Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook

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Summary: ¿THE¿ book for any person
Review: A friend owns the original hardback version from the mid 1900's. It has just about everything dealing with the prospect of cooking/ entertaining. I have used this book and find that all of my loved ones should have it for themselves. It truly goes full circle on this field. Now I want to get copies for myself. Unfortunately, the hard bound (a possible heirloom; longer lasting) seems to be impossible to find. Therefore I will pick up the soft covers and have the covers laminated for durability.I can't promise the new edition is as complete as the original.

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Summary: Great dictionary of culinary terms
Review: Buying this book was a great idea for my culinary career. Sometimes you come across difficult phrases or even a French word that you need to look up. Also it has some good recipes, but way too many to try them all. I am also recommending The Study Guide for the National Servsafe Exam: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations. This is an excellent study guide to help you through those state exams. I highly recommend the baking and advanced baking study books also by Dr. Patrick Leonardi.

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Summary: This cookbook should be chrerished and handed down to family
Review: Cathy Knapp Kysar ([e-mail])from Annandale, Virginia wrote, "My mother gave me her original copy of the "Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook" before she died a few years ago. When I was growing up in Michigan, this cookbook was the only one I would use. Not only are the recipes easy to use, they bring back memories of my childhood days growing up in Michigan, and the countless hours helping my mom cook for a family of eight. I am ordering several revised editions, and plan on giving them to my daughters and brothers and sisters as gifts. I commend the publishers for updating a wonderful cookbook from an era of time when mothers like mine, considered cooking an important part of their life. My book will always remind me of those lost but never forgotten days in her kitchen.

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Summary: The most comprehensive, easy to follow cookbook I've found.
Review: Everything from how to set a table to how to dress out and butcher a beef or build a root cellar. A most wonderful book, much more than just a cook book- a design for living really.

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Summary: The best cookbook I own!
Review: I taught myself to cook with this book 40 years ago. Wherever I have lived I have always made sure I have this book. Your book has travelled with me from Bermuda to England to Australia and now New Zealand. I wouldn't do without it!

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Summary: Big, but not fun to cook with
Review: I was excited about an encyclopedic cookbook, but have been disappointed again and again when I couldn't find recipes, or looked up recipes and found that they weren't the least bit authentic. The book also tends to skip to the very basics, often making a dish very bland, difficult to decipher and sometimes not as healthy as if they had put more time into the recipe. I have a library of cookbooks and I highly recommend "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman as closer to a true encyclopedic cookbook. Every recipe I've tried in that book has been excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Great dictionary of culinary terms
Review: My sisters and I grew up with this cookbook. It is the most-borrowed book I own. i would pay major bucks to have it in hardback. you will never need another cookbook.

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Summary: the best cookbook on god's green earth
Review: My sisters and I grew up with this cookbook. It is the most-borrowed book I own. i would pay major bucks to have it in hardback. you will never need another cookbook.

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Summary: Looking for a recipe for Moose?...
Review: Or squirrel even...this is the cookbook that you need. Originally from the 1930's, this was the basic cookbook for every housewife. It covers every possible type of food, including game meats like moose and squirrel, as well as some lost cooking arts, like knowing how to use a pressure cooker.

My grandmother and mother each owned one of these books, and it was one of the earliest cookbooks that I learned to use. It is thoroughly entertaining, and a great addition to any cookbook library. However, its biggest drawback is that it was written at a time when there were no shortcuts to cooking, and most people learned how to cook at an early age. The book assumes that the reader already has the basics down, so sometimes the directions are vague. And the recipes are not meant for our harried lifestyles. There are no shortcuts, such as using frozen foods or the microwave. They were written for at a time when women worked in the home, and cooking was a big part of their job.

For a novice cook, there are other books that are better able to give the direction that is needed; either The Better Homes and Gardens (ring-bound, black and red plaid cover!) and the big red Betty Crocker cookbooks start off with the basics and are easy to use. But if you are comfortable with cooking, and are familiar with the basics, this is really a fun book to have. You will find the recipes for all of your favorite "comfort foods"; a good macaroni and cheese, great mashed potatoes, even several different ways to serve hamburger. There are some really great cookie recipes, and when I am looking for something that I remember from childhood, I can always find it here. There is even a section on using leftovers, leftover from the lean years of the Depression. (I never knew there were so many ways to use weenies.)

And if the occasion ever presents itself when you need a recipe for reindeer and elk, you will know just where to find it.

Rating:
Summary: Great book for recipes that you may have grown up with
Review: This book was originally penned in the 1930's, while it has been recently updated, it is not a book if you are looking for trendy foods. This book is extremely thick and packed with over 2000 recipes, yes that 2000. Many of the recipes are for things we don't normally cook everyday; sweetmeats, game, and a variety of desserts that haven't been made in years. The recipes are clear and concise. You will get tons of information on all sorts of vegtables, meats, breads, and baked goods.
In addition to all of the recipes there are sections on nutrition, meal planning, cooking ideas, and much more. Once again this book is packed with all sorts of recipes. More than you can possibly go through in a short amount of time. The recipes aren't trendy, but this book is filled with many classics you may have grown up with.