Rating: 
Summary: Indispensible reference
Review: This book explains the somewhat complex science of cooking in easy to understand language and then gives recipies that illustrate the concepts. As a professional pastry chef, I really appreciate knowing the "why" of unsuccessful recipies. The author is a known expert and consultant to many, many cookbook authors, food writers and chefs. She has a contagious curiosity.
Rating: 
Summary: I wish I could like it, but...
Review: There's a wonderful lifetime of knowledge here. Unfortunately, the book's so poorly organized and edited that the lack of consistency impairs its usefulness. For instance, there's an entire 50+ page chapter about sauces. The table of contents doesn't subdivide this chapter down into sections like the other chapters, so searching through the book is difficult. You might think that something basic -- white sauce? -- would be in the index, since there is a recipe for it, but you'd be wrong. The recipes themself are fine; more interesting to me is the chemistry and techniques. And for that, Harold McGee's book is far more complete.
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Summary: Could have been better
Review: After hearing many interviews with Shirley Corriher, I was eager to read Cookwise. I'm an engineer by training, and the hows and whys of things are very interesting to me. Alas, while there's much useful information in this book, it is poorly organized and in need of a good edit. For example, I read the same information (almost word for word) about gluten development in at least three separate areas of the bread section. In addition, the recipes don't always seem to support the techniques and science being discussed. Some sections seem to start the beginning reader on difficult recipes before covering basics (why is the first bread recipe for brioche, and not for a basic white or wheat bread?) And where are the diagrams? Learning to knead dough with words only is tough! I'll continue to use this book, but I wish it were better organized and more to the point in its discussions.
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Summary: I'm buying this as a gift since I love the copy I bought.
Review: I bought this book when it first came out and am now buying it for a loved one. Ms. Corriher explains cooking topics, such as bread or eggs or cookies, in an interesting and informative way. She can get quite technical but is never boring and always helpful. She reveals not only a wide and deep knowledge of the science behind cooking and baking. Her enthusiasm is contagious and her willingness to help her cooking friends and others who call her come through in this book. I loved it!
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Summary: A great way to understand cooking, not just read recipes!
Review: My wife and I are of the type that wants to know WHY things happen, and this book delivers. To use the consultant jargon, this book takes us "out of the box". The textbook portions are most informative and easy to understand. The "what this recipe shows" section of each recipe is a great follow up to the textbook sections. I like to try at least one new recipe a week, and since we received this book it's my first place to begin recipe hunting.
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Summary: Too much of a recipe book for me
Review: Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is one of my favorite books in the kitchen, so when I heard the NPR interview of Shirley O. Corriher, I was deeply excited about her new book. Alas, I didn't find the book nearly as interesting as she was on the radio. I guess it's just too much like a recipe book (of recipes I'm not particularly interested in) for me. Oh well. I'll still look forward to her next book.
Rating:
Summary: First cookbook I've read from cover to cover!
Review: Though we've never met, Shirley is now my best friend in the kitchen. I gave CookWise for Christmas presents. Must-read sections are biscuits, yeast, wheat protein, emulsions, roasting, and brining. And the stories are great, especially the one about the exploding duck!
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Summary: Open that pie-hole, we're cooking Shirley's recipes tonight!
Review: Yes, this book gives you the why's and what-for's, but wait till you taste some of these recipes! I just finished the cheddar-crusted chicken breasts with grapes and apple in grand marnier sauce, served over the sherried rice and barley, accompanied by a salad with the basil vinaigrette. It was some of the best food I've tasted outside of France. Really. I tried the eat-your-veggies spaghetti sauce and found the addition of the pureed carrots inspired. But when you taste Shirley's basic, moist, sweet cake with old-fashioned burnt sugar icing, you will transcend mere food tasting and wind up dumbfounded, staring at the stars, wishing your mother had known how to make a cake like this.
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Summary: In a word, Shirley rocks!
Review: I've had the pleasure of seeing Shirley speak and I can say, quite honestly, I'd never seen anyone portray the process of bread baking *physically* before until I saw her speech. Using her arms and her whole body, she explained how the whole thing works. And when you read this book, it's like she's using all of herself once again, not just the hand that holds her pen. I'm a food writer with a couple hundred cookbooks and this is one of the very, very few that has rivaled my interest as much as a mystery novel; I couldn't put it down. If you ever wondered why that souffle didn't rise, why cut apples turn brown or whether or not you can opt to leave the sugar out of a particular recipe, get this book. It's a wonderful reference for the truly avid cook and a terrific reminder that while fine cooking might be an art, it's a science first.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent tools for the experimental cook
Review: This is an excellent cookbook for the experimental cook. If you open up three or four cookbooks to gauge the similarities between different recipes for the same dish, get a few ideas, and then use them to make up a version of your own, this is the book for you. Have you ever wondered which were important steps in a recipe, and which were OK to change? Have you wondered why you can't get consistent results from some ingredients, and wished you knew exactly what was happening so that you could compensate? Shirley Corriher explains chemically and mechanically what is happening to the ingredients at each point in preparation and cooking and gives you the benefit of hundreds of controlled kitchen experiments that it would take years (and endless patience) to duplicate for yourself. This book provides the tools to launch off into your own creations even in the previously mysterious realms of breads and sauces. The recipes are good, but more importantly, they illustrate a particular reaction or effect, and give you the tools to customize them for yourself.
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