Cookbooks/Chef-driven books
 

I've recently started building a cookbook collection which currently holds:

1) Gordon Ramsay: 3-star chef
2) Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite
3) Savoring Mexico
4) Savoring Provence (both these are from Williams-Sonoma)
5) The food of Thailand
6) Mediterranean Cuisine: Turkey

What books do you have and like?

The alton brown book(s) are a fun read

My favorites are two classics from Diana Kennedy, "The Cuisines of Mexico," and "Recipes from the Regional Cooks of Mexico." My understanding is that she consulted with Fonda San Miguel in Austin (my favorite Mexican restaurant) when they started.

Thomas Keller's Bouchon and French Laundry books. The former is useful and can be followed, the latter requires enormous amounts of time and a brigade of assistance!

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles cookbook

Giorgio Locatelli 'Made in Italy'

Most of Nigel Slater's books

Yes they are and he is basically the only chef I even watch on TV anymore. His recipes are good but his show and explanations are great. I have used his ideas more times then I can remember and they are always great.

I watch Nigella Lawson also but it really isn't for the food. :D

Funny about Nigella. I started watching her because of the food, she made a clementine or mandrine orange cake that was spectacular.

You boiled them for two and a half hours, then ran them throught the food processor, etc. When I first tracked her down I didn't have a clue what she looked like, I fully expected the same grandmother in an apron on all the Italian PBS cooking shows.

Nigella's cookbooks are quite good too, be they bought for the stories or not :D

Another vote for Nigel Slater (assume they are available in the US). Great food, invariably tastes good, nothing too complex and well focussed on seasonal produce. My only criticsm would be a slight deficit of fish receipes v meat. The Kitchen Diaries is my favourite.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Meat Cookbook is another cracker.

^ to Giorgio Locatelli too.

Regretably Nigella is a little less alluring in the flesh (or she was the Sunday I saw her buying Nespresso capsules in Selfridges).

Which reminds me, Rick Stein fills that gap for me. His 'Complete Seafood' is my fish bible and currently sits next to Fearnley-Whittingstall's Meat cookbook.

Noooooo, don't shatter the illusion! (Anyway, I've moved onto Sophie Dahl and not for her rather lackluster cookery)

Ahh, I need to buy that. ^

I've been thinking of picking up Ad Hoc by him. I've heard his three books are very informative in terms of what to buy, what to use, why do x....Sounds like something you could take with you outside of just the book's recipes.

"The Man who Ate the world"

Before becoming engrossed in cookbooks, some "prep" reading about food, restaurants and chefs can be rewarding and educational. I still enjoy some of the classic "food-writers".

I'm in the process of donating a 400+/- volume collection to the state's "Technical College" which has a "Culinary Arts" department designed to train chefs, managers, etc., for other than "haute cuisine' duty.

I watched Alton Brown last night (I think...), where he made some sort of lamb curry using a home-made tandoor(i) oven (created out of a terra cotta flower pot). I enjoyed watching the episode, but I kept thinking to myself "this meal requires way too much work."

I've got books by pretty much everyone, including some that most folks probably don't have (Helen Corbitt, anyone except TMOliver???) and a first edition "Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management"

I've met Gordon Ramsay (he was charming), Jamie Oliver and Gennaro Contaldo (on a BA flight from LGW to Pisa, with Jason Flemyng for some reason), and Wolfgang Puck (short and sweet).

If you're starting a cookbook collection, I would recommend getting a copy of Larousse Gastronomique and some Julia Child books.

They are hugely informative. I read both 'French Laundry' and 'Bouchon' before I started to try any of the recipes.

On a similar note, I would recommend Locatelli's book 'Made in Italy'. Aside from the fabulous recipes, I learned so much about genuine Italian food.

Look forward to it. I'll check out "Made in Italy". Been looking for a good Italian book. One that doesn't have just recipes (authentic), but one that discusses about Italian food and techniques. I also thought about picking up the Pasta book (I can't remember the exact title).

I keep eying the Keller books, but they are always in the wrapping. I hate the idea of spending $50 a pop for a book I can at least check out before purchasing.

Thanks for the recommendations. The Larousse seems like it's a bible of sorts.

There were a lot of good suggestions in this thread as well. 'appy cooking!

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/dinin...cookbooks.html

D'Oh. Of course, I can't get pass the suggestion of Sandra Lee. :)

Can a mod merge these two threads?

I recently picked up "The Complete Robuchon" on a recommendation and have found it to be great.

Out of time or out of date, "Romagnolis' Table" brought "doable" upscale Italian food at a level not before easily possible to US home cooks. All of a sudden, we were moved beyong "Tomato Gravy". I still recall how much I enjoyed my first visit to the little restaurant in Boston.

Readable, fun and a teaching experience, almost anything of Jeff Smith's, no matter his personal pecadillos, still the perfect gifts for young couples interested in learning to cook.

Any great books or guides for spices, different ingredients (such as the type of fish or vegetable, what they taste like, how to cook them, ect.), and kitchen equipment and tools?

For kitchen equipment and tools, The Well-Tooled Kitchen by Fred Bridge and Jean F. Tibbetts, is the best book I've ever seen. There are all kinds of everyday and obscure implements along with explanations of their usages (who knew that a China Cap is actually a Chinois, and a Chinois is actually a Bouillon Strainer!). I can't imagine any book on kitchen equipment being more complete.

As for guides for spices, etc., Dornenburg and Page put out a book called The Flavor Bible last year that won the James Beard award for Best Reference Book. It gives an exhaustive list of ingredients and what they combine well with. It is a great reference guide. Their website is: http://www.becomingachef.com/

Thanks!

I strongly dislike most celebrity chef cookbooks. In many (not all) cases, it's meaningless branding that doesn't guarantee a minimum level of quality or a particular cooking style.

One of my bibles is Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques. I also gave this to my sister and her husband at Christmas, and they've loved it. It's something to sit in bed and read, and then try things out of. You'll discover things you never even thought of cooking (my sister didn't even know you could make homemade mayo, now she absolutely loves the stuff).
I shop at farmers markets a lot, and frequently come across veg I'm not familiar with, or new cultivars of familiar veg. Vegetables: Amaranth to Zucchini is excellent for giving guidance on how to cook with them.
If you have access to offal and game, then Nose to Tail is invaluable.


My father has also enjoyed "License to Grill", so that comes recommended too.

Not cookbooks, but outstanding books about food, culture and biology:
Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human
In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan's most accessible (and most interesting) work.
Also worth reading is Taste: The History of Britain Through Its Cooking for an interesting historical look at the way that tastes have changed over 2000 years.

:p www......cooks.com[/url]

The expurgator done caught me....the dots are left after censorship of a word used to describe women of evil temperament and female dogs.

Really? I found it to be rather lackluster - repetitive and obvious.

It's definitely not as in-depth as some of his other writing, but as a first introduction to his approach to food, I think its a good read.

Husband and I collect cookbooks from restaurants we visit, mostly New Orleans and we have the staff involved in our experience sign them. Best was Susan Spicer's from Bayona if you are looking for recipes. Most interesting was from I believe, but am probably mistaken, the Colonial Inn in Philadelphia with recipes and history from the colonial days. George Washinton ate at this site in the original building. Current restaurant was rebuilt to the specs as the original burnt to the ground.

If there is no cookbook we ask for a menu or even a napkin signed by the staff. Have a wonderful menu from a restaurant located in Graz, Austria.

When we have explained we cook, collect and enjoy dining out we have received the most memorable items and stories. People love that you love their work.

All this stuff is at home in the US and I am in China, this thread reminded me to get back on track and continue a wonderful hobby. Also we need to learn to cook here as were have no oven or outdoor grille.

Any of you have or checked out any of the books by James Patterson?

I didn't know he had any cookbooks, I thought they were all murder mysteries.

Opps...Got my authors mixed up. James Peterson. :)

While I'm certainly no "Junior Leaguer", although my wife was once and formerly, and I still greet most JL activities with a wink and my finger upside my nose in Neapolitan fashion, some of the best home cookbooks around, full of creative adaptations and "doable' recipes, are the Junior League cookbooks from Southern US cities.

Sure there's dross, but amongst the dross some real nuggets.

They can often be found at used booksales and on remainder racks, and the pre1980 ones tend to be less pretentious.

Oh yes, I had forgotten the church ladies cookbooks from the south. Great reading. Best was Frances Parkinson Keyes cookbook with recipes from the First Ladies before they were First Ladies. Those church lady cookbooks, the pies and cakes are the best.

Best recipe is the Hershey cookbook, recipe for chocolate cake but sustitute Droste chocolate. Fabulous.

My friends and I have a BBQ team and we love to bbq. If you buy 1 BBQ cookbook it should be Paul Kirks Championship BBQ. IT explains everything you would need to know about great BBQ and how to put trophys on your shelf.

Not a cook book exactly, but one of my favorite foodie books is "The Last Chinese Chef" by Nicole Mones. From a quote on the cover: "I don't think there's ever been anything quite like this. It's a love story, it's a mystery, and it's also the most thorough explanation of Chinese food that I've ever read in the English language." (Ruth Reichl)

I’ll be the judge of that. Just send me a few racks of your finished ribs and I’ll let you know if they’re tasty.
Can you, like… drop those in the mail today. Like, RIGHT NOW.
Fed Ex overnight, please.

Last night, while going through my shelves to select books for donation to the "Culinary Arts" program earlier mentioned, I came to some conclusions which I believe with be of value to all who "thread" here....

1. Barbecue cookbooks are a contradiction in terms. BBQ is a folk art, passed on only through genetics, childhood exposure, harsh experience or long apprenticeships spent hauling wood, building fires and raking coals and shoveling ash for master or self-claimed BBQers. BBQ is highly localized. BBQ in South Carolina and BBQ is South Texas are are different, divergent trails as far apart as Ulan Bator and Uvalde. Expecting an author the successfully educate you to 2 (or more) disparate philosophies of BBQ is like expecting a travel writer to simultaneously cover tourism in the 2 cities mentioned above.

2. There are books about cooking and food, and there are cookbooks. Of the cookbooks available, some are only suitable for prospective users who have large, well-equipped kitchens, a sous chef, a salad chef and a prep artiste (and maybe a pastry chef) standing by. Then there's the necessity of having access to Les Halles or a comparable market facilities.

3. Indian cookbooks (and I love Indian food) are treacherous, written by folks for whom a spice market/bazaar is located a block from their back doors, stocked with two or three thousand common every days components of the dishes they describe. It seems only yesterday that the supermarket chain I frequent had only one fresh or dried chile available, jalapenos. Just to check, I counted on my last visit, finding about 30 now available. Of course, were I in Oaxaca, I'd expect several times as many, each a component of some grand example of Oaxacan cuisine (to go with the local mescal con gusano).

4. If you can't cook a good steak using "Choice" grade beef, you're sure as Hell unlikely to be able to cook a good steak using "Prime" beef. Short of the Apocalypse or some equivalent event, no matter how many stars a hotel bears behind its name, to expect any more than modest quality from a "Room Service" steak falls into the category of vain, forlorn hope. As for airline steaks, far better they should have been banned in perpetuity by the Warsaw Convention than to continue to exist, examples of the greivous ambition of unrealistically ambitious airline catering "chefs" (and how we must greivously answer for it).

Delia Smith taught me how to do decent roast potatoes, good cakes and really good simple fish dishes. Its her "How to cook" series and I always use it as a starting point.

Pei Mei's Chinese Cook Books (3 volumes) are my favorite. The author Pei-mei Fu was regarded the Chinese Julia Child. After moving to Taiwan with her husband who was an military officer retreating from mainland China in the Chinese revolution in 1949, she started to learn cooking authentic Chinese cuisine with restaurant chefs who were moving from various Chinese provinces. She was also the first cooking teacher on TV in greater China. I think her cook books are among the best cook books to learn the most authentic Chinese culinary art.

I have "Cooking" and "Sauces". Both excellent, not for beginners though.