# Top 10 Cooking / Recipe Books



## hubuk

Can anyone name their top 10 choice of cooking / recipe books?

If you can't name 10 that does not matter - jsut name however many you have.

My current must have is Rick Stein's Seafood but, so soon after Christmas expenditure, at £25 will have to go on the wish list.
It really is the business in terms of everything to do with seafood from buying through preparation to cooking and beautifully illustrated so you cannot fail to know what is going on. 

With this book one could become great!:chef:


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## chefboy2160

The New professional chef and the joy of cooking are some of the first I think of .


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## compassrose

Do you mean working books, inspirational books, or reading books?

I like that.... "just name however many you have." Hee hee hee. We'd be here all day. I love my Wall o' Food Books. Hm. I love my Walls of Other Books. Think I just have a book problem. Better for the brain than cable, but demands more space and dusting.


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## marmalady

Jacque Pepin's 'Celebrations'
'In the Sweet Kitchen'
Lydia Bastianich's 'Italian American Cooking' - I watch her on TV, and my mouth waters!
My OLD Joy of Cooking - threw the revised out - made 10 recipes, and none of them worked!!!!
Rick Bayless, ''Mexican Kitchen'
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream book
Vegetarian Cooking by Deborah Fields
New Making of a Cook, Madeline Kamman
From Julia's Kitchen
Indian Cooking, Madhur Jaffrey
Cake Bible, Rose Levy Berenbaum
Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings - Brown
In Search of Excellence - Charlie Trotter's reflections on managing a restaurant and its people

I have to stop!!!!:bounce:


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## kylew

I have decided that I would rather have books that can teach me how to do things rather than just collections of recipes. My Most Awesome Girlfriend gave me Larousse Gastronomique for Christmas. Also in that vain, and on my shelf...



New Making of a Cook, Madeline Kamman 
Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home 
La Varenne Pratique by Anne Willan
Cooking Essentials for the New Prof. Chef - The Food & Bev. Inst.
CookWise, Shirley O. Corriher
The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart
Crust & Crumb by Peter Reinhart
The Taste of Bread by Raymond Calvel
The Bread Builders by Alan Scott and Daniel Wing


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## jock

Let's see... In no particular order of preference:

Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home
Nick Stellino's Glorious Italian Cooking
Joy of Cooking (1975)
Julia & Jaque Cooking at Home
Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible
Bradley Ogden's Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Julia's The French Chef Cookbook
Baking with Julia
Professional Baking
A tiny little book called Simply Scones

I gotta have close to a hundred books and it still doesn't seem to be enough. Not to mention the mags (mostly Bon Appetit.) I love 'em all.

Jock


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## elakin

i was so glad to see from the last post that we can now say "bon appetit" without being censored.

anyway, here's my list:

evan jones--american food
felipe rojas-lombardy--the art of south american cooking
coleman andrews--catalan cusine
pelegrino artusi--the art of eating well
norman van aiken's new world cuisine
lolis lee eddy--smokestack lightening
william woys weaver--america eats
mark miller--great chile book, great salsa book
all those culinaria books published by konemann--france, italy, spain, etc...


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## jock

I must have missed something in the past.
What's the deal with Bon Appetit? 

Jock


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## chiffonade

In no particular order...

_The Joy Of Cooking_ (First line of defense)
_The Cake Bible_ (Anal retentive at times but priceless info)
_Baking with Julia_ (Great source of multi-chef baking info)
_The New Professional Chef_ (large quantities - overall cuisine)
_Professional Pastry Chef_ (large quantity baking info)
_The Canyon Ranch Cookbook_ (Incredible low-cal stuff)
_The Cuisine of Armenia_ (Husband is Armenian)
_Becoming A Chef_ (Multi-Chef, recipes and great stories)
_Putting Food By_ (Encyclopaedia of anything you wanted to know about canning)
_Bread Alone_ (Explains the living art of bread baking)

Bonus:
Useless Death of a Tree..._How to Cook Everything_


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## athenaeus

Chiffonade.

The cuisine of Armenia is it an easy to find book?


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## judy

HubUK I agree about the rick Stein book. I was in London for christmas and given this as a present, life could not have been better

My menu this year has been given an uplift already with a couple of his recipes.


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## rachel

Eddie, Coleman Andrew's Catalan Cuisine was so highly thought of that they translated it into Catalan!


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## suzanne

Jessica's Biscuit has _Cuisine of Armenia_ at a very reasonable price.


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## athenaeus

Thanks Suzanne


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## yvonne

Having been raised and traveled and currently live along the Pacific Rim, I favor books that represent the cultures at this confluence.

These are the volumes that I my fingers would fly to, if an immediate evacuation was needed. My pantry is always filled with the goods of Chinese, Korean, Thai, Filipino, Indian, and Mexican markets, and I would just as handily make Indian chicken livers with yogurt and cinnamon for a quick dinner, as Teochow fish porridge sprinkled with dried shrimps from memory-- since I have learned them from repeated preparation-but I would miss the other wonders from the books they were culled, I had not tried to sample yet.

 (Most of these were mentioned on the post about my cookbook library.)

All the Donna Hay Cookbooks. She is from Australia and borrows liberally the foodstuffs and techniques of Asia. Italian cookery is also her touchstone. Very simple, modern and elegant.

The Complete Asian Cookbook by Terry Tan. His Singaporean recipes mostly reflect his Hokkien and Swatow Chinese background, but those of Malaysian and Indian are recognized too. This is the tome I reach for when I want Straits-born food that is fresh and tropical. 

The Complete Asian Cookbook by Charmane Solomon. I've worked out of her book for years, always delighted by my culinary journeys to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Korea, China, and other exotic ports of call. It is only in the Philippines, she lost her grip. 

The Asian Cookbook edited by Jeni Wright. This is a good guide to Asian soul food, the kinds of dishes that rarely appear on restaurant menus. Recipes like Thai sticky rice and black beans endear it to me. It is good for everyday cooking.

The Recipes of the Philippines by Enriqueta David Perez, because Filipinos don't believe in learning how to cook from cookbooks, or writing them, and this is one of the rare ones that channels the talented, mother-taught housewife back home.

Hawaii Filipino Favorite Recipes by the Filipino Women's League. These are the kind of Filipino-Hawaiian foods that you would have in somebody's backyard when they have invited all the neighbors and relations, and a few tourist for good measure. Filipinos are not big on opening restaurants, so this is close to a home cooked meal as one can get.

Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking and World of the East Vegetarian Cooking. Once I found her, I stopped buying all others. Warning: her Far Eastern Cookery is the work of a dilettante. 

Diane Kennedy's The Cuisine of Mexico and the Taste of Mexico by Patricia Quintana. What must be remembered that these are extremely complex and time consuming recipes, traditionally made by a household of women. I shop and eat in the deep Mexican parts of town, and these are the recipes, which are most reflective of those experiences. 

These are the books of traditional cuisines, having survived centuries, for good reason: they are delicious.


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## risby

Something seems not quite right here. Such fulsome praise for one of Madhur Jaffrey's books and unexplained condemnation of another. Is it possible that you're confusing the word "dilettante" with some other?

dilettante: noun
An amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions

And, to respond to the thread, I think Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's "Meat" has to come high up in the top ten most influential books.


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## yvonne

Hi Risby,

Good of you to comment. I knew that when I wrote that opinion, I might be exciting controversy. And, I also should have explained myself better.

Jaffrey's two other books, in my estimation, are the work of a much-practiced art. These are the recipes she has codified for the reader as heirlooms. You could ply your craft through either one of these books, and be considered well versed in their themes. 

In Far Eastern Cookery, which I believe was a companion to a television series, she attributes the recipes to others, and although making a record of another's accomplishments is an acceptable vocation, she does not fine-tune them. Regardless, all the recipes I have tried do not seem to ring true, and there is a lack of generational imperative, that these recipes are so good, that I must pass on to others, as gifts of food, or as recipes exchanged. 

It is not a bad book, but it is not a virtuous book as her others. To me, it does not hold it up as a definitive course, but rather a light sojourn along those paths. I consider myself a dilettante too, in that my cookbook reviews are a stretch between casually pursued studies. 

It can also be said that Jaffrey is also a dilettante, in the other meaning of the word, a lover of the fine art of Far Eastern cookery, because of her enthusiasm for her exploration. 

Risby, did you find this trio equal in merit? Why is it hard to believe that this great cookbook writer was not superlative in all her endeavors? Or maybe it was because I was too passionate in my expression, either loving or hating?

You must pardon my way of expressing myself. I write literary fiction, and I use words with unfettered abandon, carelessly and indulgently. 

Sincerely,

Yvonne Ignacio


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## risby

I have this book but none of her others. It is one of my oldest books but not one that I use so much these days.

Indeed, it was the counterpoint of opinion without explanation that suggested, in my ignorance of your erudition, a malapropism.

D4mnation, Yvonne, now I must buy more infernal cook books. I have no room! When the shelf in my kitchen gave way I stored the eighty-odd books under a table at the end of my bed and all along the sill of my bedroom bay window. As you recommend these other two books as so much better than the one I have I really must get them to compare. Although Atul Kochhar has just been brought to my attention by the "Great British Menu" contest to find chef's to cook for the Queen's birthday celebration dinner. I'm going to have to buy his "Indian Essence" as well, as he received great acclaim from both the judges and fellow contestants.

May your grandiloquence prevail and persist. I have no wish to fetter you - unless, of course, you're into that sort of thing :smoking:


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## expatc

Cooking by Hand: Paul Bertoli
The French Laundry Cookbook: Thomas Keller
(if you can do everything in that book, then apply it to your own ideas, you are an artist.)
Bouchon: Thomas Keller

And, cautious praise for Ducasse's Encyclopedia. Possibly the worst and most boring cookbook ever published but if you have the patience to extract what is valuable in there (and it takes a lot of patience) it is the equivalent of 10 master classes in classical technique.


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## mikeb

Grand Livre de Cuisine - Ducasse
- Unusual organisation of recipes, hard to sort through everything, but second to none for sheer amount of info

Aquavit - Marcus Samuelsson
- Traditional ethnic cooking meets fine dining - I've got to applaud Marcus Samuelsson for taking his ethnic cuisine to the next level, he's a huge inspiration to me

Bras - Michel Bras
- Another chef I admire greatly - this book contains many solid recipes, as well as a huge bio section, many nice pictures - french only

Tetsuya - Tetsuya Wakuda
- Japanese/French food done in good taste - inspirational stories, solid recipes with wine pairings for every dish

Shunju - New Japanese Cuisine
- Contains everything you'd want to know about Japanese cooking, has pictures of techniques and very good descriptions, organised according to the seasons

ph10 - Pierre Hermé
- Every recipe I've used has been perfect, all the recipes are PH originals. Contains all the 'base' pastries, this is my 'go-to' pastry book - french only

Festive Ukrainian Cooking - Marta Pisetska Farley
- Lots of good traditional Ukrainian recipes, organised according to holidays/special events and the dishes that go with them

The Best of Ukrainian Cuisine - Bohdan Zahny
- A small encyclopedia of Ukrainian cuisine - translation is poor but the book gets high marks for sheer amount of information. Has a neat section in the back with translations of culinary terms (English/Ukrainian) - has the spelling in both english letters and cyrillic, as well as pronunciations



I've also got a few good books that are just for reading (no recipes):

La Cuisine - Pierre Gagnaire and Hervé This
- A mind-opening read, raises some very interesting questions and possibilities. Discusses food as art, as well as what makes people think of food as 'good' - french only

Reflections on Culinary Art - Pierre Gagnaire
- Beautiful pictures, very inspirational, contains a biography of Gagnaire's professional life

The Perfectionist - Rudolph Chelminski on Bernard Loiseau
- The story of Bernard Loiseau's rise and fall. Beautifully done, I think I actually shed a tear reading this

Molecular Gastronomy - Hervé This
- Much like La Cuisine, this book raises some very interesting possibilities relating to food. Also dispels many kitchen myths. 



Books that didn't make the cut:

Thomas Kellers 2 books - needlessly complicated and overly contrived - seems taste takes a second seat to esthetics. These books have been gathering dust for a few years now

On Cooking - it's a textbook, a rather poor one... Everything in this book I can find in my other books, but better... Will be useful when I sell out and produce cafeteria-type food.


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## lyneotto

Yvonne,
You and I are the same page!
I love Donna Hay. I make things out of her books, or get inspired by then, and go my own way, but her recipes are simple, fresh, new, healthy, artistic, and delicious! She gets no accolades, but from me she gets high praise!
Lyne


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## happybaker01

Cookwise, by Shirley Corriher....food chemistry with recipes...awesome book...so easy to read!


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## cakerookie

I agree with you on that one.But no Top 10 would be complete without Harold Mcgees On Food and Cooking I would also add Jacques Pepins Complete Techniques too it too.


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## casualcook

Here's mine:

All the Donna Hay books - her food is simple but delicious - love the mix of Asian ingredients with Western styled preparation.

The Cake Bible by Rose Bevy Berenbaum

Every Grain of Rice by Ellen Leong Blonder, Annabel Low - great home style Chinese cooking

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman - a good reference for everyday


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## mannlicher

Lets see, how to pick the 10 best from those that I have and love......

James Beard: Theory and Practice of Good Cooking
James Beard: Delights and Prejudices
MFK Fisher: With Bold Knife and Fork
Meta Givens: Modern Enclyclopedia of Cooking (1953)
Craig Clairborne: NYT Cook Book (1990, and other editions)
CIA: The Professional Chef
Jacques Pepin': Complete Techniques
Julia Childs and Simone Beck: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Rombauer: The Joy of Cooking (1953 and other editions)
Bernard Clayton: Cooking Across America
Susan Loomis: Seafood Cookbook
Devra Dedeaux: Sugar Reef Caribbean Cookbook.

Whoops, I went over the limit.............and there are SO many more :chef:


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## heavymetal chef

Definately Rick Stein's Complete Seafood

Dessert University-Roland Mesnier 

Italian Cooking Slow and Savory-Joyce Goldstein

Culinary Artistry

French Laundry Cookbook

Art Culinaire (its actually a magizine but its hard cover and awsome)

those are the ones that sparked my biggest desires...but for good reading Kitchen Confidential-Anthony Bourdain.....I tend to look for the artsy books or the books that will show the authentic cuisine or books with a lot of info (ie dessert university and complete seafood)


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## tropicalgal

I have a few cookbooks that I use regularly:
An oldie but goldie... The Complete Cook
Company's Coming Low-Fat Cooking
Rose Reisman's Secret for Permanent Weight Loss
Rose Reisman's Weekday Wonders - Healthy Light Meals for Every Day
I also clip recipes that appeal to me from magazines and newspapers
I have also asked for recipes from restaurants
My list of Sites on the Web include:
CityTV - CityLine - Food & Entertaining
Lidia's Italy
Healthy Cooking - Healthy Recipes
Prevention Magazine Online


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## retrevr

Best references-
THe CIA Baking book
THe Le Cordon Bleu Baking book
The New Prof Chef
THe Prof Pastry Chef-Bo Friburg

Ones I use-
Charcuterie-Ruhlman and Polcyn


Good Books-
Rick Tramono's books
the Trotter books
Cooking with David Burke
Letuce-Soltner
Bayless
Zarela....Vera Cruz
Batali

Inspiration-
The Nobu books
Michel Bras
Trotter
Keller
Ripert
Bordain(life)



Best Book-
Sauces by Peterson



Old School-
La repetoir
Le Technique
Larouse
The Profesional Charcuterie Series


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