I prefer cooking suggestions or inspiration than actual recipes. Recipes result in buying 10 ingredients and using a fraction of each, then having a load of things left over.
Suggestions can be adapted to better fit what I already have. Or if it differs too much then I might pick another that is a closer fit.
Something like ready steady cook, a UK cooking TV programme. Contestants given a bag of ingredients and have to make something with it. THAT is the kind of cooking I want to be better at.
The Wok by Kenji Lopez-Alt fits that description perfectly. It is a massive book, filled with a lot of technique and explanations, and additional recipes.
A similar book is Salt Acid Fat Heat by Samin Nosrat. She also has a short Netflix docu where she dives into depth about each part. It has accompanying recipes, but the main focus is on the know how and techniques.
I’m personally not a fan of following recipes, but my wife loves cookbooks. A few of her go to are:
Veganomicon - By Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero
And The How Not to Die Cookbook By Michael Greger, Gene Stone
I just donated my veganomicon last weekend. I never found a recipe in there I liked.
I prefer cooking suggestions or inspiration than actual recipes. Recipes result in buying 10 ingredients and using a fraction of each, then having a load of things left over.
Suggestions can be adapted to better fit what I already have. Or if it differs too much then I might pick another that is a closer fit.
Something like ready steady cook, a UK cooking TV programme. Contestants given a bag of ingredients and have to make something with it. THAT is the kind of cooking I want to be better at.
Yeah, I wish there was an easier way to distinguish what I’d call actual “cook books” from the vast sea of “recipe compilations”.
I.e., books that go over techniques, but then maybe just give some recipes as examples.
The Wok by Kenji Lopez-Alt fits that description perfectly. It is a massive book, filled with a lot of technique and explanations, and additional recipes.
A similar book is Salt Acid Fat Heat by Samin Nosrat. She also has a short Netflix docu where she dives into depth about each part. It has accompanying recipes, but the main focus is on the know how and techniques.
Lol, 2 of the books that I own cause they do this well.
Might take a look next time I have some free time around the library. Shame I usually end up in that situation on days they are closed.
Then again I think there is one not too far from where I work, hour long lunch break with very little else to do.
Yeah, I tend to get cookbooks from the library a lot.