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Summary: The thinking person's cookbook
Review: Why does food do what it does? What happens to it when you apply heat (i.e., cook or bake)? Can you be a better cook if you understand the inner-workings of the molecules that make up food?Two authors say yes: Alton Brown and Shirley Corriher. Unlike other cookbooks that are just about recipies, books by Brown and Corriher will teach you all sorts of fascinating facts about the food. You will understand meat and fish and foul, vegetables, and bread in new and fun ways. More importantly, this knowledge will help you become a better, more versatile cook, able to improvise better than befofe. And the book is full of great recipies, interspersed throughout the informative text. If you like Alton Brown's "knowledge is power" based approach to cooking, you will enjoy Corriher's book, I suspect.
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Summary: Cookwise
Review: This is a wonderful book which has improved my cooking tremendously. My cake baking is so much better now, and folks are begging me to bake cakes for them. The recipes are wonderful, and the knowledge of the chemistry of cooking is very valuable and worth reading. It goes beyond just the "how to" and also provides the fascinating "why's" of cooking. I would like to buy some more cookbooks by Shirley Corriher if there are any available.
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Summary: Nightmare Cake
Review: For my nephew's birthday, I tried making the Basic Moist Sweet Cake, Version I (p.143). I am a good cook and generally do not have problems with recipes. I read the introduction, to learn about the "science" and followed the recipe exactly. This was a true nightmare -- the worst result I've ever had from a recipe. It appeared the cake was baking nicely in the pan, with a golden top, but close to the end of the cooking time, the batter just overflowed from under that golden top, all over the oven. So my nephew would have a cake on this birthday, we had to whip together a recipe from the Cake Bible that my sister knew would work.
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Summary: valuable addition to any cookbook library!
Review: I borrowed this book from a friend. Over one year later I finally, and reluctantly, returned it to her and bought myself one. My sister-in-law arrived and starting reading it (every night), and if it wasn't such a big chunky book, she would have smuggled in her suitcase back to England! It's a fascinating combination of food science for the average person and yummy recipes! It will answer many of your questions as to why pastry becomes hard and not flaky, what the protein level of various flours means, to making microwave caramel sauce and other such treats! A good read believe it or not with great practical info! Goes will with "What Eistein Told His Cook".
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Summary: Excellent
Review: I received this book about a week ago and I'm still not through it although I have tried one of the recipes. I'm not through just because I'm enjoying the leizurely stroll. The scientific facts are helpful. I've been cooking for a long time and follow a number of the procedures, I just didn't have a good reason for doing it. It's sort of a, "Oh, that's it, I'm glad to know that." Kind of a 'why is the sky blue?' book. Neat recipes too. Interesting organization of topics. It would be a good shower gift for a new bride.
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Summary: An incredible bargain!
Review: A big, well-written book that tells you why and how cooking works. The first section on baking is worth the price by itself. Even if you decide not to follow recipes exactly you'll be able to understand what choices you are making and what the consequences might be. If you want to know what a particular ingredient does or why a particular technique is used, this book will explain it to you. An education.
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Summary: One of the best cookbooks I own.
Review: I have read this cookbook from cover to cover and learned an incredible lot. It's the chemistry in cooking and baking that you need to know, if you want to understand recipes, make them work, and even be able to alter them to your tastes. I had devised a cookie recipe that was perfect except that the cookies didn't brown enough on top; this book taught me about adding just a bit of baking soda to counteract the acidity and increase browning. But, oh my, if there's one recipe that you must try, it's Shirley Corriher's Touch-of-Grace Biscuits -- the most feather-light, utterly heavenly biscuits I have ever tasted! No wonder these biscuits are famous among foodies. These biscuits are my family's favorite, the only ones they want. In short, this is a terrific cookbook that is a must for serious cooks and bakers.
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Summary: Almost Overstuffed With Information
Review: I'm not a big fan of "cookbooks". Or to be more precice, I'm not a big fan of recipie collections. If I buy a "cookbook", I expect to learn more about cooking, and I get the feeling that Shirley has forgotten more than I've learned! I first discovered Shirley when she appeared in a number of episodes of "Good Eats with Alton Brown" on Food TV. Her explainations helped make the most basic level of the science behind the food come alive. Her book, however, is not as entertaining as Alton's book. Shirley does get far more in depth than Alton does, and sometimes her stories aren't as relevant as Alton's. And the way she flows into the recipies, it almost makes me feel that I can't go further until I do my lab work. This isn't the book for you if you just want recipies. This isn't the book for you if you want to be entertained more than you want to cook. But this is the book for you if you have a desire to be a better cook by learning the "why" behind cooking.
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Summary: A HUGE Disappointment!!!!
Review: After looking forward to this book, it was a huge disappointment.....I agree with the reader who said it was poorly organized.......need more "layman's" terms, not terms you need a specialized degree in chemical engineering to translate this book!! Huge waste of money. I learned NOTHING. Too confusing--the way it's laid out, thus it gets verrrrrry frustrating, tempted to throw book against the wall!!
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Summary: Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking
Review: Corriher is a well-known culinary consultant and problem solver whose answers to kitchen mysteries have appeared in many food publications. Now she has set down some of her vast knowledge in this big, wide-ranging reference/cookbook. In seven basic chapters, from The Wonder of Risen Bread to Sweet Thoughts and Chocolate Dreams, she explains why recipes work, what to do when they don't, and how to make them even better (anyone who's ever wondered why the same cake recipe always tastes better when her neighbor makes it will find out the probable reasons why). More than 200 recipes interspersed throughout demonstrate Corriher's explorations and explanations. Also included are At a Glance charts for easy reference (e.g., Finetuning Cookies), trouble-shooting charts (Yeast Bread Problems), charts on the basics (Whipped Cream: What To Do and Why), and dozens more. Although the recipes are delicious'and surely foolproof'this unique work will be far more valuable as a reference than as a cookbook. Highly recommended.
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