melissahoulroyd.info

• Title: The Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef’s Craft for Every Kitchen
• Author: Michael Ruhlman
• Publisher: Scribner
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Pages: 242

Michael Ruhlman’s The Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef’s Craft for Every Kitchen is a reference book for cooks, professional and otherwise, who want to learn more about cooking. The book consists of eight short essays in the first fifty pages called “Notes on Cooking: From Stock to Finesse,” followed by a dictionary of cooking terms called “The Elements of Cooking: A to Z.”

Ruhlman’s “Notes on Cooking” includes such essays as “Stock,” “Sauce,” “Salt,” “The Egg,” “Heat,” “Tools,” “Sources and Acknowledgments: (Fifteen Good Books About Food and Cooking),” “Finesse: The Cook’s Finest Challenge and Path to the Ultimate Rewards.” These essays were the heart of the book for me. The author’s explanations of the important elements of cooking are illustrated with sincerity (where he, very easily, could have come across as pretentious).

As a recent foodie convert, I found The Elements of Cooking to be just what I was looking for: a useful and well-written book about food and cooking. I’m sure I will refer to it in the future, not least of all because of the veal stock recipe. (4/5)

Tags: book review, cooking, reference

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 12:54 pm and is filed under book review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.