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Summary: Terrific Culinary Term Reference for All Levels of Cook.
Review: The "Food Lover's Companion" is a chunky dictionary-style reference of nearly 6,000 food, drink, and culinary terms for the beginning cook to the gourmet chef. Author Sharon Tyler Herbst has added terms, updated most listings, and expanded the book's excellent Appendix for the 3rd edition. Pronunciation guides are provided for most terms. A mind-boggling array of culinary nouns, proper nouns, verbs and the occasional adjective are defined. As an example, on one page in the "B" section you will find definitions for: Boursin, bovolo, boxty, boysenberry, braciola, Braeburn apple, brains, braise, bramble, and bran. Terms are listed alphabetically, but it helps to read "How to Use This Book" in the first pages of the book for specific information on how terms are organized and cross-referenced. The "Food Lover's Companion" isn't entirely comprehensive; there are a couple of ethnic food terms that I couldn't find, and I don't agree with every definition. But this is the closest to being a comprehensive culinary reference as I have seen.
Although 687 pages of "Food Lover's Companion" are dedicated to defining culinary terms, the Appendix includes many useful charts and definitions, which some cooks will find just as valuable. Some of the Appendix's helpful features are: Ingredient Equivalents that give comparable amounts for different forms of nearly 200 foods, 37 Ingredient Substitutions, a Pan Substitution Chart that gives volumes for various sizes of pan so that you may find a suitable alternative, high altitude adjustments, oven temperature equivalents for Fahrenheit, celsius, British gas mark, and French gas settings, Smoke Points of Popular Oils, Fatty Acid Profiles of Popular Oils, approximate metric equivalents, metric conversion formulas, definitions of food label terms, a Pasta Glossary that describes 94 different pasta shapes, British and American differences in cooking terms, a list of consumer product information sources for various foods, seasoning suggestions, and an Additive Directory that explains the purpose of various chemical additives.
The "Food Lover's Companion" is a terrific reference for every level of cook. That obscure ingredient in your new Thai recipe and the incomprehensible term in your mother's WWII-era cookbook are both probably in here. It's interesting just to browse, too. The book has a slick paper cover that can be wiped off, but might have been better laminated. If you're wondering what distinguishes the "Food Lover's Companion" from Sharon Tyler Herbst's "Food Lover's Tiptionary", this book defines far more terms than the "Tiptionary", but does not include extensive preparation advice, cooking lessons, or recipes. For example, the "A" section of the "Food Lover's Companion" defines over 200 terms in dictionary style. The "A" section of the "Tiptionary", provides detailed purchasing, storing, cooking, general info, and recipes for 15 culinary topics.
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Summary: All at your fingertips.
Review: The best. Everything you could ever want to know about food in a paperback.
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Summary: If you like food or cooking...
Review: then you will love this book! It contains tons of culinary information. I have over 50 cookbooks, including "Larousse Gastronomique" and "The New Professional Chef" and I always refer to this book first.
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Summary: Very Nice tremendous Book
Review: This Book has got every thing in it from normal everday culinary dictionary words to defenitions like jelly beans.
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Summary: excellent refference book
Review: This book helps you recognize and define culinary terms and basic definitions. It is particularly helpful in the market, when you are looking for a particular item and the market does not carry that item, it helps you substitute another product so that your recipe will still be perfect!
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Summary: Very good reference book
Review: This book is a must for any restaurant to have on hand, waitstaff hear a word they don't know and we send them to this book, not only do they learn something new but they learn it better because we had them read it instead of just trying to explain.This book is a great reference for any chef, at any level.
I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoy my new beverage of choice. Made from 100% organic soy, taste just like coffee and no caffeine. Finally, I got rid of that wired up feeling all day and feeling great. Look for it on the net by googling "s o yfee".
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Summary: Must have product for any kitchen!
Review: This book is an excellent resource to have on hand in the kitchen. It is arranged in an encyclopedia-like format, so you can easily search for virtually any culinary term. Not sure what it means to butterfly a lamb? Look it up for a definition and instructions. Never heard of the spice coriander? Get more information and usages. Want to know more about Riesling wine? Check out the detailed descriptoin. I frequently reach for this book when I come across unfamiliar terms in recipes, but there's so much great information, sometimes I just like to browse through! Another thing about this book that I've found really handy is the appendices, which are extensive. Of course, there are the classic measurement and substitutions lists (both of which are much more detailed than you'll find anywhere else), but there is also information on things like cuts of meat from various animals, which spices work well with which foods, etc. I especially like the section on food exchanges--ie, how many apples are in a cup? how many lemons does it take for 1 tablespoon lemon juice?--a great feature in planning how much to buy for recipes. This is an excellent book that will be used over and over by beginning and more advanced cooks alike.
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Summary: An invaluable resource for anyone who loves food!
Review: This book is an incredible resource for anyone who cooks. From a person who is on their own for the first time to the seasoned professional, this book can answer most any question about food ingredients and processes. I will keep it handy in my kitchen!
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Summary: Bigger and Better Than Ever!
Review: This book just keeps getting better and better with each edition. It's thorough and written in a friendly, non-esoteric style. There seem to be a lot more ethnic terms in this third edition, and the appendix area has loads more info. I particularly like the pasta glossary and the huge ingredient substitution chart. My wife, who bakes, likes the chart on pan substitutions so she can make sure she's using the right-size pan. This new Food Lover's Companion gets two huge thumbs up from Chicago. Anyone who loves food should have it!
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Summary: Better -- and more fun -- than you can imagine
Review: This book resides in my kitchen and is used regularly to check food names, food origins, answer questions about particular dishes or cooking methods -- it's all here! In addition to the main dictionary-body of the book, the appendices are chock full of useful explanatory charts & diagrams (Conversions, Substitutions, "Retail Cuts of Beef/Pork/Lamb/Veal", Herb & Spice Chart, etc.). Extremely user-friendly, the book has a wonderful feel and heft, and is a great gift, but not just for foodies...anybody who eats would enjoy it. I was intrigued and picked it up years ago in a Fresh Fields Store, and now can't imagine not having it.
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