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Alton Brown picks cookbooks

14 years ago

The Wall Street Journal has a Saturday feature called 'Five Best' in which an authority picks the five best books on a given subject. A WWII historian might pick his five favorite novels about WWII, for instance.

FWIW, this week Alton Brown picks his five favorite cookbooks. I have two of them, am familiar with a third and I haven't heard of the other two. I can definitely give a hearty second to the Marcella Hazan cookbook.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alton Brown's five favorite cookbooks

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Comments (8)

jimster
14 years ago
"Ratio" is a new book and, when I heard a review of it, I put it on my want list. It suits my way of cooking. Thinking in ratios rather than recipes gives me an understanding of a preparation that long lists of ingredients measured in all sorts of dissimilar units and fractions of units does not.

Jim
cookingrvc
14 years ago
Ratio sounds like an interesting read.

Sue
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sally2_gw
14 years ago
I heard the author of Ratio interviewed on Splendid Table, and have been interested in his book since. It's such common sense.

Of course, I have Joy, but I don't think I have the one with the advice on skinning a squirrel. I might have had The Frugal Gourmet at one time, but I may just remember watching his show all the time. (It's awful what happened with him. I didn't know about that.) The others I haven't heard of, either, but the Italian one sounds quite interesting.

Sally
tropicals9b
14 years ago
LOL. This post made me order Ratio and The Flavor Bible. Used my $10. gift cert. (from ebates.com) and got free shipping so only $34.00!

Both books sound great and I can't wait to read them. BTW, another truly fantastic book for cooks and newbie cooks is The Food Lover's Companion. I love, love, love this book. I have never looked for something and found it missing. Has solved many food/ingredient/technique arguments! Here's a synopsis:

The brand-new fourth edition of this widely praised reference guide has been updated with new information for everyone, including lovers of ethnic foods and health food aficionados. The authors have added many all-new entries on exotic produce and other unusual ingredients. An earlier edition of The New Food Lover's Companion was hailed by Bon AppÂ©tit magazine as "one of the best reference books we've seen, a must for every cook's library." This new edition has even more to offer! Among the myriad foods and culinary subjects defined and explained are cooking tools and techniques, meat cuts, breads, pastas, international foods, cheeses, eggs and omelets, herbs and spices, fruits and vegetables, candies and desserts, wines and cocktails, and literally everything else related to good food and enjoyable dining. Handy and helpful appendices cover a wide range of food-related topics. They include suggestions for substituting recipe ingredients, high-altitude baking adjustments, a microwave oven conversion chart, recommended safe cooking temperatures for various meats and fish, a guide to reading food package labels, seasoning suggestions to enhance favorite dishes, a food additives directory, and much more. The New Food Lover's Companion is a reference guideÂnot a cookbookÂbut it includes hundreds of cooking tips plus an extensive bibliography of recommended cookbooks and other food-related literature. Here in one volume is an invaluable companion for cooksÂand for everybody else who loves good food. More than 6,700 entries plus line art that shows retail cuts of lamb, pork, beef, and veal.

Thank you for posting this.
annie1992
14 years ago
Like Alton Brown, I grew up watching Jeff Smith and I have three of his books. Two of them were sent to me in a swap by Robin, I miss her, I need to send her an email. Anyway...

Jim, "Ratio" sounds like it would drive me crazy, LOL.

So, anyway, I have two books on Alton's list, "The Joy of Cooking", which was written right here in Michigan, and "The Frugal Gourmet".

Annie
User
14 years ago
I too have the Joy of Cooking and the Frugal Gourmet. I might try and find Ratio, sounds useful. It might be easier to visualize making something from ingredients on hand if I had a better idea of how there can be used.
Ideefixe
14 years ago
I think the older editions of Joy are superior to the newer ones and I can't stand Jeff Smith. I think the recipes are dumbed down.
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
14 years ago
Marcella Hazan's book is the first time I learned that Italians put milk in their tomato sauces!

But Jeff Smith? On par with pedophile priests, won't support him in any form whatsoever.
I agree that the older Joy's are the best.

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