Product Description

An essential ingredient for every kitchen. Master every technique and develop new ways of cooking by following the practical, step-by-step advice of 18 top chefs from around the world, including Marcus Wareing, David Thompson and Shaun Hill. Includes over 600 delicious recipes from homely English food to international cuisine and illustrated with sumptuous photography. Share their passion for food, broaden your repertoire - and cook for success every time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103596 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 648 pages

Review
"Fantastic advice and step-by-step instructions from the world's top chefs" Eve 01/04/06 "The books every home should have" Eve April 2006 "This is a great reference tool for the novice and seasoned pro alike. Every section is explained in simple yet fine detail. Nothing is left to chance and everything is explained clearly. This truly is a book for cooks." Restaurant 15/02/06

Restaurant, 15 February, 2006
'This truly is a book for cooks'

About the Author
Editor-in-Chief, Jill Norman, author of DK’s Herb & Spice, is one of the most respected editors and writers in the world of food and cooking. The long-time editor of Elizabeth David’s classic books, she is now library trustee of the David Estate. Jill resides in London. Foreword by Marcus Wareing, protégé of Gordon Ramsey, and one of Britain’s most acclaimed young chefs. He is chef patron at the refurbished Savoy Grill and Pétrus in London. Marcus lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Great in places but very sparse in others
Got to be honest here - from the previous tip-off about the high street shop bargain, I went to look at this, physically, at £6.....probably worth it at that price but I hadn't heard of a number of the contributors.
Thanks to amazonreviewer for higlighting the actual chef names in his review, because I think the general blurb gives the impression that this is a collection of well-known chefs - ok not of the celebrity nature, granted.
The Asian, Thai, Chinese and Japanese cooking sections are only a few pages long so if you think you are going to master the art of these from this book, you'll be very disappointed. You get the impression that these areas have been given two sides of A4 sheets to get their spotlight whereas others have had the benefit of ten!

I'd suggest that this boook should have been two volumes - one mastering British techniques and the other dedicated to Asian cooking.

Whereas Norman is editor-in-chief of this book and therefore accredited with it, she is only just another person who 'borrows' other people's ideas and sticks them in a book, like the Elizabeth David anthologies - it is not a talent, really?

If contemplating buying at this price, from Amazon, I would suggest saving your money and look at it first - the basic techniques are covered more diligently elsewhere and I woud add that this is just another attempt, albeit unique, in getting another book to the publisher!
Sorry!

“A truly excellent book”
The Cook’s Book is quite a tome - in the most positive sense.

In size it is large format, over 600 pages and packed with colour. The production standards are extremely high.

In scope it has chapters – each penned by a different author – on a wide variety of topics. Some are obvious, being themed around ingredients – Bread, Meat, Fish, but others cover styles of cooking, such as Japanese or Mexican. The length of the chapters are dictated by the use that the authors assume will be made of the topic. Thus the Fish chapter is long, the Mexican chapter short.

The authors are an international bunch, many of whom I’d not heard, but others (such as Shaun Hill or Marcus Wareing) are quite well-known in the UK. The standards are excellent throughout irrespective of the author.

As well as having recipes this book is also a “how to” manual with many pages on techniques – e.g. for making stocks or filleting types of fish. All processes are well illustrated. There are also many handy tips. So, for how long should I roast my salmon fillet? The answer is quickly found - 10 minutes per inch of thickness.

It also scores in having a good mix of “staple” as well as “fancy” recipes, thus making this not just a special occasion book, nor one in which the authors feel they have to show off.

For me the test of a good cookbook is whether I enjoy reading it for pleasure and whether I cook from it.

Well, it’s a joy to read (although not a narrative in the way of Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries). And within the first week I’d cooked a number of recipes – chicken stock and chicken jus, oatcakes, gravadlax and venison in a walnut, sour cherry and cinnamon sauce. All were straightforward, easy to follow, recipes and provided excellent results.

This book has, at a stroke, become my first point of call when I want to cook something or find out how to approach a cooking task.

Highly recommended.

Wonderful!
Stellar. This is a must-have book for any serious cook or chef. Top chefs demonstrating their signature dishes. Ferran Adria on foams, Dan Lepard on Bread, Pierre Herme on deserts, the list goes on and on, soup to nuts. 24 chapters each by the master in their field, lavishly illustrated, not just food porn but working pictures of each stage in the process. A book to cook from, not just leave on the coffee table, although it looks good there as well. A book I will keep returning to.

My only criticism so far is that the large glossy format is awkward in the kitchen. I wish the publishers would publish it also in electronic form, or have included a DVD so that one can print out just the recipes in use to take into the kitchen.