This is a cookbook with no recipes that will teach you how to cook everything. It covers everything there is to know about food -- from how it was discovered, how man changed it, how it is grown, how it is harvested and how to prepare and cook it. It dramatically changed my cooking life.
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I’m still on a big Kenji Lopez-Alt binge, but for the last few weeks I’ve spent every few minutes I’ve had reading The Food Lab. It has changed the way I think about cooking. It feels really good to understand the science behind cooking, but more importantly why I’ve f**ked up a so many dishes I’ve cooked in the past. This isn’t a traditional recipe book, it dives deep into the science behind temperature, heat, acid, and even the materials that make the best pots and pans and I am hooked.
Feb 1, 2022
Not really a recipe book (though certainly has recipes) and more of a reference bible about the chemical processes of cooking. Kenji answers questions like:
- Why does the pH of my pancake batter matter?
- Why should I add sodium citrate to mac n cheese?
- Why is my turkey dry?
- How to make can beans taste good?
and will also teach you how to butterfly a chicken, faux-tourné your carrots, and emulsify your vinaigrettes.
Kenji is extraordinarily online (linked his website for socials) and posts tons of stuff for free if you don’t wanna shell out for this very expensive and very heavy book. I have a ton of respect for him and genuinely think he is the most influential living person working in food right now + will be remembered among the greats.
Can’t rec this book enough!
Feb 19, 2025
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endlessly fascinating and joyful endeavor
Jun 2, 2024
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Travel is about getting along with strangers. Being kind and generous tends to pay off 10x.
Also never book a connecting flight if at all possible. Takeoff and landing are your only points of failure don’t multiply them.
Aug 8, 2024
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Because this beach house is small and the kid is playing it on repeat. definitely an anti rec, 0/10 would not recommend.
Aug 23, 2024
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I spent most of my life thinking they were cat food at best. But I visited Clydes one day for bivalves and martinis and tried their new conservas menu. Now I am watching tinned fish reviews and eating all kinds of sardines.
Jan 23, 2025