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Summary: excellent for novice food service personnel
Review: Great easy to read, synopsis of food terminology for pros or new food service personnel. Diffinitive definitions of common and unique cookery verbage. A must in every commercial kitchen
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Summary: Best dictionary ever for culinary words
Review: I am an older student going back to school and after long years of being away you forget alot of stuff. Currently, I am taking the Sanitation course and some baking courses that are really tough. I was able to find every word in this dictionary even French phrases. I also purchased a study guide from P. Leonardi called The Study Guide for the National Servsafe Exam with Key Review Questions and Answers. This book gets right to the point and makes it easier to understand some of these words and abbreviations like the HACCP Point System. Another book I highly recommend is the Study Guide for Baking and Advance Baking Books. All these books have excellent questions and answers and explanations that will help you get through any course or exam.
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Summary: I recommend this book to all my clients
Review: I can't even remember how many times I've recommended this book to my clients and students. I'm a caterer, culinary teacher, and culinary consultant, and have found this book indispensable. I've been a fan since the first edition and have purchased all subsequent editions--the book just keeps getting better and better! A "MUST-HAVE" in any kitchen.
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Summary: Super Useful
Review: I don't even know why I bother to put this back into my bookshelf. As I push my cooking skills, I often refer to this book for a definition to things I've never used (or heard of) inside a recipe. It is also a great source for inspiration when I'm cooking without a formal recipe.
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Summary: Indispensable for the Cook
Review: I first encountered the Food Lover's Companion at a cooking demonstration at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America), where the chef said that he uses it constantly. Since then, I myself have referred to it for everything from definitions of unfamiliar ingredients (e.g. babaco - an Ecuadorian papaya; kombu - a type of Japanese seaweed; za'atar - a pungent Middle Eastern herb) to particular dishes such as bourride (a Provencal fish soup) and "country captain" (a classic American chicken curry). I especially love the pasta appendix in the back, which lists several pasta shapes that may be unfamiliar to non-Italians. Overall, this is a great reference for anyone interested and in food and cooking.
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Summary: A must for anyone who ever cooks or eats.
Review: I have a penchant for reference books, and I must say, this is one of my favorites. This is an amazing little book. In addition to the wealth of food definitions, it has great appendices (29 of them), including a pan substitution chart, ingredient equivalents (for example, how much volume-wise a pound of broccoli will be once it is chopped up), substituting ingredients, fatty acid profiles of popular oils, a pasta glossary, consumer information sources, and the list goes on.
In addition to simply looking up ingredients which you have not heard of, I find it great for looking up things that I THINK I know what they are, but just want to make sure, or for looking up the origins of different foods (did you know that ketchup was originally made in China of pickled fish, no tomatoes?).
This book is also very well-written and very easy to read and use. Buy a copy for yourself and another to give to someone who doesn't.
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Summary: The most important tool in any kitchen.
Review: I have used this book as a manual through my studies to become a master chef and this book gave me answers to questions that I could not find anywhere else.
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Summary: Amazing information. Never lets you down.
Review: I operate a specialty retail food store and this book is our bible. With over forty employees, many of whom are transient students, this book is well used to help inform both staff and customers. I keep one at each work station and we'd be lost without it.
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Summary: A "must have" book in my cooking library.
Review: I stumbled upon this book a few years back and if I had to give up all but 10 cook/cooking books, I'd still have this one. I'm not a professional chef, just someone who loves to cook. This compact little book has helped me whenever I need to understand a cooking term, or an ingredient. Today it saved me a trip to the store, by telling me how to substitiute one type of sugar for another. I use it all the time and I love it.
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Summary: Delicious Descriptions
Review: I was at first captivated and then consummed by this tiny and yet seriously comprehensive volume years ago when I found one of the first editions. This is the third edition and it is completely amazing how many food, drink and culinary terms can be packed into such a tiny package. I love the feel and weight of this book and the ease of which you can use this book to look up terms fast and furiously when you are writing about food. The rounded corners on the pages make this a book you can flip through very easily and it is all pleasantly alphabetical. The Contents Include: Terms: The volume of the work. The Extras: Ingredient Equivalents
Substituting Ingredients
Pan Substitution Chart
High-Altitude Baking Adjustments
Boiling Point of Water at Various Altitudes
General Temperature Equivalents
Hand Test for Grilling Temperatures
Oven Temperatures
Fahrenheit/Celsius Conversion Formulas
Microwave Oven Conversion Chart
Recommended Safe cooking Temperatures Candymaking Cold-Water Tests
Frying Temperatures
Smoke Points of Popular Oils
Fatty Acid Profiles of Popular Oils
U.S. Measurement Equivalents
Wine and Spirit Bottle Sizes
Approximate Metric Equivalents
Metric Conversion Formulas
Food Guide Pyramid
What's a Serving?
Food Label Terms
A Guide to Food Labels
Pasta Glossary
British and American Food and Cooking Terms
Consumer Information Sources
Meat Charts
Additives Directory Did I say this was Comprehensive? For food lovers this reaches a point of inspiration unlike any other book on food I've found. I love having so much information all in one book. It is literally a food dictionary which describes food in all its delicious detail. This book has received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic acceptance in the culinary community. For home cooks, it is also a real bonus and could be considered an essential compliment to your entire cookbook collection. This edition has changed slightly. The listings increased to almost 6,000 and there are thousands of food tidbits sprinkled throughout the tantalizing pages of information. I love the historical lore and information on the exotic origins of some of our most innocent and sweet selections. Vanilla is suddenly seductive and is actually native to tropical America. "The vanilla bean was once considered an aphrodisiac, and was so rare that it was reserved for royalty....The saga begins with the orchid blossoms, which open only one day a year." There are almost three pages filled with information on this orchid. Who would have known unless you were doing intensive research. Sharon Tyler Herbst has given us an incredible gift by doing the research for us. If you are unsure of how to pronounce an ingredient, there are pronunciations for all the basic words. The basic bibliomaniac delights in this book include: -Entries arranged alphabetically and cross-referenced -Alphabetization by letter, rather than just by word, so that multiple-word entries are treated as single words. -Multicultural entries galore! khachapuri
pakora
fraise des bois - Beloved Terms from French Cooking like "pâte à choux" - Cooking Methods described for new cooks - Famous Dishes like the "Sacher torte" are seen in a completely new light - Cooking Equipment also known as "batterie de cuisine." When looking up beef jerky you will be sent to look up "Jerky." So as not to repeat information, this occurs at various times. This allows Sharon to be more extravagant with other entries. Did you know that tomatoes were once called "love apples?" You can also look up cooking tools like a pastry brush or a mortar and pestle. I think culinary catalog owners should all have a copy of this book because at times I've had to point out the error of their ways when they have listed kitchen tools incorrectly. One had the mortar and pestle reversed in their description and this was very amusing to me at least. This book may also stir childhood memories. Like when your parents battered and dipped "squash blossoms." As I read, the faint scent of frying blossoms floated through my scent memory. Don't even ask me how hungry I get when I read about key lime pie. To find out more about the actual limes used in the pie, you turn to "lime." Here you learn that the key lime is much smaller and once I realized the difference I was able to buy the correct limes for pies. I had memories of sitting up in a mulberry tree while reading that there are actually three varieties of mulberries. All I know is we tried to make pies and jam with the ones we picked fresh from this absolutely huge tree when we lived in Africa. They are not as good as youngberries or raspberries, but have a charm all of their own. If you still are trying to discover foods like Yorkshire Pudding, you will not be dissapointed. However, this book does not contain recipes and so it will send you off hunting in all directions for ways to use the ingredients listed in such a lovely fashion. You may find yourself looking for online catalogs or even online scouting out your newest culinary interests. Cooking is an amazing journey and you can enjoy the journey all the more if you have more insight into the terms, definitions, origins and lore of food. Now I feel compelled to go make more biscotti and definitely need to make crullers if I could only find my recipe. I guess my only complaint is that this book does not contain pictures. For that you will have to search elsewhere. Perhaps a copy of "Cooking Hints & Tips" by Christine France would be helpful to new cooks. "Cooking A-Z" by Jane Horn is a beautiful discovery. "The Cambridge World History of Food" by Kenneth F. Kiple is extensive and another must-have "encyclopedia" of food. If you have not yet discovered "The New Food Lover's Tiptionary" it is also a must read and is "also" by Sharon Tyler Herbst. America's best-selling culinary reference and for good reason! An absolute must for your cook's library. Did I mention I was absolutely in love with this book? TheRebeccaReview.com
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