Larousse Gastronomique

Rating:
Summary: Get this book now!
Review: This is the definitive reference book for all things cooking. Wanna know how much roux is required to thicken a liquid to sauce consistency? How to cook a bear? From the esoteric to the mundane, it's all in this book. I sometimes buy exotic meats or vegetables secure in the knowledge that Larousse will tell me what to do with them. You won't be dissappointed in this purchase.

Rating:
Summary: Get this book now!
Review: This is the definitive reference book for all things cooking. Wanna know how much roux is required to thicken a liquid to sauce consistency? How to cook a bear? From the esoteric to the mundane, it's all in this book. I sometimes buy exotic meats or vegetables secure in the knowledge that Larousse will tell me what to do with them. You won't be dissappointed in this purchase.

Rating:
Summary: The Essential Book on Cuisine
Review: What makes this book an essential tome for any gourmet cook, experienced or beginner, is the simplicity. Everything is easy to find and explained fully. All too many cookbooks assume that the cook already knows the basics by heart and don't bother to mention how to start a white sauce or "sauce béchamel" with a roux, even though this only means using a base of butter and flour! Anything rudimentary that you need to know can be found here, along with hundreds of marvelous recipes that all go back to the basics. As Julia Child once said "sometimes you have chocolate, and sometimes there's fish, but the basics are the same" and indeed this book shows you how, giving several examples of what to do with each major kind of dough, sauce, bread or wine. Included also are many historical perspectives into the history of fine cooking and good eating!

Rating:
Summary: Just good to have around
Review: You may not ever cook ris de veau, but it's good to know that if you wanted to, this book could not only tell you how to do it and what sauce to serve with it, but warn you that it is in fact the thymus gland of a calf.