[drphoto]

I'm more a believer in getting down basic techniques and fundamental dishes than learning recipies per se.

That being said, I grew up w/ Madame Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking'  I also really like Alton Brown's 'I'm Just Here for the Food' because it focus more on technique than recipies.

However w/ 'foreign' cusine, recipes are more important. I really like Julie Sanni's 'Classic Indian Cooking" for instance. (I was really into  Indian food for awhile)

I'd like to read Tony Bordain's French cookbook. You may or not like him personally, but I like his view that truly great cooking comes out of poverty. Real French Bistro is not 'high falutin' (sp?) The classic steak fritte is made w/  cheap cuts of beef.

 BBQ....maybe America's claim to culinary fame, came from people having to do.

[some young guy]

I ve got a decent library here at the house. From that, there are some real gems that I wouldn't want to be without. Here's a few;

*The Professional Charcuterie Series by Marcel Cottenceau, Jean-Francois Deport and Jean-Pierre Odeau
Flavors of France by Alain Ducasse
*Foie Gras a Passion by Michael Ginor
French Cooking by Paul Bocuse
Foods of Italy by Giuliano Bugialli
*Treasures of the Italian Table by Burton Anderson
The Splended Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper
*White Heat by Marco Pierre White
Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells
The Physiology of Taste translated by M.F.K. Fisher
The Taste of Spain by Xavier Domingo and Pierre Hussenot
The Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy
The New James Beard
The Making of a Cook by Madeleine Kamman
The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
*Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg

and many many more... I love by books.

*Truly excellent books IMO

[rajacat]

What no Le Repertoire de la Cuisine.  by Auguste Escoffier? 

-Roy

[gitarretyp]

Real Thai by Nancie McDermott
Simple Chinese Cooking by Kylie Kwong (lacking in Sichuan dishes. If anyone can recommend a good Sichuan book, i'd be grateful)
Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey

For those with a bread machine (which i highly recommend): The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger

A friend of mine really likes The New Best Recipe by Cook's Illustrated.

I tend to get most of my recipes or recipe ideas from the food network site. The key is to find chefs you like and whose recipes you can trust; for instance, Giada's recipes tend to be very good and Raechel Ray's almost always need work but are often interesting ideas.

[some young guy]

What no Le Repertoire de la Cuisine.  by Auguste Escoffier? 

-Roy

Out of my collection, that's certainly a classic (along with the likes of Laousse, The French Chef, Simca's Cuisine etc.) and a fun/interesting read, but not one I use all the time.

[rajacat]

What no Le Repertoire de la Cuisine.  by Auguste Escoffier? 

-Roy

Out of my collection, that's certainly a classic (along with the likes of Laousse, The French Chef, Simca's Cuisine etc.) and a fun/interesting read, but not one I use all the time.

A number of years ago I worked my way up the ladder in a very good restaurant that served continental cuisine. This was back when I was a ski bum. I started as a dishwasher and ended up as the poiso???spelling, anyways the fish cook. I also brewed all the soups which used the basic stocks made from scratch in huge pots  which, more or less, followed the French tradition put forth by Escoffier. Most of the line cooks were European, primarily Austrian and naturally were trained in the continental tradition starting in high school. I eventually moved on and worked in some excellent restaurants in San Francisco. I'm sure that the methods have changed since I was in the trade and I'll bet that M. Escoffier is rarely consulted nowadays.

-Roy

[some young guy]

What no Le Repertoire de la Cuisine.  by Auguste Escoffier? 

-Roy

Out of my collection, that's certainly a classic (along with the likes of Laousse, The French Chef, Simca's Cuisine etc.) and a fun/interesting read, but not one I use all the time.

A number of years ago I worked my way up the ladder in a very good restaurant that served continental cuisine. This was back when I was a ski bum. I started as a dishwasher and ended up as the poiso???spelling, anyways the fish cook. I also brewed all the soups which used the basic stocks made from scratch in huge pots  which, more or less, followed the French tradition put forth by Escoffier. Most of the line cooks were European, primarily Austrian and naturally were trained in the continental tradition starting in high school. I eventually moved on and worked in some excellent restaurants in San Francisco. I'm sure that the methods have changed since I was in the trade and I'll bet that M. Escoffier is rarely consulted nowadays.

-Roy

Actually, you might be surprized how much it's still used. A lot of cooks are really into the "roots". I'm involved in some culinary forums that are mostly used by professionals and both Escoffier and Larousse are discussed often.

What restaurants did you work in, in SF?

[ctviggen]

For those of us who aren't chefs, this is the best cookbook I've seen ... by far.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Best-Recipe-All-New-Recipes/dp/0936184744

I love the Alton Brown cookbook, but the referenced cookbook is very easy to use, is complete, and has well tested recipes.  I rarely use other books. 

[Eric]

I actually subscribe to a magazine, Cooks Illustrated. It is loaded with great techniques, recipes, and equipment recommendations

[some young guy]

I actually subscribe to a magazine, Cooks Illustrated. It is loaded with great techniques, recipes, and equipment recommendations

Another truly excellent mag IMHO is Saveur. It's a very well rounded and interesting repository of information.

[Eric]

I actually subscribe to a magazine, Cooks Illustrated. It is loaded with great techniques, recipes, and equipment recommendations

Another truly excellent mag IMHO is Saveur. It's a very well rounded and interesting repository of information.

That is a good one too

[some young guy]

I actually subscribe to a magazine, Cooks Illustrated. It is loaded with great techniques, recipes, and equipment recommendations

Another truly excellent mag IMHO is Saveur. It's a very well rounded and interesting repository of information.

That is a good one too

Here's another great one... http://www.slowfood.com/

[loki1957]

The only book I need is The Joy of Cooking. Mine has a broken binding and pages falling out I've used it so much.

[gsm18439]

I enjoy the recipes printed in the Wedneday edition of the NY Times. No, they are not always successful, but always interesting and sometimes spectacular.

I agree with both Fine Cooking and Cooks Illustrated as source material.

And for something obscure - especially for the desserts (that are flawless and easy to make for large numbers of people since all are baked at similar temperatures), try the Frog Commissary Cookbook by Poses et al (available in paperback from Amazon and in print for 20+ years).

[EchiDna]

how about "the silver spoon"? a bit too cliched?
I love many of the old style recipes in it....


will be checking out some of the others....

 

[djbnh]

The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer is a nice one to have. I've a bunch of Jeff Smith "Frugal Gourmet" books (excellent recipe for post stickers in one of them), some Indian cookbooks, Joy of Homebrewing, some old yet great Greek cookbooks, a couple of Ciao Italia cookbooks by Mary Ann Esposito, Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, about 6 years worth of Gourmet magazine, and some others. There's tons of recipes I have yet to try.

[Wayner]

If your into outdoor grilling, the Weber (red) Big Book of Grilling cookbook is a nice book, softbound with about 400+ pages. They also have The Art of the Grill, but it's very exotic and almost every reciepe will require a trip to a not ordinary grocery store. Still both are nice books, even if you just like the pictures!

Wayner

[Gordy]

how about "the silver spoon"? a bit too cliched?
I love many of the old style recipes in it....

will be checking out some of the others....

Echi,

Check out the Frog Commissary cookbook mentioned above.  link  It's written by the principles of the early 70's Philadelphia restaurant re-awakening and not so dissimilar to the Spoon cookbook!

Gordy

For a fascinating historical read, any of MFK Fisher's books are excellent.

[EchiDna]

 
cheers Gordy, will have a look for it locally...

[some young guy]

For a fascinating historical read, any of MFK Fisher's books are excellent.

Just pick up a copy of "The Art of Eating". It has "On the oyster", "Cooking for one"  and several of her other books in it. It's one of my favorites.