what's your favorite cook book?

[JoB]

Title says it all. Name a few.

For general guidance, I use Joy of Cooking, a lot. It'll get you close, and reliably so, about every time.

The one I like the most right now is the Momofuku cookbook ... First time I served those steamed buns, a good friend said, "That's the best thing I've ever eaten." It's amazing.

David Tanis has a nice little column in the NYT, and his book "A platter of figs" is beautiful.

Supplement this with every Jacques Pepin video you can find, you're good to go IMO.

What do you all crack open when the mood strikes?

[AJPM44]

Most useful book for me, The Flavor Bible or FoodPairing website. Get Pepin's Complete Tecniques, learn how to cook, then use the Flavor Bible to make your own recipes. On Food and Cooking is a favorite as well.

[big shanty]

Momofuku book is cool. Joy of Cooking has excellent versions of just about everything. Jacques Pepin La Technique is my favorite......supplement with the video companions to his shows (the most recent one, Esssential Pepin, is great). I've bee reading Larousse since I haven't had TV or Internet and it is a fun read.

[Jacques]

Checkthis out if you liked momofuku. Different type of food (french, contemporary) but similar style of cookbook with lots of stories, history, some good Montreal content. Foreword by David Chang, too.

[Joel Benjamin L]

How to cook everything

[WadePatton]

Don't have a fave, but just got The Feed Zone Cookbook--and it's looking pretty _hawt_.

I just hardly ever use a book. I pick up ideas from cooking shows (tv and radio) and travel shows and that effing gordon the eff ramsey and i'll run with it.

or just make sushi again.

[Griffin32]

Big fans of the America's Test Kitchen Cookbooks in our household...

The TV show might be a bit annoying, but the methodology is always solid...

[robin3mj]

I think I've learned a little bit from many different books, but Jamie Oliver provided my go-to basic risotto and bread recipes.
Silver Spoon for Italian.
My wife uses Ottolenghi more often than me.
Been meaning to pick up the Essential Pepin.

[WadePatton]

[x] like

this whole thread, great resource for culinary bookshelf (self)-improvement. tnx

[HSTFixed]

It's really difficult to choose a favorite. Both of Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall's books are really great, but so are Harold McGee's in a totally different way. Thomas Keller's recipes are laborious but ridiculously delicous. Michael Ruhlman is the best a translating the chefs craft to the home kitchen. Dornenburg and Page can unleash your imagination to come up with ideas you never thought you could. (Flavor bible, Culinary Artistry, What to drink with what you eat). David Chang has put out some really good material in the Momofuku Cookbook, but the Lucky Peach magazines go above and beyond it. Really really good stuff. James Peterson's books are exhaustive, especially Sauces. The Lutece Cookbook or Jaque's Complete Techniques for the French Classics. So many different uses for so many different books. I really want Jacques Pepin's new book and Jennifer McLagan's Odd Bits, and Salumi by Brian Polcyn and Michael Ruhlman.


My newest addition which isn't pictured is Charred and Scruffed by Adam Perry Lang. It's about grilling and it's really really good. Lots of flavor.

[cw05]

Enjoying Hugh Acheson's 'A New Turn in the South' now

[Too Tall]

I've got to answer with two: Joy of Cooking and The Silver Spoon. Joy of Cooking needs no explaination you just need it. The Silver Spoon I treat like an idea book, it is chock-a-block full of straight up Italian recipes pared to only minimal guidance which is perfect when you are searching.

[C.Dyer]

I'm a fan of Alice Waters' The Art Of Simple Food.

[OnTheEllipse]

I enjoyed The Fat Duck and got pumped to get to the recipes, but realized
I'm incapable of making a single recipe in the book.

Morimoto's mashed potato soup really wowed the girlfriend and I.

[zetroc]

For the writing, the history lessons, and the original illustrations, it's hard to beat Howard Mitcham's Provincetown Seafood Cookbook or Creole, Gumbo and All That Jazz.

[EFHeath]

For Chinese: "Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook", by Fuchsia Dunlop (Hunanese)
and "land of plenty", also by Fuchsia Dunlop (Sichuanese). Although she is a westerner, she is fluent in Mandarin, studied at Chendu's Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine, and spent years eating, cooking, and talking food in China. These recipes seem really delicious and authentic to me, based on the eating I've done in the Mainland. Honorable mention to the eye-candy book "The Food of China", by Murdoch Books.

Baking: "Crust and Crumb" by Peter Reinhart. Also "How to Bake" by Nick Malgieri.

"The Fine Art of Italian Cooking", by Giuliano Bugialli. I like it better than Marcela Hazan. I have The Silver Spoon, but haven't gotten into it too much yet, it's so huge.

"The Cuisines of Spain", by Theresa Barrenechea... love it.

"Turkish Cooking", by Ghillie Basan

"True Thai", by Victo Sodsook. Don't use this one too often, because it's pretty time-consuming prep. But the food has been great when I've made the effort.

"Traditional French Food", by Curnonsky, "the Prince of Gastronomes". I have lots of French cookbooks, but I quite like this old one. It doesn't spell it all out, though. For that I refer to the Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques, which is loaded with detailed step-by-step instructions and great instructional photos that make everything crystal clear.

"Mediterranean Cooking" by Paula Wolfert. Not my favorite hummus recipe, but it's perhaps the most tattered and food-stained cookbook we have.

Historical Re-enactment: "The Classical Cookbook" by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger; and "The Medieval Cookbook", by Maggie Black. For something V-E-R-Y different. Sometimes actually weird.

Indian: I have three Indian cookbooks, but I'm not in love with any of them. But the watermelon curry in "50 Great Curries of India" by Camellia Panjabi is pretty unusual and surprisingly tasty.

Mexican: I have and like Rick Bayless' books, but my kids don't like spicy food, and I have trouble finding some of the ingredients here, so seldom cook from them. I would like to check out Diane Kennedy's books one day.

[EFHeath]

P.S., my wife is Scottish, and gravitates towards Jamie and Nigella. No complaints from me.

[echelon_john]

For Italian, Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" and Patricia Wells' "Trattoria" are tough to beat. More approachable than Silver Spoon (and obviously nowhere near as comprehensive) and good success rate with minimal modifications.

For Pan Asian/General Wokery, "Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge" by Grace Young---really stresses simplicity, which has made us a lot more conversant in stir frying on the fly

For Indian, among the many Madhur Jaffrey books, we like "Quick & Easy Indian Cooking"--good for sides/appetizer ideas, and some good main courses.

For fun, "Julia & Jacques: Cooking at Home" is pretty good. Classic french inspired, but simplified. Some good tips.

"Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi" by Yotam Ottolenghi is excellent for veggie dishes with nice twists and spices. Good food porn/photos for entertainment/bathroom reading if the new Town & Country hasn't arrived yet.

These, along with Joy of Cooking and Silver Spoon, are what we reach for probably 80% of the time.

[amos scattergood]

I keep harping on it here every time the discussion turns to bread, but I've learned as much or more from "Tartine Bread" than I did working as a bread baker for 3 years.

"Mission Street Food" has inspired me lately.

I miss my ex's cookbook collection. (shit, I miss living with a chef!)

amos

[dang]

For Italian, Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" and Patricia Wells' "Trattoria" are tough to beat. More approachable than Silver Spoon (and obviously nowhere near as comprehensive) and good success rate with minimal modifications.

. . .

Yeah, the first one. Early in the post I thought it might be hard to pick a favorite. The mind wandered and kept coming back to Marcella Hazan's Classic.