Six Basic Cooking Techniques: Culinary Essentials for the Home Cook

Next to attending a cooking class, Jennifer Clair’s Six Basic Cooking Techniques is the next best. No doubt seeing the instructor’s presentation is hard to beat, but this richly illustrated book and its generous, clear instructions are perfect substitutes at fraction of the price. The title clearly states it: Clair deals specifically with five cooking techniques, plus the most essential of all, knife skills. Illustrations are beautiful, and the book production is excellent. Following each chapter, Clair provides some half dozen recipes to test your skill. These are very good recipes: following knife skills, you chop and dice, slice, and mince for a vegetable soup. Though this is an involved recipe with some sixteen ingredients, most recipes are more kitchen-friendly and not particularly difficult. They are good recipes with clear instructions, nicely laid out on single pages. The book has many one-page additions called Chefs Say (like, mise en place) and Students Ask (like, should I use my convection oven). The book has many, many good, practical suggestions and ideas (pan sauces, reduction sauces, gravy). The book ends with a short section on recommended kitchen equipment. Too bad the index is not cross-referenced and not very good.