Reviews for Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen

The average rating for Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-03-08 00:00:00 Fernando Fischmann Whatever chops you thought you had in the kitchen, this guy makes you feel like a jackass. Modeled on the Elements of Style by Strunk and White, Michael Ruhlman gives a very idiosyncratic and opinionated take on the fundamentals of cooking, in eight essays, which are both intimidating and illuminating. Through them, he gets to the heart of what elevates cooking to an art. The essay on stock is a little scary, particularly when he holds forth on the virtues of veal stock. But he also shares very helpful and specific techniques, such as how to properly salt boiling water for pasta. It should taste like seasoned soup, which I have since used to great success. The net effect is to raise the bar on cooking. Will I start roasting veal bones to make stock from scratch? Not likely, it is a bit beyond my means as a home cook with a screaming baby, but I will definitely think twice before reaching for the Better Than Bouillon. The essays are followed by a glossary of terms, which is useful for clarifying French terms.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-12-28 00:00:00 Kenny Jr, Lasala I'm somewhat conflicted by this book. The opening essays are okay, but not great. Outside of the essays, the book is sort of a lazy man's french cuisine encyclopedia. The research for the book really isn't that thorough. In fact, about 95% comes from one of the two sources, both of which just so happen to be textbooks from the CIA when he attended. The book really only has one recipe, which was almost just copied from the Professional Chef cookbook. The encyclopedia entries are just not that informative either. Wikipedia articles offer similar if not better information It could be a nifty reference book for the home cook looking to expand their repertoire, but serious cooks should just get a copy of On Food and Cooking, as well as Larousse Gastronomique.