(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best cooking education books

I'm a bit of a cookbook junkie, so I have a bunch to recommend. I'm interpreting this as "good cookbooks from cuisines in Asia" so there are some that are native and others that are from specific restaurants in the US, but I would consider these legit both in terms of the food and the recipes/techniques. Here are a few of my favorites:


Pan-Asian

• Asian Dumplings - the masterpiece on all things dumpling
  
• Asian American - Dale Talde's (Top Chef) book with lots of Asian cultures' food in the US
  
• Asian Pickles - pickles and fermented foods from throughout Asia
  
• Lucky Rice - recipes from the Asian festival of the same name
  
• The Asian Grandmother's Cookbook - traditional cooking passed down to American cooks
  
  Burmese
  
  
• Burma:Rivers of Flavor - good focus on difference in Burmese cuisine from other regional
  
  Cambodian
  
  
• Num Pang - Cambodian sandwich restaurant in NYC
  
• Cambodian Cooking - GREAT book on Cambodian cuisine, supporting refugees
  
  Chinese
  
  
• Ken Hom Complete Chinese Cookbook - great primer for cooking Chinese food using ingredients commonly available in US
  
• China Moon - classic SF Chinese restaurant food
  
• Feeding the Dragon - modern culinary journey through all of China
  
• Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking - omnibus focused on the home chef
  
• Breath of a Wok - focus on wok technique at home
  
• Every Grain of Rice - wonderful Sichuan food for home cooks
  
  Indian
  
  
• Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking - actually, any of her cookbooks are wonderful for Indian cooking
  
• Savour Mumbai - looks at Indian cuisine as a melting pot in Mumbai
  
• The Indian Family Cookbook - modern South Indian food
  
• Indian Harvest - Vikas Khanna's family cookbook
  
• Made in India - classic Indian food, from street to home
  
  Indonesia
  
  
• The Food of Indonesia - everything you need for a rijstaffel!
  
  Japanese
  
  
• Japanese Farm Food - authentic rural Japanese cooking
  
• Preserving the Japanese Way - how to make awesome Japanese pickled vegetables
  
• Sushi Chef - not strictly speaking a cookbook, but "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" book in English
  
• The Japanese Grill - authentic hibachi and Japanese grill recipes
  
• Japanese Comfort Food - lots of traditional Japanese recipes
  
• Nanban - Japanese "soul food"
  
• Tokyo Cult Recipes - hip modern urban food from Tokyo
  
• Yum Yum Bento Boxes - updated modern take on bento boxes
  
• Ivan Ramen - traditional ramen for a Western audience
  
• Izakaya - traditional Japanese pub food & small plates
  
• Nikkei - emigrant Japanese food culture in South America
  
• Donabe - traditional Japanese hot pot recipes
  
• Kyotofu - very unique Japanese dessert cookbook
  
  Korean
  
  
• K Food - modern take on Korean street food
  
• Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking - great resource for Korean cooking in a non-pro kitchen
  
• Traditional Food - omnibus of four regions of Korean food
  
• Koreatown - authentic, approachable guide to Korean food in a US context
  
• Smoke & Pickles - Edward Lee's fusion of his Korean heritage and southern barbeque
  
• The Kimchi Cookbook - many, many recipes for kimchi...
  
  Malaysian
  
  
• Malaysian Cooking - good overview of Malay cooking
  
  Middle Eastern
  
  
• The New Persian Kitchen - modern Iranian food
  
• Ottolenghi - Israeli-Palestinian collaboration
  
• Persiana - dynamic modern recipes from throughout the Middle East
  
• Zahav - modern Israeli food
  
• Sweet Middle East - traditional and modern desserts
  
  Philippine
  
  
• Filipino Homestyle Dishes - good intro to classic Filipino dishes
  
  Russian
  
  
• Mamushka - focus on Ukraine
  
  Sri Lankan
  
  
• Hidden Kitchens of Sri Lanka - beautiful photo-cookbook on Sri Lankan cuisine
  
  Taiwanese
  
  
• The Food of Taiwan - um... food... from Taiwan
  
  Thailand
  
  
• Nong's Thai Kitchen - she beat Bobby Flay in pad thai
  
• Pok Pok - Portland's most AWESOME Asian restaurant
  
  Turkish
  
  
• Istanbul:Recipes from the Heart of Turkey - lovely focus on urban Turkish food
  
• Anatolia - wonderful approachable approach to Turkish cuisine
  
• Essential Turkish Cuisine - focus on history and evolution of Turkish food
  
  Vietnamese
  
  
• The Slanted Door - great Vietnamese restaurant cookbook
  
• Vietnamese Market Cookbook - focus on simple Vietnamese from fresh ingredients
  
• Into the Vietnamese Kitchen - traditional Vietnamese home cooking
  
• The Banh Mi Cookbook - the greatest sandwich in the world!
  
• Vietnamese Home Cooking - another great overview
  
  (edit: screwed up a couple links)

I think a term that may be helpful for you here is foodway, a relative of folkway. To be lazy and lift it directly from Wikipedia,

> In social science, foodways are the cultural, social, and economic practices relating to the production and consumption of food. Foodways often refers to the intersection of food in culture, traditions, and history.

You might be interested in Louisiana's food history. The cajun vs creole dynamic is fascinating, drawing from indigenous, slave, domestic and aristocratic cuisines—the aristocracy in question being both American and French. Cajun cuisine is influenced more heavily by subsistence cooking, similar to northeast Thai cuisine (Isan cuisine is very spicy for the exact reasons mentioned by the other comment), while New Orleans' creole cuisine is much more heavily-influenced by the aristocracy of France and Spain, in the way that Thai cuisine in Bangkok orients itself around the royal court.

The most well-known older cajun cookbooks, River Road Recipes and Talk About Good!, are time capsules of mid-century American cooking that give us a snapshot of post-WWII, pre-Julia Child American cookery and also happen to provide a very on-the-ground view of Southern, and specifically Louisianian, cooking smack in the middle of the Civil Rights era. You can find used copies of both for cheap online, and while neither is especially useful for actual cooking in 2019 (shortening and salad oil, anyone?) both are a great look at the distinctly American foodways that Julia Child tried, more or less successfully, to smash with her great book, which introduced the idea of the "foodie" in the US. Speaking of cajun cuisine specifically, I don't know that Paul Prudhomme or Emeril Lagasse would exist without Julia's influence, and writers like George Graham are definite beneficiaries of her legacy.

But "food culture" is just history, and thinking about what that means can be endlessly interesting. English cuisine has this hilarious reputation of being absolute shit, and yet it's been shaped by so many amazing historical influences that you can't help but be fascinated by it. Baked beans and blood sausage for breakfast, the first popular Western curries, marmite, tea, and a limitless number of classist rules about who gets to eat what and when, and on what holidays. Why are French and English cheeses so different in 2019? The answer is WWII, but not for cheese snobs it's not. For them it's just the right way to make a particular cheese. Both are valid replies! Why does Whole Foods in the US sell Mulligatawny soup? Because of the British colonization of India that began to westernize south Asian food . Why is there a whole cookbook for Patrick O'Brian fans? Because of the same English navy that, in part, gave us Mulligatawny soup. These are all foodways, going back centuries and still on your supermarket shelf today.

Books like "Near A Thousand Tables" or "Salt" or "Cod" would probably be very interesting to you. "The Book of Jewish Food" by Claudia Roden is an incredible history of diasporic foodways. Cuban cuisine in Miami is an interesting example of diasporic food—Cuban immigrants have, for the most part, been able to hold on to the middle-class status they arrived with, and their food heritage is a cool example of ways that traditions have been maintained by a moneyed class, as opposed to something like Dhania chicken in Kenya, which is a curry that was invented by poor laborers imported from India who didn't have the money to bring their cuisine along with them. Dhania chicken is, by the way, one of the best things you'll ever taste.

Anyway, sorry for the essay and I hope some of that is of interest to you. Just the history of British curries could fill several volumes, and it covers so much ground that it might make a great place for you to start. Shit, I feel like "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith is basically a novel about curry, which it most certainly isn't, but it's a solid launchpad for the great mashup of cuisines that gives English food its horrible reputation, its romance, its colonial history and its obvious place at the intersection of East and West. There's no other cuisine that has representation, if only tendrils, in upstate New York, downtown Calcutta, and every grocery store in New Zealand, from baked beans to beer.

Asia's a big, ancient place. Even within each nation there are unique styles of regional and ethnic fare.

With that in mind, I'd love to see some recommendations here for awesome Indian, Filipino, Hmong, Uzbek, etc. cookbooks.

Japanese

Lets get beyond sushi and hibatchi.

Shizuo Tsuji's Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art is a great starting point. If you want to get technical you should check out Ando's Washoku or Hachisu's Preserving the Japanese Way.

If you want to start simple, Hachisu also has a great book on Japanese Farm Food. Ono and Salat have written a great noodle slurping opus in Japanese Soul Cooking.

Chinese

What we've come to think of as Chinese food in the US is a natural part of human appropriation of food styles, but with all due respect to Trader Vic's, crab rangoon and other buffet staples really aren't the real deal. Food in China is extremely regional. You don't have to go very deep to see the vast differentiation in spicy Schezwan recipes and Cantonese Dim Sum culture.

For your reading pleasure:

Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking Eileen Yin-Fei Lo.

Breath of the Wok by Grace Young and Alan Richardson.

Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees by Kian Lam Kho and Jody Horton.

All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China by Carolyn Phillips.

Some people might freak out that I'm placing Erway's The Food of Taiwan under the Chinese category, but I'm not going to get into a political debate here. Taiwan has had a lot of different culinary influences due to migration / occupation and that is really the take away here.

Go forth, make bao.

Korean

Korea is having it's moment right now and if you want the classics, Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall's Growing up in a Korean Kitchen is a good baseline. It has all the greatest hits.

You also can't cook Korean food without kimchi. The only book I've read is Lauryn Chun's The Kimchi Cookbook which is kind of underwhelming considering the hundreds of styles of Kimchi that have been documented. The process of making kimchi (kimjang) even has a UNESCO world heritage designation. With that in mind, I think it's only a matter of time before we see a English book on the subject that has depth.

Given the cuisine's popularity, there are several other cookbooks on Korean food that have recently been published within the last year or so, I just haven't gotten around to reading them yet, so I won't recommend them here.

Thai

David Thompson's Thai Food and Thai Street Food are both excellent. /u/Empath1999 's recommendation of Andy Ricker's Pok Pok is excellent but it focuses on Northern Thai cuisine, so if you want to venture into central and southern Thai fare, Thompson's the other farang of note.

Vietnamese

Nguyen's Into the Vietnamese Kitchen provides a nice survey to Vietnamese cooking. Charles Phan also has a couple of cookbooks that are quite good but I'm sure that there are zealots out there who would bemoan authenticity in either Vietnamese Home Cooking or The Slanted Door, but seriously, who gives a shit, the dude has Beard Awards under his belt for fuck's sake.

TL;DR OP means well but its long past time to bury "Asian" as a catch-all for such a large and diverse part of a continent, no?

My everyday cookbook is How to Cook Everything Fast by Mark Bittman. I recommend it for anyone who's past the boiling water phase and is competent at reading recipes, but who wants to learn to put things together on their own - the stage I was at when I got it. I could prattle on about this book, but the most important things to me as a novice cook are:

1. It emphasizes flow in the kitchen. Many recipes assume you already have everything diced, peeled, cleaned, etc. This book assumes you just came home from the grocery store. It lists everything you have to do in an order that makes sense, like reminding you to preheat your oven or get your oil hot before you start vegetable prep.
   
2. It encourages substitution. Most of the recipes have several variations and there are a few "recipe-free" recipes, telling you how to put together a basic soup, braise meat, or cook a pilaf with whatever you have on hand.
   
3. True to name, it's quick. Cooking a 3 hour recipe is great for special occasions, but not every night. Most of the recipes take about 30 minutes - add sides (which it will recommend for you, by the way) and cleanup, and you're looking at 45 minutes to put a full dinner on the table. You get more cooking experience in this way too.
   
4. A few different cuisine styles are emphasized, so you'll learn which spices, meats, veggies, etc. play nicely with each other. Even so, even the most poorly equipped supermarket will get you through 90% of the recipes. Similarly, the only special equipment he calls for is a food processor. No waffle iron, ice cream machine, or sous vide recipes here.
   
   By the way, it's crazy cheap on Kindle right now. I'm not a huge fan of the e-book layout - I vastly prefer my paper book - but if you wanted to check it out for $3, now's the time.
   
   I'd recommend anything by Bittman. There are a lot of New York Times articles you can read by him for free, too. He takes a very laid-back, intuitive approach to cooking that encourages experimentation, and I love that!
   
   Another favorite that used to be on my shelf but I lost in a move: Kitchen Quick Tips from Cook's Illustrated. I recommend just about anything from the America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated family. It's not a cookbook, but it's full of little tips on all sorts of kitchen things - the most efficient way to dice an onion, peel a potato, remove a stuck wine cork, etc. It's the sort of stuff you'd see on /r/Lifehacks but all collected into one place.

As someone with too many cookbooks for her own good, here are some of my favorites.

I am not a vegetarian, but Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is the book that made me love vegetables. She doesn't approach vegetarian cooking in the way lots of people do, where you just substitute or omit meat from a dish, but creates recipes that center around and bring out the best from vegetables.

Gourmet Today is a huge book culled from the now-defunct Gourmet magazine. It's a good all-around resource with (as the title implies) a modern American bent to its recipes.

Steven Raichlen's How to Grill transformed me from a charcoal-shy indoors-only kind of cook into an aspiring grillmaster last summer. He lays the basics out in a very straightforward manner with lots of pictures and excellent recipes. It includes the basics of smoking as well.

I like reading cookbooks that blend recipes with a broader scope of information related to them, so I enjoy anything by Jennifer McLagan (I started with Odd Bits). She writes about ingredients that are less typical or even looked down upon, making the case that these are overlooked culinary treasures. Her chapter introductions include tidbits like history, cultural impact, and science behind the ingredients. The recipes are great but tend to be highly-involved.

For specific cuisines, a couple of my favorites are Bill Neal's Southern Cooking (the recipe for Shrimp & Grits is mind-blowingly good), The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, and Madame Wong's Long-Life Chinese Cookbook.

TL;DR: the first three are what I'd consider must-haves, the remainder are interesting and might broaden your culinary horizons.

Bittman's How to Cook Everything Fast is my new bible: http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-Fast-Better/dp/0470936304

Serious Eats mentioned elsewhere here is also reliably great, especially The Food Lab. But I don't have the patience to cook a lot of the recipes. If you're like me, ditto the advice to cook big for a week. I'd add in crockpot recipes too.

Random other things that have helped me:

• Get prewashed and pre-sliced veggies and other things so you can skip a step or two
  
• Learn what can be prepped and saved ahead of time (like single serving rice in the freezer - and I say this as someone who is Asian and has a $300 rice cooker)
  
• Go all out on a collection of sauces and spices. They can make it easy to cook (sometimes just slather a sauce all over a piece of meat and cook it kind of easy) or they can make it easy to enhance a food without sacrificing healthiness. Also drastically lets me cut down on salt, which isn't great for you in excess. (Unfortunately I find it hard to go out and eat because so much is oversalted to my taste...)
  
• Keep some basics at hand all the time. My husband really likes to have sandwich fixings around for when it's 2pm and he forgot to eat lunch. My idea of basics is things like curry paste and coconut milk and bamboo shoots + leftover meat for a quick curry (and rice from the freezer ;) ) Bittman can help you with this at the beginning of the book I linked (and I think he also has a "cooking for beginners" type book as well in the How to Cook... series)
  
• Keep things simple and expand on the basics. One of my favorite meals is a cheese or chicken/bacon/leftover meat quesadilla, and a small side salad. Takes 5 minutes tops to assemble. I used the same technique to use leftover shredded pork Chinese delivery for moo shu pork with my own hoisin (remember the sauces?) and the fresh tortillas I had in my fridge. Then a breakfast burrito in the morning!
  
• Soup is a great way to get rid of leftovers.
  
• Smoothies are a great way to eat veggies. Blend in some spinach+kale with "strong" flavored fruits like frozen berries, mmmm! Don't forget to toss in some nut butter too :)
  
• In case you forget to eat altogether - my "secret" is Ensure. On-the-go drinks are super convenient and at least stop me from snacking endlessly until the next meal.

Finally - I can share my wok knowledge with someone actually interested!

A couple years ago I decided I really needed a wok. I don't know why. I've never owned a wok before, I'm not a chef (I barely even cook) but I love the idea of being someone who cooks a lot - and someone who can pull off a fridge toss that doesn't end up as an experiment in what not to do. I digress.

Anyway...true to my neuroses, I spent HOURS over the course of several days researching everything. And I mean everything. I've never been happier with a purchase. Below are the things I deemed necessary (again, after an inordinate amount of time researching what was - and what wasn't - needed for cooking with a wok). I also found some great deals (part of all that homework I did).
I bought 3 things: a wok, a wok turner and a book. I've listed them below and also linked to a video on "how to season a wok". I can not overstate the importance of seasoning your wok. Do it! As a bonus, I've included another video of Grace Young cooking live on a morning show (it was my justification for why I needed a wok - quick, easy and healthy!).

14 inch carbon steel wok (yes you need carbon steel. as for the size, trust me, that's the size you want, I didn't forget to look that up).
Joyce Chen 14 inch wok

The Pao (brand) stainless steel wok turner: Pao Stainless Steel Wok Turner

The book: Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge by Grace Young
*this book is $28 - if that's too much right now, you'll live with whatever you find online. I do recommend getting it at some point if you can though because it tells you how to cut things, what order to add things, which oils to use, etc.

How to Season a Wok by Grace Young

Grace Young on morning show, offering tips/advice and cooking live

Good look on your wok adventures. You're going to love it!

Edit: changed a word

Edit 2: forgot to mention...woks are not black! They are the color of stainless steel - they blacken with use.

Regarding the place with solid info on wok seasoning: I used a combination of two methods. The first is from a very in depth amazon.com review of a 16-inch carbon steel wok. The second was from Chinese cookbook Stirfrying to the Sky's Edge.

The reviewer recommended a three phase seasoning involving crisco, vegetable oil, and food grade mineral oil. He seemed to really know what he was talking about regarding his oven method (which I followed), but I didn't have mineral oil or crisco, so I believe I used peanut oil. The cook book spends even more time on wok seasoning and is very well illustrated showing woks in different stages of seasoning (brand new, after first seasoning, month of use of first seasoning, year of use, etc). As a complete novice to woking it's a pretty good purchase. I don't really like all the recipes but the extensive information on seasoning and unfamiliar chinese ingredients wes very helpful.

From what I remember, I used peanut oil (may have been veg oil), turned my oven as high as it would go, and used fans to direct the smoke out of my kitchen and onto the patio. For a more detailed description of the method, refer to the book or the reviewer. One thing I will add to what they said is to not over oil it before the seasoning. I think the cookbook called for a tsp of oil and I thought "well that can't possibly be enough, it doesn't feel oily at all." I added a bit more and the oil accumulated in streaks on my wok. It turned out fine, but was a little gummy at first as the reviewer describes. If I were to do it over again, I'd probably use crisco as the reviewer recommends.

Another thing I will mention is that all these methods are describing the seasoning of a carbon steel wok. If you have stainless steel, they won't work. There are ways to achieve non-stick cooking in a stainless steel vessel (outlined by BlackfricanAmerican above), but once again carbon steel is standard. Well, actually, I've heard cast iron woks are standard as well, but I don't know how the seasoning method differs.

Regarding heat: this depends on what you're cooking on. I use an outdoor 65,000 BTU propane burner which produces a very adequate flame that is perfect for my round bottom wok. The cook book author talks about round bottom carbon steel woks like mine, but her recipes are written for flat-bottom carbon steel wok users who cook on gas stoves. Her reasoning is that most amateur wokers will be using this setup because it is more accessible. Her measure of appropriate heat is that when a bead of water evaporates in 1-2 seconds after contact on the wok surface, it's ready. She also says more oil is required to achieve non-stick cooking with a flat bottomed wok than a round bottomed wok. And still more oil must be used for a skillet that a flat-bottomed. I don't really know how well this works because I don't have a gas range or a flat bottom wok, but if you do, I'd recommend the book. If you have a round bottom carbon steel wok like I do, then experiment with getting your heat to just below the oil's smoke point. You can do this by preheating your wok to a temperature you suspect is around the oil's smoke point and then add the oil to see if it smokes. If it doesn't try to go hotter.

If you have an electric range however, I don't have any experience.

Further regarding sticking: even with my completely seasoned wok, some sticking still occurs when I add sweet sauces to my stir fries (like hoisin or a miso I've added sugar and sake to). The sugar will burn onto the wok if the heat is too high). Meat, however, never sticks.

Good luck, I'm afraid I can't be more specific without knowing your setup. If you have any more questions I'll try to answer them.

Jane Grigson's English Food (1979) is probably as close as you'll get to an English Mastering the Art. It's as much a history and anthrolpological study of English food as it is a collection of recipes, but its recipes are extensive and excellent.

Elizabeth Luard's The Old World Kitchen (1987), which ranges across the European continent, nonetheless contains a fine, idiosyncratic collection of English recipes in its midst (and is probably the best single-volume reference of old world peasant cooking traditions).

The incomparable Elizabeth David's English Bread and Yeast Cookery (1977) covers every inch of the English bread-making tradition, from milling wheat to presenting at the table. David's attentions were usually focused in a more southerly direction -- the foods of France, Italy -- but she treats the baking traditions of her home nation with as much detail and respect as she does those of more foreign locales

If you want a more contemporary, chef-y book, check out Fergus Henderson's more recent The Whole Beast (2004), which is delicious, detailed, and delectable.

And finally, if you want something a lot more chef-y, Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck Cookbook (2009) will show you contemporary English gastronomy at its most ambitious (but also, maybe, its most pretentious). It sure is pretty to look at, tho.

Ancient Roman cooking had lots of dips and breads, as well as roasts and, indeed, fish sauce. It's remarkable how much Roman cuisine resembles modern-day middle eastern cuisine, for example, in its use of dips. Olives, garlic, and onions were common flavorings, and lentils, chick peas, and beet leaves and other greens, were common as well. Olive oil and wine were ubiquitous. Meat and cheese would have been far scarcer than it is today. AgentPoptart did a fine job of explaining many of the details.

There actually exists a recipe book for Roman cooking available for purchase. An acquaintance of mine who is super hardcore about ancient Rome adapted it and other sources for his own recipe book, which I own in complete form and have somewhere around my house, but since I'm not sure I'd be allowed to share the whole thing, here's my favorite recipe of the lot, a sort of olive tapenade. It goes great on really dense, good bread.

Recipe for Roman Olive Spread ("Epityrum")

Recipe based on Dalby & Grainger, based in turn on Cato's De Agri cultura 119

8 oz olives (any kind, but kalamata are best)
4 tbs red wine vinegar
4 tbs olive oil
1 heaped tsp chopped fennel
2 tsp chopped cilantro
2 tsp chopped rue
3 tsp chopped mint (less if you're using dried mint)
1 tsp cumin

1. In a food processor, chop all the herbs together, as finely as possible.
   
2. Add the liquids and continue chopping.
   
3. Add the olives and chop to desired fineness.
   
4. Serve with bread and cheese.
   
   The dish is said to improve after a night in the fridge. It keeps for a very long time, as long as the solid parts are submerged in the liquid. You can add a bit of olive oil as necessary to keep the solid submerged.
   
   (Edited for formatting. Also, you know what, I'm going to ask this guy if I can scan and post his recipe book. Pending his permission and my ability to find it, I'll post it tomorrow night.)
   
   Edit: I've heard back from my friend, and he doesn't think it's a good idea to throw the recipes up on the internet because they're heavily derived enough from other books that he wants to avoid copyright claims. That being said, here's a few more resources for Roman recipes:
   
   Besides The Classical Cookbook, linked above, there's also Roman Cookery: Ancient Recipes for Modern Kitchens, by Mark Grant.
   
   Those who can read Latin can read the ancient recipe book by Apicius here. Most modern readers, however, would probably prefer Apicius: A Critical Edition, or, less expensively, Cooking Apicius: Roman Recipes for Today. There's also a Yahoo mailing list for Roman-style cooking enthusiasts.
   
   A note on fish sauce: my friend notes that liquamen (the general word for fish sauce, garum being a specific and expensive kind) can be easily substituted by using modern South-East Asian fish sauce, but if you can't find that, soy sauce usually does the trick.

Whether it is actually better or not, that's highly debatable and according to taste. But the cuisine in London/ UK is not neglectable and has a very rich background.

One of the most influential chefs in the world such as Heston Blumenthal (which is largely inspired by Harold McGee, an American), Marco Pierre White (he partly wrote modern cuisine, also an awesome person to hear) and Michel Roux (both senior as junior) have worked their careers in the UK. Each of them have defined a part of cooking/ cuisine in their way.

Not to forget the Commonwealth as well indeed, which brought a lot to the UK.

Really been watching too much MasterChef UK/ Australia and to one of my cooking teachers who really loves to read about history/ science of food. Then again, it's awesome to hear and to know as food is a way of sharing love, express your creativity and bonds and is such an important aspect of our lives/ society/ culture.

Some books which are awesome and I also have in my collection are:

• The Fat Duck Cookbook (don't imagine creating a dish of it, it's more about the insight and the science behind the dishes as they are easily a couple of pages)
  
• On food and cooking
  
• The Devil in the Kitchen
  
• Kitchen Confidential
  
  Honestly, couldn't forget the latter of course.

Welcome to the tribe of grillers and smokers!

Looks like the coals are still active, but you may just not have had enough for the conditions. Since you're cooking outside, you need to be aware of environmental factors, especially wind, ambient temperature, and humidity.

I would suggest switching to natural hardwood charcoal. It burns longer and cleaner than briquets. Ditch any liquid fuels you might be using, they aren't necessary and can make your food taste like petrol. If you haven't already, learn how start your charcoal with tinder. Charcoal chimneys are very helpful. (edit: looks like you already got this covered!)

I also can't recommend enough these books by Steven Raichlen, host of the PBS shows Barbecue University and Primal Grill. He has studied grilling and smoking methods from all over the world, and is very good at explaining techniques and concepts to people of all skill levels.

• The Barbecue! Bible
  
• How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques
  
  Finally, here are some subreddits with very helpful and friendly communities:
  
  
• /r/grilling
  
• /r/smoking
  
• /r/BBQ
  
  Hope this helps!

I am a professional chef and while watching people prepare food is entertaining and sometimes also educating I actually recommend you to buy books and learn the basics first.

You can then use youtube pretty well in order to watch how to do specific things, like i.e. deboning a whole chicken for a gallantine, or how to trim certain pieces of meat.

Start with french cuisine. Once you have understood how things are connected you'll actually understand everything else.

If you want something simple and entertaining for the start I'd choose Anthony Bourdaine's Les Halles Cookbook. It's amusingly written and the recipes are fairly easy and they are all legit.

Then there is Paul Bocus. Living legend with three long-term girlfriends.

And of course you want to have Escoffier at your home. Doesn't get much more classic than that.

If you want to get a sense of what drives a top notch chef, watch In Search of Perfection by Heston Blumethal. Very very good stuff.

And finally, if you want to learn something about culinary history I highly highly recommend Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany and to learn about our lifes as a chef you need to read the (admittedly exaggerated) autobiographicly Kitchen Confidential by Bourdain.

All this provided, you won't learn cooking without actually doing it.

Edit: Depending on your budget, I also heavily recommend Alain Ducasse's Grand Livre de Cuisine.

I'm not actually mad about the Pats winning that game. They certainly did enough to win and it was nice to have a SB uncontestedly won by the team that played better yesterday unlike several of the last few SBs. That said, how the fuck are you gonna go out there and look like a HS team because the Pats defense played a simple cover 2 zone? Like shit, isn't McVay supposed to be some offensive-minded genius? And his team just eats a fat one because of a basic zone package? How fucking embarrassing and stereotypical for an LA team.

Other than that, got a bunch of KH3 in over the weekend--loving that game, though I probably should've just started on Proud Mode instead of Normal. I made a great Japanese Miso Curry from the recipe in this cookbook that I got for Chrismukkah. I highly recommend this book if you like cooking and like Japanese drunk food. And I spent a good chunk of time praying to my shrine of Rangers memorabilia that we don't trade Zuccarello.

>Unrelated question, I read that meat should be poached with the liquid starting cold and then gradually increasing the heat so as to cook the meat evenly. However when grilling or baking an oven is required to be preheated, and I read the reason is again, so that the meat cooks evenly. Sorry if this is a dumb question, I know the medium of cooking is different but why is this contradicting?

Let's start here. You can safely ignore advice for starting things cold in any aqueous cooking method (poaching, braising, making stock, boiling vegetables) -- whether it starts hot or cold will have minor differences when it comes to when and which compounds move from your solids to your liquids, and other details like clarity of your final liquid (e.g. a broth or stock). These are fine finicky details however, and will have very little effect on the final flavor of your dish. When it comes to poaching meats, what matters it the final temperature of the meat. The closer the temperature of your poaching liquid is to that target temperature, the better -- whether it starts hot or cold when the protein goes in. The same basic principles apply for meat cookery when grilling or roasting, with the added caveat that you usually want to create a crust through the maillard reaction and caremelization, which requires high heat. Hence the very best methods are a combination of low and high heat, such as Sous Vide and Reverse Searing.

As for categorical learning, there are lots of resources!
One of my favorites is the website Serious Eats which is very science based and has plenty to learn sorted by technique or by recipe.

I personally learned with Alton Brown -- seek out the show Good Eats, or check out some of his books 123

There is no right or wrong way to learn to cook. In fact, the only real way is to just get in the kitchen and cook. Yeah, you will screw some stuff up, burn some stuff, and maybe make some truly awful food. But you will make great food as well.

I don't know about an e-book version, but yeah. There are three hardcovers, covering each episode of the show in chronological order.

Here's the first: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Eats-1-Early-Years/dp/1584797959/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480898360&sr=8-2&keywords=good+eats

They're pretty great, and they're certainly easier than trying to find and re-watch specific episodes. Also, I believe he's tweaked a few recipes where he felt he made a slight mistake on the show, so you're getting the most up-to-date version of his recipes that you won't find anywhere else. They're pretty darn great. Well worth the money.

Edit: He also released a book this year called Everday Cook. I haven't read it yet, but if I could only buy one it would probably be this one (and there's a kindle version):

https://www.amazon.com/Alton-Brown-EveryDayCook/dp/1101885718/ref=la_B001JRWOIO_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480898478&sr=1-1

• Taste of Home Best Loved - A great down-to-earth cookbook with homestyle meals that mom and grandma used to make.
  
• The Silver Spoon - Originally in Italian, hundreds of awesome, authentic Italian dishes using a massive array of ingredients.
  
• Gourmet Magazine Cookbook - I got my copy at a brick and mortar bookstore many years ago, and it may be out of print now. But it is full of elevated dishes that are easily obtainable at home.
  
• Dinner for Two - For years it was just my wife and I. This was the perfect little cookbook for us. Additionally, ATK has a similar cookbook. This isn't the one we have, but one like it. It's basically their recipes scaled down for two people.
  
• Bocuse Gastronomique - It's like an awesome cooking class on paper from the master himself.
  
• Bocuse - An awesome collection of recipes from Paul Bocuse.
  
• ATK Cookbook. I probably cook more from here than any other. I used to buy the new version every year with the newest recipes, but now I have the online subscription.
  
• The Flavor Bible that someone else linked.
  
  
  I could keep going but I should stop. So many great ones out there.

Just stumbled upon this sub and am excited to participate! I think this will be a fun little project for next year. :)

1. What do you like to cook? I like to cook very simple recipes. I am trying to sustain a Keto/Low Carb diet and find that many recipes are overly complicated fake food that use ingredients I don't normally keep to try and fake the delicious, carby stuff. Before I kicked carbs (mostly) I was definitely a meat and potatoes girl. Now I guess I'm more of a meat and cauliflower girl ;)
   
2. Who is your favorite chef (famous or family)? Famous: Julia Child, family: my mother. Both share some similar characteristics in that they are fearless in the kitchen and overcome mistakes as learning opportunities. I don't think I've ever seen my mom screw up a recipe in a way that she couldn't salvage. She cooks simple recipes that are always delicious and carry much of her mother's history and heritage in them. If I'm half as good a cook as her, I'll be pleased. I still have a long way to go in terms of fearlessness and skill.
   
3. What is your favorite cook book and why? Though I've never cooked anything from it yet- Charleston Receipts. It's a collection of historic recipes from Charleston, my home town. Many recipes are things I wouldn't necessarily make (calf's head anyone?), but my mom tells me my grandmother tried that one once and never again! I love the history and stories that go along with the recipes.
   
4. What are you looking to learn? I'd like to be more comfortable with technical skills and knowledge, pairing of different flavors and have a few go-to recipes in my back pocket that are sure to impress if company drops by.
   
5. Do you have any recipes that you would like to make but are afraid and why? I don't know why, but I'm afraid to make any kind of roast in the oven. It's a big monetary commitment to buy a big ole' roast of any kind, should I cook it in my crock pot or the oven (and will it fit?), when do I have the time to babysit this thing all day?
   
6. What ingredient do you just not like and could you be persuaded to try it if the right recipe came along? Tilapia. I hate the smell, the taste, the texture. Maybe in a fish taco with a bunch of other crap to cover it up?

I like roasting it at a real high temp to get super crispy skin and tender meat... I think I used a test kitchen recipe but here's another http://www.savorsa.com/2013/01/easiest-and-best-high-heat-roast-chicken-gets-our-vote/
And best book for spice blends or marinades (for ALL types of meat) is this http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0376020598?cache=91b502bf1ba3a7cb7e324514d079bfe2&pi=SL500_SY115#ref=pd_aw_sims_1 also really, really great, easy, sophisticated grilling recipes.

You need to find a rabbi and start reading, really. Kashrus is a great start, but also a hard one. Don't expect to be perfect right off the bat. R' Forst's The Kosher Kitchen is a fantastic start for that. There's also shabbos, which really means you need to move to a Jewish community and be within walking distance of a synagogue. In the meantime, find people who can host you on shabbos and holidays (which we're in the clear on for several months). And really I'd just recommend a conversion reading list like this one. It has the basics that one needs to know and is a fantastic start to living an observant Jewish life.

The one book that has changed my cooking game was The Way to Cook by Julia Child. It’s not the cheapest book, but can be gotten for $12 used it looks like.

I grew up with Mexican/Spanish cuisine being my forté. And I get Thai influence from my wife. But the fundamentals and education in that book are universally applicable. The great thing is that if I want a spin on one of Julia’s recipes, I can google it and a dozen people have made variations of each recipe due to her influence in the cooking world.

Serious Eats is a wonderful website for getting the why behind the how in cooking as well.

I wish you all the best!

cRc standards? Star-K? There are a few, most of it is minor but you should know them and know what applies for you. Also, your community minhag may also dictate some of these things.

For example, some allow using the same dishwasher for meat/dairy since the water isn't yad soledes bo and there is an agent like lye (mentioned in S"A) in use.

>What basics do I need?

Depends on how often you eat various items, I very, very rarely eat meat so I have very few meat items for example.

But I have a large variety of parve items.

Overall you will want separate kli rishonim for meat/dairy/parve but not like 1:1:1, since you will cook different things in them. Also sponges and scrapers and serving utensils.

I would walk through a typical menu for you and see what works, like do you only have a dairy pot for vegetables or other sides and will that come to be a problem when you are making a meat meal?

Since I mainly eat parve I can duplicate a lot of my dairy since it isn't usually an issue. I have an instapot and I have 3 interior pots/liners/steam catchers for Shabbat meals.

You will also want knives for cutting that are parve/dairy/meat this is a fantastic meat knife and is really cheap and all the chef's I know recommend it. It's great for chopping/cutting.

You might also want to check out the books Kosher Kitchen which talks a lot about the details, but your community might be more lenient than that book in some places here and there.

But overall I'd go through and start with thinking about how you want to use your kitchen then apply the rules of kashrut and see if it is an issue.

Also, get some heat resistant color tape, so you can correctly label your items.

At some point, you might also look at if your stove/other items can be kashered for Pesach and if you need like a sperate burner just for Pesach (I have to do this since my place has a glass stove top)

How ancient are we talking? Apicius, I believe, had a cookbook from Ancient Rome. I believe this is the one I have at home: https://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Apicius-Marcus-Gavius/dp/1903018447/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=ancient+roman+cookbook&qid=1558107713&s=gateway&sr=8-3

​

Wasn't Apicius the cook who, as his very last act on this earth, served a grand dinner for a number of high profile guests... and then poisoned them, as well as himself, at the end? Not sure if the story is apocryphal or not, but it sounds good! Heck of way to go, chef!

​

Here's a site with some Roman recipes. Not sure how authentic they are: http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-life/ancient-roman-recipes.htm

​

Here are some recipes from around the time of the Byzantine Empire (again, I cannot vouch for the authenticity, but the PDF has some info on who created them, to our knowledge). I've made some of these and they are pretty good! http://nvg.org.au/documents/other/byzantinerecipes.pdf

​

Hope these help!

I like Japanese cooking regardless, so the answer is yes I guess? It's always been just the idea though, I've never followed an anime's recipe specifically.


I will say, while I can't speak for how truly accurate it might be (not being Japanese), I love this cookbook. Recommended for anyone who is interested in the food, especially the sort of food you'll probably get if you ever ask someone "what should I eat when I'm in Japan?"

Unfortunately, despite being a bit of a foodie and a decent amateur cook, the best recipes I've made have been the most basic ones. I can make a pretty mean karaage and katsudon. My oyakodon always turns out strange, I don't think I cook the chicken quite right. And as much as I love stir fries, I don't have a gas stove so they're always just an approximation.

There's a whole lot of cookbooks in that space of "you know how to cook already, here's a slightly more advanced set of recipes" that you can dive into. Deep-diving into a single cookbook for a while will expand you "outward" and give you an understanding of a particular cuisine or technique and let you stock your pantry around that.

Just speaking personally about what i've done.

Taste and Technique: Recipes to Elevate your Home Cooking was one that i cooked a good deal of recipes from and it seriously upped my game. It's French/Pacific Northwest recipes that use (relatively) easy to find ingredients and provide seasonal variations on most of the dishes.

If you have access to a decent spice market, Ottolenghi's books are pretty good for expanding your repertiore. Jerusalem and Plenty More.

If you have access to good produce, i know people that rave about Six Seasons but i haven't used it yet. I also like Lucky Peach's power vegetables but the ironically kitschy photos are a little off putting (but the recipes are super solid).

People need to break this mentality that cooking knowledge needs to be "deep" like you're going to level up until you're gordon ramsay. Cooking knowledge past the basics is better thought of as "wide" wherein you expose yourself to a variety of techniques and cooking styles and work them into your repertoire, where it becomes an expression of your personal craft.

id advise to read/buy http://www.amazon.com/Thai-Street-Food-David-Thompson/dp/158008284X for a street style curry or a classic style http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Thai-Cuisine-David-Thompson/dp/0898155630/ref=la_B001MOTLLM_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422352309&sr=1-3

here is a video, he has uploaded a few recently https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk9Ri238EW0

some may argue whether he's correct/authentic or not, but there are many ways to get the same result, his style is mostly southern style, whereas north Thailand have hotter curries and dont have fresh seafood so they use dried fish more often and have a little burmese influence..

also there is differing styles, such as Royal/Family/Street/Fusion etc, pick what you like and dont be too worried about if its 100% accurate


also if you can get "Healthy Boy Fish sauce" get it, its a pretty solid, not too fishy or salty.


source: was head chef of an award winning thai fusion restaurant 2+ years

This book would combine my to favorite hobbies, science & cooking. I think having a better understanding of the reactions that go on would help me be a more intuitive cook and baker. Plus it just sounds so darn interesting! haha

I'm mostly a baker although I do like to cook. Baking came naturally to me as I just understood the ratios of ingredients better. I'd like to learn more about cooking though so I can improve my skills haha.

What are some of your hobbies?

I am by no means a Chinese food expert, but I do spend way too many hours investigating and browsing cookbooks (I own over 150).

All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China is not by a native Chinese author but she lives in China and the food is absolutely her passion. She pours her soul into this cookbook. My understanding is everything including the illustrations were done by her.

What's neat about this book is it covers all the geographies of China including ones that don't really reach the Western world.

Edit: wanted to add like another poster pointed out this really only whets your appetite recipe wise - there's just too much to cover but she does a phenomenal job explaining the high level differences between regions.

I agree that "How To Cook Everything" is a good reference guide for complete beginners and those with gaps in cooking knowledge.

It might be a bit over your head at this point, but if you truly want to understand cooking and what's happening when you do it try "On Food And Cooking" by Harold McGee.

For Asian you might like...

"Every Grain Of Rice" by Fuchsia Dunlop (or any of her books)

"Japanese Soul Cooking" by Tadashi Ono

"Ivan Ramen..." by Ivan Orkin (Good for ramen and other japanese-ish food.)

"Momofuku" by David Chang (Really good mix of general Asian flavors)

Other books that might interest you:

"Irish Pantry" by Noel McMeel

"The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern" - Matt Lee and Ted Lee

"Real Cajun" by Donald Link

"Authentic Mexican" by Rick Bayless

"Fabio's Italian Kitchen" by Fabio Viviani

For Vegetarian try anything by Alice Waters or David Tanis.

Legit.

For anyone who's looking for a comprehensive and authentic Japanese cookbook, I picked up a copy of Tadashi Ono's "Japanese Soul Cooking" last year, and I use it at least once a week for meals. The first chapter is Ramen and has the basic recipe for ramen soup and chashu, followed by the marinade for ajitama and and the ramen meat, then detailed recipes for tares for shoyu, miso, siho, tan tan men, nagasaki champon, hiyashi chukka, and shrimp wonton men, as well as the torigara stock base for recipes that don't use the ramen soup base. It also includes rayu recipes for those who like their noodles oily. I'm extremely lucky to live near both a Japanese market and a Super H Mart.

The book has 13 chapters that each cover a type of food along with variations and history on the styles, including everyone's favorites, udon, gyoza, tempura, and donburi. If you love cooking and want to get into Japanese, I really can't recommend it enough.

Congratulations on observing kashrut!

Rice and veggies, wraps, so many options! I recommend looking through food blogs to get ideas, and then if the recipe needs it- make it kosher!

One great kosher food blog I love is Kosher in the Kitch

also, if you need any more information on the laws of Kashrut, or a good guide (as it can be confusing at times), here are two:
How to Keep Kosher

The Kosher Kitchen

Id try this, which I personally like a lot.

In general, I feel that cook books that explain why they do stuff and what are the essential ingredients to a dish and what is optional ("this dish needs the butter or it won't be smooth, but you can change the seasoning") good for learning how to cook.

For essential skills such as knife grips, how to prepare ingredients, and such, that is easier to learn from someone who knows how to do it. Reading about it isnt quite the same thing.

One of the better video blogs out there, IMO, is Foodwishes, check it out on youtube. He explains very well how you can make the food you want with the ingredients you want.

I bought my Joy of Cooking as a poor college student. It is now 26 years old, and it will be handy to the kitchen for the rest of our days. Terrific book.

Alton Brown's your man, via TV, the web and the first book, especially. I'm Just Here For The Food is a better teaching book than Joy, though nothing beats Joy's comprehensiveness.

And, IMHO, Julia Child is the woman, though I'd recommend her The Way To Cook as the one book to get, if you have to pick one. We actually carry it with us when we travel for Thanksgiving. I was going to leave our copy at the in-laws, but my wife didn't want to part with it, even though I was going to order another one. Mrs. Child considered it her magnum opus, and she designed it carefully to teach someone how to cook.

What everyone says about 'just try it' and 'tweak your recipes' is true. Practice is where it's at, but informed practice will get you where you want to go much more quickly.

Happy cooking and Bon Appetit!

Cajun and Creole are honestly the best foods in the South. This guy mixes them all up with other traditional Southern cuisine. His cookbooks have loads more recipes and better ones in some cases.

http://www.jfolse.com/newfindrecipe.htm

Past that, Charleston Receipts, Charleston Receipts Repeats, 'Pon Top Edisto Cookin' 'Tweenst the Rivers, Sea Island Seasons, and Southern Living cookbooks were a staple in my house. Kind of still are really.

What you need to do is two things: First, in all major cities in Germany you can get vegetables delivered weekly directly from a farmer to your home. You pay a set amount of money every week and they send you whatever just finished growing. This way you cook with seasonal goods and you start to eat stuff you wouldn´t normally buy. Second, because you need to know how to cook with vegetables you have never heard of, get this cookbook: Silver Spoon. Its a traditional italian cookbook that covers even the most basic recipes and, more importantly, is sorted by ingredients. Combine both and you will expand your culinary horizon in no time...

My current favourite is quiche in every way imaginable. Start with this:

Get some puff pastry - "Blätterteig" (frozen or refrigerated) and cover the inside of an oven-proof casserole or cake pan. If you got some "Blätterteig" left after that, dont worry, you can use it later...

Now saute some onions, scallions or leek and some bakon cubes and put them in the casserole.

Beat some eggs (3 to 4), add 250 ml cream and one cup (the one you buy them in, not the measurement) creme fraiche, whip that shit, add salt and pepper and some ground nutmeg if you have and pour everything in the casserole.

Now scrape some cheese (Gruyere works best for me) over the casserole and put it in the oven at 180 C until the cheese looks yummy. Let it set and cool for a bit and eat, works best with salad.

In the end it should look something like this

When Borders went under I managed to score a brand new copy of this book for under $10 from my local one: https://www.amazon.com/Fat-Duck-Cookbook-Heston-Blumenthal/dp/160819020X

I'm similar with not buying physical books very often anymore, but I make the exception for large coffee table books with beautiful illustrations; I love my kindle but it still can't replace the beauty and fun of having some of those around for guests to flip through etc.

How beginner are we talking, and how hard do you want to jump in?

Artscroll's The Kosher Kitchen is a great overview and breakdown of the complex halachos involved. Here is the CRC's guide for kashering a kitchen. You can also get in touch with you local Chabad, and they'll usually be happy to come out and kasher everything for you.

If you're tight for space, it might be best to pick a gender to preference. I'm lactose intolerant, so when I was short on space, I only had a few dairy utensils and everything else was meat. Once everything is kashered, it's much easier.

I personally recommend All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China, by Carolyn Phillips.

It goes through the different regions of China and describes their food, different influences and flavors.

It has Uyghur food from Xinjiang, Hakka food from the South, Russian food from Dongbei.

It doesn't have pictures like some cookbooks, but the illustrations are charming and will explain how to do some more complicated maneuvers. I checked it out from my library a last year, and loved it so much that I bought it when it went on sale a little bit ago!

I really enjoyed The Food Lab and continue to go back to it. After you've had some time with it, check out Taste & Technique. It's another great home cook cookbook, and like The Food Lab, it looks great on a coffee table.

This looks like an awesome book! It's in the hardcover paperback list. Thanks, and I hope everything has gone well!

I am assuming that you are asking about the book "Lobscouse and Spotted Dog"? If so, yes, it is an outstanding book written by a mother and daughter team. Many food and drink recipes from the books and lots of great narration. Works as a great coffee table book too. And yes.. they even do Miller's in Onion Sauce.

Julia Child, The Way to Cook. My husband got it for me shortly after we got married, when I was already a pretty serious cook. Now that was about 25 years ago. Man did that book ever up my game. And also forced me to unlearn some things I had been doing that just didn't work out well. How I wished I had had the book all along. Of course, it was only recently published. I still use it fairly often, for desserts and other stuff I don't make frequently enough to have down pat.

It's definitely not a collection of recipes. Though she has chapters on soups, fish, fowl, meat, and so on the recipes are grouped by technique. She shows you how to make some dish or other as a "master recipe" then gives variations on it using the same technique but with different meat or what have you.



>Teaching is so important to the object of this book that it is one of the very few books I know which could easily serve as a good textbook for a course on cooking.


I could hve written this one:
>If you just have but 1 cookbook, this should be the one. Her recipes show you how and in a flawless manner. This is about the basics, techniques, etc. Many of my basic cooking skills and go to recipes are from this book

First, get a good persian cook book: https://www.amazon.com/Food-Life-Ancient-Persian-Ceremonies/dp/193382347X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1540326251&sr=8-2&keywords=new+food+for+life

​

My wife puts a couple tbls spoons of Rose Water in our water container, and we drink that. No sugar, and its delicious.

​

Buy Tumeric. Costco sells Tumeric pills for like $30/50 pills. You can buy it cheap.

​

Dried Mint and dried Shallots. Use the dried mint crumbled in your yogurt. Let the dry shallows soak in warm water, then chop, put in yogurt for a delicious dip.

​

Might I suggest an alternative method? In my experience, the study of the techniques to cooking are at least half the battle in laying a foundation for a good culinary education. Rather than take the direct simple-to-complex recipe route, perhaps there is value in utilizing a hybrid method of learning where the recipes are centered around the use of particular skills in the kitchen. Some useful materials that come to mind are "Complete Techniques" by Jacques Pepin or "The Way to Cook" by Julia Child. Once these types of technical skills are engrained in your cooking process, you will find the true joy of cooking which is much less about following instructions and more to do with finding your "culinary groove".

Ivan Ramen is a good start to homemade ramen (as /u/h2g2Ben suggests), and probably one of the only places where you will see a ramen recipe that was actually used in a ramen shop. Ramen-ya's generally keep their recipes close to their chests. I would suggest perusing through /u/Ramen_Lord's post history as well, as he's done a ton of research into and experiments with ramen styles.

the only other book I was recommended on ramen was this one and while it has some nice recipes, they are modified for the home cook. If that's okay with you, have at it! But you probably won't see a broth boiled for 4 hours in a good ramen-ya; even the french-style broths go for at least 6.

I won't attempt to pick one as the best, but here are some good resources:

• Madame H's Kitchen -- covers a wide variety of Chinese food. She has a book coming out in August.
  
  
• China Sichuan Food This site deals primarily, but not exclusively, with the food of Sichuan province, where the author lives.
  
  
• The Woks of Life Includes some Americanized dishes and a wide variety of more traditional Chinese cooking.
  
  
• Fuchsia Dunlop has written several excellent cookbooks and has a new one coming out in October.
  
  
• Garden Time Homemade Cuisine Most of these videos have an English-language version, or at least English subtitles. There are a lot of recipes that you won't find elsewhere, at least not in English.
  

I haven't looked at a lot of alternatives, but I bought Into the Vietnamese Kitchen on a whim and haven't been disappointed. Well written and has nice pictures, each recipe has some backstory about its place in Vietnamese cuisine and culture.

For Italian cuisine, The Silver Spoon is often recommended as a cornerstone of Italian cooking, but I found it to be pretty unsatisfying, at least in the translation. Light on technique and a lot of recipes that may be authentic, but aren't something you're ever likely to make (assuming you can even find the ingredients).

Not trying to discredit you at all, I’m just taking to opportunity to spread the history of my little pocket of the world. Charleston and LA are actually much more similar than you’d expect food wise! Both areas have heavy European/French influence, but Charleston is also intertwined with the Gullah culture which is a very specific niche of Creole. I mostly see sauces with that brown gravy or a French white wine and cream sauce being used here.

Edit: If anybody see this and has interest in learning more about the history of cooking in Charleston/the Lowcountry I’d recommend picking up a copy of the Charleston Receipts Cook Book. It has a ton of recipes that are hundreds of years old!

a giant granite mortar and pestle is a good tool to have. This is a good book, as long as you can track down the ingredients. Andy Ricker's is probably also good, as I'm sure David Thompson's other book is too.

I was in the mood to experiment, so dinner was kind of late while I farted around...

1. Oyster Spring Rolls, a Southern Fujian dish from Carolyn Phillips' All Under Heaven. Damn... these were way better than I expected. I love oysters on the half shell but have never much enjoyed cooked oyster recipes. But these spring rolls really carried the oyster flavor perfectly without muddying it or burying it under other junk. Superb.
   
   
2. First shot at making my own Char Siu. I was lazy and just used Lee Kum Kee sauce instead of going crazy hardcore and searching out all the different components to do it from scratch. Maybe next time. Results were fine... not amazing, but bottled sauce and pork off the shelf at the market only take you so far. Certainly cheaper than ordering from the semi-local Hong Kong BBQ joint, and not much work. The leftovers from tonight will go into Singapore Noodles tomorrow and probably some Char Siu Buns and other goodies in the future.

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-season-a-wokcooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-171893

From this website you will find a few basic recipes from Grace Young. She is my wok guru, if such a thing ever existed. My partner purchased one about six months ago, I found the link above and never looked back!

For under $100, you could get yourself a nice wok, spatula (I found mine at BBB for $10, and they always have coupons. Couldn't find it on their website but here it is at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Silicone-Flexible-Omelet-Turner/dp/B000JPXRGK/ref=pd_sim_k_4), her cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/Stir-Frying-Skys-Edge-Ultimate-Authentic/dp/1416580573/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345839270&sr=8-1&keywords=grace+young+stir+frying+sky%27s+edge), and a few essential reoccurring ingredients. Happy woking!

Seconding the Serious Eats Wok 101 series. And if you're ever going to get a book about wok cooking, Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge should be it.

As for my personal experience, a wok works best on gas stoves, okay on electric coil, really terrible on those flat top surfaces. They're good for small kitchens since they're clean with a quick wipe of water in the sink and can generally take the place of several other pots and pans, though it might be hard to find dedicated cabinet space for it. And think outside of the box: the wok can be used to make popcorn, or a breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs, not just traditional meat-and-veggie stir frys.

If you can get to a library, the book Culinary reactions is a fabulous layman-level book about food chemistry.

One VERY easy concept is the use of baking powder in food! This should be a good place to start

The absolute best resource I've come across on the myriad regional Chinese culinary traditions is All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China by Carolyn Phillips. It's incredibly compare wove, covering the THIRTY-FIVE distinct food cultures that exist in China. I highly recommend this book.

you should consider picking up Grace Young's two wok cookbooks, Breath of a wok and Stir frying to the sky's edge. I like her earlier book better but they are both great.

Agree with /u/X28.

Andrea's book should be considered as a primary text for Vietnamese cooking (much like David Thompson's Thai Food for Thai, or Paul Bocuse: The Complete Recipes for French).

Luke's books are great (as well as his shows that sort of accompany the books, or the other way around).

How to Grill. Knowing how to grill and cook delicious food is very important for self care in my heavily biased opinion.

In all honesty, you'll be given the 'good' books to read while you are in school.

*Edited to complete my thought.

Alton Brown's new cookbook? Definitely edible, definitely descriptive and easy to understand why it works to cook things the way he does. In general, I'd introduce her to Good Eats (and the website Serious Eats) as a way to get her into the whys and hows of food.

I see that you already familiar with the Aubrey Maturin novels of Patrick O'Brian - hardly a surprise seeing your interests - but have you encountered the fascinating recipe book Lobscouse and Spotted Dog? I would imagine you have - for the same reasons. Do you have any comments about how well researched or otherwise it might be?

Im a big fan of Japanese Soul Cooking. It breaks down a lot of common food into the 'master recipes' like that permeate them, then expands on those with some really great, simple dishes.

All my favorite recipes are right out of Grace Young's Stir Fry to the Sky's Edge so here's the Amazon link. Salt and pepper shrimp, stir fried beef noodles, chicken fried rice, stir fried bok choy (any vegetables really). Instructions are straightforward, there are plenty of pictures to whet your appetite and I really enjoyed the introduction chapter on seasoning the wok and wok techniques. She gives just the right amount of information without overwhelming a newbie.

I can't recommend Taste and Technique enough. The dishes require skill but are also pretty accessible so they are designed to show you fundamental techniques you should be acquiring in the kitchen. The way it's written can be more explanatory as opposed to just outlining a recipe so I find it helpful to make typical recipe list to work with when I try out new dishes from the book.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748991/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_zKOyzbBXPY7KZ

Hey Folks,

I love the Thai Kitchen and bought already several Thai Cookbooks. These are my 3 personal favorites:

https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Thai-Kitchen-Demystifying-Authentic/dp/0449017052?keywords=thai+cookbook&qid=1539164147&sr=8-5&ref=sr_1_5

​

https://www.amazon.com/Thai-Street-Food-Authentic-Traditions/dp/158008284X?keywords=thai+cookbook&qid=1539164147&sr=8-14&ref=sr_1_14

​

https://www.amazon.com/Thai-Cookbook-Authentic-Thailand-Handbook-ebook/dp/B07J4X5B1W?keywords=thai+cookbook&qid=1539164250&sr=8-1-spell&ref=sr_1_1

Weber's Way to Grill is an excellent cookbook for beginning grillers. I refer back to it for temps and recipes all the time. Great book, even if you don't use a Weber grill.

I was fortunate to receive some awesome stuff on my wishlist: a mandoline, Thermapen, and a 7 1/4 quart enameled Dutch oven.

I also got some cookbooks:
Persiana,
Food of Life, and
Ceviche: Peruvian Kitchen

Edit: formatting

I make a lot of recipes off this book. I find it great, of for no reason other than that it's huge and has a really good index. It sells itself as being the highest selling cookbok in Italy.

[The Way To Cook] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Cook-Julia-Child/dp/0679747656) -- not only is it a fantastic cookbook, it is appropriate for all different levels of skill and provides foundational recipes that are then adaptable for personal use. It's a fantastic book.

if you insist on a book and/or are new to outdoor cooking in general this book is worth its weight in gold. it is a bit redundant with the how to light the grill instructions but it is a great book with very detailed explanations and lots of pictures

http://www.amazon.com/How-Grill-Complete-Illustrated-Techniques/dp/0761120149/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1416502421&sr=8-5&keywords=steven+raichlen

I have a book that has a recipe for Japanese hamburger and yes it does have you cooking the onion and garlic until sweet. This recipe also says to soak panko in milk and add that to the meat mixture along with an egg and soy sauce. I haven't made this particular recipe from the book, but everything else I've made has been really good. The book is Japanese Soul Cooking.

No problem. I'll be posting more vegetarian dishes here (hopefully mainly vegan ones), Iranian cuisine is very veg friendly :) If you're into cookbooks, the famous anad amazing Iranian chef Najmieh Batmanglij has a released a book called Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies that has vegetarian recipes, shouldn't be too hard to veganize them

For Italian food, I would recommend The Silver Spoon, it is by far one of the best cookbooks around.

• Cooking for Geeks
  
  
• The Food Lab
  
  
• Alton Brown: EveryDayCook
  
  Publix publishes recipes in its stores, and I have one of their binders with a handful of the ones I thought seemed good.
  
  Also have to second The Joy of Cooking (mentioned by someone else).

I would look at this book:
Paul Bocuse: The Complete Recipes https://www.amazon.com/dp/208020095X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_rkkjybM2R3694
It contains many recipes for traditional French dishes like onion soup, sole meunière, bœuf bourguignon.
As far as techniques go, I found this book to be the best:
The Professional Chef https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470421355/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_vmkjybW84N5YZ
Especially the section on stocks. It also has a lot of French recipes.

So, the best cook book I know of for learning specifically is how to cook everything fast by Mark Bittman. It covers how to interweave prep, recommends side dishes to go with main dishes, and has reasonably accurate time breakdowns of timing.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-Fast-Better/dp/0470936304

Pasting my comment from a recent thread:

>Dean King's Sea of Words and Harbors and High Seas are pretty essential, I find.
>
>I also like Patrick O'Brian's Navy: An Illustrated Guide to Jack Aubrey's World, though it's more 'additional reading' than a must-have, for me.
>
>And of course, Lobscouse and Spotted Dog is the essential culinary companion, if you've a mind to spend some time in the galley and want to shout "Which it'll be ready when it's ready!" as authentically as possible.
>
>I've heard good things about the Patrick O'Brian Muster Book, but I haven't used it so I can't speak to it personally.

A cookbook that shows you how to cook fast It's always nice to be able to cook yummy food and not have it take all day. I think you should go to the movies this weekend. I love watching movies.

Culinary Reactions: The Everyday Chemistry of Cooking by Simon Quellan Field.

I highly recommend it! It is one I frequently lend to friends by their request.

Link

I'm not Italian, but I know Italian-American chefs who swear by it. I've cooked some of the recipes and they were great, however steer clear of the baking section, something happened in the translation or something (at least in the edition I used) because the baking recipes are useless.

Small things i learned from this book:
don't use salt in eggs before you cook them, it breaks down the protien prematurely.
Spicy brings out the sweet, and sweet brings out the spicy.
http://www.amazon.com/Culinary-Reactions-Everyday-Chemistry-Cooking/dp/1569767068

Some cookbooks that I use or are on my wishlist:

• The Fat Duck
  
  
• The French Laundry
  
  
• Alinea
  
  
• Eleven Madison Park
  
  
• Quay: food inspired by nature
  
  
• Room for Dessert
  
  
• Murgaritz: A Natural Science of Cooking
  
  
• Saison
  
  
• Rasoi: New Indian Kitchen
  
  
• Le Cinq
  
  
• Coi: Stories and Recipes
  
  
• Massimo Bottura: Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef
  
  
• Atelier Crenn: Metamorphosis of Taste
  
  
• El Celler De Can Roca
  
  Great British Chefs also has some recipes from Michelin starred restaurants.

• 2 pints of strawberries
  
• 4 tablespoons sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 4 tablespoons orange liquor
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
  
  Melt the butter, add the rest of it, mix well, pour over strawberries that are set into a 9 by 9 (or so) baking dish you can put on the grill, grill on direct high for 8-12 minutes (my original time was off).
  
  If you are curious it's from this book which is awesome

I'm reading this currently and I think it's quite good. A little disorganized, and he takes the chemistry pretty slowly (which is good and bad) but overall I think it's worth checking out.

>The channel also refused to let him use the metric system, he said.

Good Eats was so entertaining with Alton demonstrating the science of cooking with puns thrown in. Although, my interest waned whenever ounces, cups, etc. were referenced.
>Brown’s latest cookbook, EveryDayCook: This Time It’s Personal, came out in September.

I previewed the cookbook on Amazon. Apparently the publisher wouldn’t let him use the metric system either. I’m hopeful that he’ll let loose with metric on his new show.

I HIGHLY recommend this book. At least one person in my family has had a copy for the past 15 years and I've gotten an incredible amount of use from it. It's more akin to a book of techniques than a book of recipes and can really improve your grilling game. (and overall cooking game)

Looks really good! Now do yourself a favor and get the book I will link. It is modern and goes through most of Japan’s favorite modern dishes, BUT! It maintains are very high focus on traditional main recipes and techniques. It’s not as technical as Tsuji’s A Simple Art, but it’s traditional where it counts.

https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Soul-Cooking-Tonkatsu-Kitchens/dp/1607743523

Recipes for broth/tare, ajitama & chashu were from Japanese Soul Cooking, a really awesome book my fiancé gave me for Christmas!

Get a pestle and mortar (small as you can find), and dedicate it only to saffron. You'll want to make sure you grind it up so you can get the mileage out of it.

I use saffron for rice quite a bit. Make some basmati rice, take a portion of it (about 1/4 - 1/3) and put it in a bowl with some butter. Take a pinch of ground saffron and put it in a shot glass, then dilute it with just under boiling water (until the glass is 3/4 full). Put it in with the buttered rice and then stir it in with the rest of the (white) rice.

Also, here's my favorite cook book that uses saffron.

https://www.amazon.ca/Taste-Technique-Recipes-Elevate-Cooking/dp/1607748991

I bought his sometime ago, and learned a lot from it. I do food photography and it's gave me inspiration on to plate and present as well.

The Big Fat Duck by Heston Blumenthal is a book I dream about owning, but probably never will. The Fat Duck is probably more feasible. Hopefully this opens up a rabbit hole is your search.

http://masteringpersiancooking.com/2014/12/10/khoresht-gheymeh-bademjan/

You didn't mention split peas so it could've just been khoresht bademjan.
https://www.196flavors.com/iran-khoresh-bademjan/

I highly recommend the cook book Food of Life, if you're interested in other persian cooking. https://www.amazon.com/Food-Life-Ancient-Persian-Ceremonies/dp/193382347X

I would suggest buying any of Steve Raichlen's books. The BBQ Bible and How To Grill helped me a lot. Great pics of both techniques and the food.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0761149430/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1373559052&sr=8-1&pi=SL75

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0761120149/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?qid=1373559108&sr=8-4&pi=SL75

Weber's Way to Grill is an excellent book in my opinion. It explains all of the basics and did a pretty good job teaching me. I still have plenty to learn, but this was a great start.

The Big Fat Duck Cookbook

Go big, or go home. =)

EDIT: Yay, I just learned there's a cheap version. No content was removed. http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Duck-Cookbook-Heston-Blumenthal/dp/160819020X

I love this book [Weber's way to grill] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0376020598/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=56001599729&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=753396277644651227&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_6qoi7y1woo_b)

Steven Raichlen's was the first one I got and its wonderful and extensive. 4.5 stars on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Grill-Complete-Illustrated-Techniques/dp/0761120149/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1394495684&sr=8-5&keywords=grilling+cookbook

Edit: Actually, I linked to the wrong one. It was Raichlen's The BBQ Bible that I have. But this is his newer book and looks just as good.

The best information you'll find related to garum is likely to come from Sally Grainger, who is a food historian and translator of Apicius, the oldest known cookbook. She has also translated numerous recipes and has a recipe for garum in one of her cookbooks. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Apicius-Roman-Recipes-Today/dp/1903018447

Get this book, it's the best Weber's way to grill

Nisei friend recommends this:

Japanese Soul Cooking

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Soul-Cooking-Tonkatsu-Kitchens/dp/1607743523

She might enjoy “Culinary Reactions: The Everyday Chemistry of Cooking” by Simon Field. It’s a bit disorganized but has some interesting recipes/experiments and is fairly accessible.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1569767068/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_2ed-BbHSMXF8N

This book is pretty entry level as far as actually applying chemistry to food. I wouldn't say the book is stellar, but it does an okay job of explaining some of the chemistry behind cooking without using too much chemistry jargon.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1569767068/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Even it would require some supplemental instruction on some concepts though.

Buy Japanese Soul Cooking for legit recipes for this and a lot more. I bought it about a month ago and have made several items from the book, all amazing.

The winner, hands down: https://www.amazon.com/Lobscouse-Spotted-Dog-Gastronomic-Companion/dp/0393320944

I have Cooking Apicius.

If you've ever seen The Supersizers Eat series, they do one on Ancient Rome. It's a lot of fun watching the chef's interpretations of Roman recipes (bonus garum-making!).

Well, if you own a grill, then go get some steaks, chicken pieces, fish, etc.. I recommend this book. I also like to grill veggies such as asparagus, squash, and zucchini. That book will show you how. Also check out /r/grilling and /r/bbq.

A crock pot will allow you to do a simple roast or chicken, but its not necessary. Check out /r/slowcooking.

Amazed this hasn't been suggested yet - Carolina Gold Rice, a bottle of Firefly if you can transport it or a copy of Charleston Receipts if you wanna go real old school CHS.

This is probably a bit more than 15 minutes per day, but learn how to cook. It's so nice to wake up in the morning and make yourself breakfast rather than stop at Dunkin' Donuts. Or whatever.

One think I would stress though is that you should really learn how to cook, and not use recipes. Recipes are for girls. To learn to cook without recipes, check out these Williams and Sonoma books or perhaps pick up "How to Grill", which is another good tome of techniques.

I also really enjoy this guy on YouTube - Chef Todd Moore

Highly recommend these two books:

How to Grill

Weber's Way to Grill

C-A-K-E Must be lucky or something!

The Silver Spoon is also my favorite Italian cookbook :))

Not an answer to your question, but just to be sure that you are aware, there is a POB cookbook.

I recommend the cookbook How to Cook Everything Fast by Mark Bittman.. It has lots of recipes with easy-to-follow instructions and suggestions of how to adjust many of the recipes. Local libraries have copies if you want that: link.

Couple of books that I found interesting and informative...

What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393329429/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_nfpIAbT1ETDMW



Culinary Reactions: The Everyday Chemistry of Cooking
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1569767068/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FgpIAbWYYMYXZ

I recommend this. It's my grilling bible.

So from what I know we don't have the exact recipe - you can try to make a take on it or you could try a modern equivalent like Colatura di Alici.

For other dishes you could always pick up a copy of Cooking Apicius, it is a similar attempt at interpreting Roman recipes using modern cooking conventions. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1903018447/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_HTLBCb9P7MV76

I've used my very advanced internet skills to utilize a search engine to find and link to the very book:

https://www.amazon.com/Alton-Brown-EveryDayCook/dp/1101885718

i was gifted the weber grilling guide. It will not be as comprehensive as the amazing ribs thread, but will be something that you can use has a tactile (remember books?) reference when outside on the grill. I've made the transition to charcoal recently, and have used several of the recipes and techniques mentioned.

http://www.amazon.com/Webers-Way-Grill-Step-Step/dp/0376020598

Will recommend

After graduating I found out my biggest barrier to eating cheap and healthy was that I didn't want to faff around forever in the kitchen when I'm starving. A recipe is only good if you will make it. I've worked my way through about half of that book now and dropped my 2 person grocery bill by $100 this month. Ingredients are cheap.

Jeweled Rice from this cookbook. Yes, worth it! https://www.amazon.com/Food-Life-Ancient-Persian-Ceremonies/dp/193382347X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Buy this Weber's Way to Grill: The Step-by-Step Guide to Expert Grilling (Sunset Books) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0376020598/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_S8cJub1NWHPC9

Seriously, everytime someone asks me about technique, there's more than one, which you need because you're cooking more than one thing all the time. It's full of food prep and grill prep ideas for everyone front beginners to seasoned vets cooking off the same grill for 35 years :)

Next, get some good tools. The Weber 7416 Rapidfire Chimney Starter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WEOQV8/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_6bdJub1V731HB is almost must have, they do make a smaller one, but if you use a 22.5" smoker as well, you should already have one of these. I also use a Bond Mini Shovel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000X47NJY/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_SedJub063DKB0 for moving the coals around. It's a hell of a lot easier than tongs. Also handy if you have midgets burying things for you.

Charleston Receipts, the authority on posh white people food from the Carolina coast.

https://www.amazon.com/Charleston-Receipts-Junior-League/dp/0960785426

https://www.amazon.com/Alton-Brown-EveryDayCook/dp/1101885718

I'm cooking my way through The Complete Bocuse.

By Ramen, do you mean the broth, or noodles? There are some simple recipes out there.

https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Soul-Cooking-Tonkatsu-Kitchens/dp/1607743523

Open up the look inside, the base Ramen recipe is included in the preview. It's fairly simple to make

Los gehts mein herr.

His newest book is EveryDayCook.

You can also find more of his older books (besides the big 3) on his Amazon Profile.

Here you go!

https://www.amazon.com/Alton-Brown-EveryDayCook/dp/1101885718

The Way to Cook by Julia Child - 1993 It's a classic. I use it once a week.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Cook-Julia-Child/dp/0679747656/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413930864&sr=8-1&keywords=the+way+to+cook

The Way to Cook - Julia Child

Larousse Gastronomique

Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Julia Child

Paul Bocuse:The Complete Recipies

If you don't already have this, get it:

http://www.amazon.com/Food-Life-Ancient-Persian-Ceremonies/dp/193382347X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343693916&sr=8-1&keywords=new+food+of+life

I found this book helpful: https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Soul-Cooking-Tonkatsu-Kitchens/dp/1607743523/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5X71GHDXSDDHX2E46D4G

Here is the mobile version of your link

Japanese Soul Cooking: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1607743523?pc_redir=1414099212&robot_redir=1

http://www.amazon.com/How-Grill-Complete-Illustrated-Techniques/dp/0761120149

I can't recommend this book enough. Read it. Make notes. Mine is covered with sauce stains and all dog eared.