The more that I study why and how people cook at home, the more that I understand the importance of a book such as Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking (Scribner, 2009). Noted food writer Michael Ruhlman lays out a simple premise: If you understand the … [Read more...] about Ratio by Michael Ruhlman
Great Books
How to Cook Without a Book
Along the same lines of Ratio, there’s How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart (Broadway, 2000) by Pam Anderson, author of The Perfect Recipe series. Each chapter focuses on a classic technique. Each includes a step-by-step narrative on … [Read more...] about How to Cook Without a Book
Kitchen Shelf: No Knead Bread Books
We rarely buy bread anymore. As I write this, a vat of whole wheat bread dough languishes in our fridge. Mike made the dough over the weekend and has since fashioned four loaves for various holiday eating events. All of this is possible due to the no knead artisan bread … [Read more...] about Kitchen Shelf: No Knead Bread Books
The End of the Line
What would the world be like if there were no more fish? It’s a possibility based on current fishing practices laid out in the excellent, if devastating book The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and What We Eat by British journalist Charles Clover … [Read more...] about The End of the Line
Something From the Oven
A blend of culinary history and pop culture, Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in the 1950s America (Penguin, 2004) by Laura Shapiro tells the starling, yet fascinating history of many foods that now line the center aisles of super markets. With great research and quiet … [Read more...] about Something From the Oven
