# Best Cook Book



## ChefCry (Sep 5, 2020)

Hi Chef's!
I am looking for a best book to buy. Can you please tell me is there any book which covers most recipes.
TIA


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

For western cuisine, The Joy of Cooking.


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## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

Most recipes of what? What is it you want to learn? My first recommendation for any one interested in the basics of general cooking is "The Joy of Cooking". Start with that.


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

For basic French: Pepin’s “Complete Techniques”.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

_I'd recommend subscriptions to these two(2) magazines:













_


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

You can't really go wrong with one of Delia Smith's cooking books either.
Solid recipes


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Julia Child, _Mastering the Art_, v.1-2 has the great advantage that she explains everything in clear, unambiguous terms.

But there is no such thing as "the best" cookbook -- only best for certain purposes, as precisely defined as possible.


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## CatManDoo88 (Jul 15, 2020)

Yeah, I think this thread is starting from a false premise. Looking for any sort of compendium of wide reaching recipes is just looking for mediocrity. I prefer cookbooks with a narrow focus where the author is an expert in that style and their passion flows through all of the recipes. Given that criteria, the broadest I would go is something like Mastering the Art of French Cooking since it is a broad attempt to write down the classic French repertoire for home cooks, but is still passionate about the particular subject of French Food.

The most eclectic I would recommend is something like J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's The Food Lab (which is a focused, evidence based attempt to determine the best way to do a lot of classic preparations) or something like Alton Brown's Good Eats 3 volume cookbook set, which reduces to writing all of the Good Eats episodes and recipes. It is not authoritative and most things have Alton's particular spin on them, but it is a good primer for most Western cooking topics. It is also more contemporary than something like The Joy of Cooking.


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## cotswoldcommis (Dec 1, 2016)

Leiths “How to Cook” is a great book. It is essentially the professional cookery course that they teach at their school in London. Has a lot of techniques as well as recipes.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

cotswoldcommis said:


> Leiths "How to Cook" is a great book. It is essentially the professional cookery course that they teach at their school in London. Has a lot of techniques as well as recipes.


Yep, that's not a bad one


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## cotswoldcommis (Dec 1, 2016)

butzy said:


> You can't really go wrong with one of Delia Smith's cooking books either.
> Solid recipes


Agree on that one. Delia Smith's "How to Cook - Book One" was the first ever cookbook I bought. She was really slated by all the celebrity chefs at the time, but really starts with the basics - how to boil an egg. The approach is build a good solid foundation, build some confidence and go on from there.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

I've got a local bookstore getting me a copy of this book, I've heard it is a pretty good guide to Chinese cuisine. But being such an incredibly broad spectrum of diverse areas and ingredients, I'm sure that 1 book is not nearly enough.










mjb.


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## ShelteredBugg1 (May 1, 2019)

The wizards cookbook ronny emborg


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## hebari (Aug 26, 2020)

Escoffier - Le guide de culinare


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## khanhamza (Jan 7, 2021)

"The joy of cooking" , "How to cook Everything" , "The food lab"


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## loomchick (Jun 11, 2013)

*I really like Samin Nosrat's Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking*
It's not a recipe cookbook, but an opportunity to learn a lot about cooking. I liked it so well, I have the audiobook version, the print version, and the digital version on my iPad. And, yes . . . it's a good audiobook.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Yes, that is such a good series. Like you say, it is not a recipe book. It gives you the foundation you need to cook anything, and cook it well.

mjb.


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