent go-to food book.

[hippywife]

4. My other half swears by

the Joy of Cooking. I have never liked it at all. I tend to use the internet for most of the recipes I'm looking for. I try to make sure they come from reputable sites with a comment and rating system to make sure the recipes have been tried and the results reviewed.

[flamin lib]

5. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Been a go-to in my family for

three generations. Actually tells you how to boil water . . .

[Ellen Forradalom]

13. Remains a good, encyclopedia reference?

I am thinking of getting that one.

I grew up using the J of C, myself.

[Retrograde]

20. the older editions, of course

I'm not happy with the new version, but unfortunately my old (c. 1960) paperback edition literally fell to pieces with use.

[The empressof all]

6. For Basic American Home Cooking: The Settlement Cookbook

There is an old book called the Settlement Cookbook that gives simple directions to basic, healthy, home cooking. It's not "gourmet" but you'll have directions for a good chocolate chip cookie and a hearty mac and cheese. It's the book I cut my teeth on as a young cook and one I will still refer to on occasion. This will take you into canning and souffles. Overall it's extremely comprehensive.

Here's the link to what you can get at Amazon. I have a much older version.


http://www.amazon.com/Settlement-Cookbook-Simon-Kander/dp/067122087X/ref=pd_cp_b_3?pf_rd_p=413864201&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1557094365&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1NS1QHMVTX0WFJ1H06G9

[supernova]

7. Lady's Home Companion and Mastering the Art of French Cooking

by Julia Child of course.

LHC is an oldie and it's my first go to, kind of like and encyclopedia. They go over canning, pickling, ice creams and sherbets, braising, sauteeing, making your own sausage. There's not much they don't cover.

Julia, just because it's really a good in depth review.

I haven't found yet, the definitive asian cookbook, though. Still looking for that one.

[Warpy]

11. "The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking" by Barbara Tropp

is absolutely the one essential book if you want to learn the basics of Chinese cooking. Other Asian cuisines are offshoots and all start with the same things: aromatics in hot oil followed by other ingredients followed by sauce ingredients. She goes over both theory and technique beautifully.

If you want to get into Asian cuisine, this is your basic book.

I haven't found a single bad recipe in this one, either. Do try her spicy scallops over deep fried spinach. It's a total hoot to do and delicious.

[GoneOffShore]

12. Joy of Cooking but not the new edition -

Has info on canning, dressing game and lots more esoteric seeming things that we'll all probably need in the coming years.

There are five or six books that I have that I can't do without:

French Provincial Cooking - Elisabeth David
The Bouchon Cookbook - Ruhlman and Keller
Les Halles Cookbook - Tony Bourdain
Joy of Cooking - 1973(I think)
The Gun Club Cookbook - Charles Browne - out of print

[TygrBright]

14. Another vote for Bittman

And the vegetarian one is on our holiday wish list.

hopefully,
Bright

[Warpy]

16. If you know anybody with a Costco card

and Santa doesn't come through, send them down to get your copy.

That's where I got mine.

[TygrBright]

17. Thanks! We have Costco membership, but it wasn't there last time.

We'll try again if the holiday parcels come up dry...

determinedly,
Bright

[Warpy]

18. When you get it, you will love it

because of the way it's organized.

Whenever I'm looking at a group of unfriendly ingredients and don't particularly want to go to the food co op, I pull Bittman out and see what he's got to say about them.

There's usually something there that I hadn't considered before.

[TygrBright]

19. Yes, that's how we discovered the joys of quinoa a dozen different ways!

Even my veg-phobic esposo will absorb grated carrots and chopped broccoli and suchlike if it's part of a quinoa pilaf or casserole.

Lots of ideas for combining stuff I would never have thought of putting together.

anticipatorially,
Bright

[eShirl]

15. in my family, it's always been Cooking Down East by Marjorie Standish

I'm the 3rd generation

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Down-East-Marjorie-Standish/dp/0892723718

[Ellen Forradalom]

21. Thanks for all your suggestions

Many of these can be had for a song used on Amazon, so I can try on a few for size!

[LaydeeBug]

22. I use America's Test Kitchen's Cooking Guide...

and I LOVE Bon Appetite magazine.

[Tab]

23. It depends how you like to go.

First, assuming you're talking about cooking (rather than baking)...

I think cooks fall into two categories - the recipe followers, and the improvisational cooks. Neither is necessariliy better than the others - improvisationals (which is where I put myself) like the creative and experimental process, although we have to study certain recipes for a rough idea of what a certain process is, and then the recipe cooks that are always looking for good recipes - and there's certainly nothing wrong with that, as there's a zillion good recipes out there - the only problem (in my mind) is finding the best ones, but I guess that's the attraction if you mainly work from recipes.

So, anyway, as said, I land more on the improvisational section. When I moved into my current house I took the opportunity to put on the shelf the few books I find invaluable (or interesting), the others are around for reference but they're not the ones I run to first.

My collection of must-haves (for me, from the improvisational point of view) are heavily slanted toward theory and technique. The list is (in no particular order):

In The Kitchen with Rosie - Rosie Daley (don't ask me why, but somehow it persists on being on my shelf)
The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion - Eve Zibart
On Food and Cooking - Harold McGee
Roasting - Barbara Kafka
Savoring Herbs and Spices - Julie Sahni
The French Laundry Cookbook - Thomas Keller
Think Like a Chef - Tom Collicchio (this is probably my favorite)
Craft of Cooking - Tom Collicchio
Sauces - Classic and Contemporary Sauce Making - Peterson
Cookwise - Shirley O. Corriher
The Way to Cook - Julia Child
Professional Cooking - Gisslen
How to Read a French Fry - Russ Parsons
The Young Man and the Sea - Pasternak and Levine
An American Place - Larry Forgione
Biba's Italian Kitchen - Biba Caggiano (my wife's family is Italian, so this has helped)
The New England Clam Shack Cookbook - Dojnay (I don't know how it ended up here, but there's always something)
Not on my shelf, but I know I have it - the Frugal Gourmet on our American Immigrant Ancestors or something like that. Very good.

As mentioned, I like Tom's book the best (and he'll talk to you too, or email at least), On Food and Cooking (McGee) and How to Read a French Fry (Parsons) are more scientific theory - Parsons is more accessible - half the time I think I need a chemistry degree to get through McGee, but he is the ultimate reference for food science.

The Young Man and the Sea is a very interesting cookbook - I'd suggest at least checking it out; it's a unique style of fish cooking and I confess not having spent enough time working on it. I really want to.

I have some others that are specific to certain ventures (like pizza making) that I won't list here, and I think a subscription to Cook's Illustrated is invaluable. They are kind of like Consumer Reports in that they don't accept advertising, and they go off on ventures like "How to cook the perfect (whatever)" and will go through 50 turkeys or whatever in the experimental process, so you gotta like that. They're not always perfect; I disagree with some stuff, but overall they're constantly worth checking out, if only for a starting point.

The Ethnic Lover's Food Companion is worth checking out; it has a lot of interesting style and technique information on various ethnic cuisines, and how to approach them in America (meaning, with access to spices and stuff available in this country, rather than some obscure thing you'd never be able to find or order).

The French Laundry Cookbook comes off as a coffee-table book, but Thomas Keller is one hell of a chef, and it's interesting to study some of his unique ways of doing things.

Anyway, these generally form my starting point.

Lest I forget, though, I also have to recommend a book that I got for a friend of mine from the south, who was a professional chef in New Orleans, and actually despite the format of the book, it gives some very authentic southern food recipes. It's not a genre I usually chase down, but despite the title it's actually a decent book if you're into southern food, and that would be "White Trash Cooking" by Ernest Mickler:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51S98NTKSML._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg

Enjoy.