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32nd out of 696 books
—
663 voters
CookWise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed
Can you tell whether a recipe will work before you cook it? You can if you really know what's cooking.In the long-awaited CookWise, food sleuth Shirley Corriher tells you how and why things happen in cooking. When you know how to estimate the right amount of baking powder, you can tell by looking at the recipe that the cake is overleavened and may fall. When you know that...more
Hardcover, 544 pages
Published
August 21st 1997
by William Morrow Cookbooks
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Recently I was cataloging my cookbook collection and the process was making me think about all the different books and why I had them. I decided to randomly work my way through some of them, cooking and reading, mostly out of curiosity about why I originally purchased them and what I thought about them now.
The first book I grabbed, Cookwise by Shirley Corriher, was chosen because although I remembered that I have used it for reference, I couldn't actually remember that I had cooked much from the...more
The first book I grabbed, Cookwise by Shirley Corriher, was chosen because although I remembered that I have used it for reference, I couldn't actually remember that I had cooked much from the...more
Now that I've looked through this one, I vaguely remember reading it a few years ago, but I liked it better then, for some reason. This time around, I went from being totally impressed to completely overwhelmed in just a few pages. The book starts with bread. Well, I bake bread. So I know about that. But this went so far over my head, it was into the stratosphere. I was overwhelmed with a discussion of which kind of flour I needed, based on protein content. Then we got into the importance of add...more
If you're a food science geek like me, this is a great reference. Not quite as approachable as Alton Brown (but you might have seen her on the Alton Brown show Good Eats). The recipes are chosen to be good examples rather than great eats, but they're still pretty good. The key is that she teaches you how food works -- which helps you to figure out how to make better food. If you're the type to cook by eye and taste and smell, this is the kind of cookbook you want to read.
Not the kind of book you just sit down and read cover to cover - it is a cookbook, after all - and lacking the adorable, elementary school science teacher vibe she brings to her spots on Alton Brown's Good Eats, but still a pretty amazing book. As someone who would rather learn underlying principles and then be shooed out the door than master recipes by rote, this dense volume is right up my alley. You can see why Alton hero-worships her so fervently.
This book is absolutely fantastic! It engages all foodies ranging from the most expert cook to true beginner. The awesome chemistry of cooking is revealed and gives great insight into those meals that went wrong somewhere. A Mr. fix-it among recipe books as well as a good guide to cooking everything from the perfect pie to a standing rib roast.
Food Nerds Unite!
Corriher's seminal book of food science is not to be missed. Knowing why things work the way they do frees a cook to experiment more and gives one great things to talk about at cocktail parties when the topic of polygamy is exhausted (ok that's unique to me). One of my favorite all-time books on food.
Corriher's seminal book of food science is not to be missed. Knowing why things work the way they do frees a cook to experiment more and gives one great things to talk about at cocktail parties when the topic of polygamy is exhausted (ok that's unique to me). One of my favorite all-time books on food.
This is an amazing book. There are recipes, but the value of the book is in how it explains the processes of cooking - why foods do what they do when they're cooked. Having a strong background regarding processes and ingredients makes it much easier to experiment and succeed. It's a Bible I return to again and again.
See my review for Bakewise and then compound that by the fact that I NEVER cook, nor do I enjoy it, so this is WAY out of my league. I really need to get the "I Hate to Cook Book". I think that will be more my speed.
That being said, I bet this would be a great book for the people in your life who really love cooking. And molecular biology.
That being said, I bet this would be a great book for the people in your life who really love cooking. And molecular biology.
I think I've been too spoiled by Alton Brown and his Good Eats show. Shirley Corriher tells you what the different cuts of meat are on a cow, Alton gives pictures.
Overall, interesting descriptions on the science of cooking and looking at what makes food at a molecular level. There seemed to be a lack of quality control - some pages would detail measured amounts, others would skip it.
The organization was a bit curious to me - the book clearly opens with bread recipes, then dances around all kin...more
Overall, interesting descriptions on the science of cooking and looking at what makes food at a molecular level. There seemed to be a lack of quality control - some pages would detail measured amounts, others would skip it.
The organization was a bit curious to me - the book clearly opens with bread recipes, then dances around all kin...more
This is the first time I've ever read a cookbook all the way through. The value of this book is that Corriher explains what happens chemistry-wise to your food when you cook it. I feel like I've come away with a better understanding of cooking in general and WHY recipes have you do certain things. However, I don't know how much of this knowledge I'll retain (there is a lot of information in this book, which isn't a bad thing). I also don't know how many of the recipes I'll use. Many of them are...more
Shirley is the REAL brains behind Good Eats.
Episode Three Chips for Sister Marsha is blatantly stolen from Shirley's 3 dueling chocolate chip cookie recipes - designed to show the interaction of the baking ingredients.
Episode Three Chips for Sister Marsha is blatantly stolen from Shirley's 3 dueling chocolate chip cookie recipes - designed to show the interaction of the baking ingredients.
Try the Touch of Grace Biscuits with ordinary flour. Great stuff. Then make it with White Lily Flour (or any soft southern flour), and you'll understand why a good biscuit is treasured in southern cooking.
This is a cookbook you can read for the entertainment value, but it's all about the food. Shirley Corriher takes us through a wide swath of cooking techniques, teaching the whys of cooking, not just the hows.
this is one of the best cookbooks! why things work, why they don't, how to tweak your cooking/baking technique to get different results. fantastic. also, the best biscuit recipe ever...
Everything made from this book is amazing. It's also great to learn the reasons behind why each recipe works and might not work. Our copy is highly worn from years of use.
An indispensible resource for cooks, basically the cooking bible. Find out why pie crusts fail, roasts are dry, etc. For all the food science geeks out there. - Paula C.
Seattle John suggested this chatty food science book, full of examples of theories. It looks like an amazing book, but I never got into it.
Dec 03, 2008
Amy
added it
Came across this unpacking. I think I got it for our wedding. Thought I'd take a look and hopefully learn a few tricks.
The science behind how to cook the perfect egg, cookie, meat etc. Not neccessarily recipes to my taste, but love the science.
I will never make even 1/3 of the recipes in the book. But there is so much good information in here. Good resource and fun read.
This one's a good read. Interesting food science information, though I don't remember cooking much from it.
I loved the explanation about the chemical processes that occur during different types of cooking processes.
Cooking from the food chemists pov. Geeky goodness including things like illustrations of fat molecules.
A fantastic reference I'll, no doubt, keep returning to when I forget the details. A book every serious home cook should have handy so they know why their hard work might run awry in the cooking process. I loved the in depth chemical explanations in particular.
I did feel like some of the recipes she listed detracted from the material, however.
I did feel like some of the recipes she listed detracted from the material, however.
The only thing more fascinating than this book is Corriher herself.
A balance of science and creativity. You can't asked for more. Fun to cook with and I am always a sucker for learning something.
I liked it but somehow not enough to use it much.
Cooks Illustrated meets New Basics....
I think there are two ways to cook: you can memorize recipes or you can understand what those recipes are doing. Cookwise is a great reference for the latter. Corriher does a great job describing how each ingredient and technique affects the final outcome. In doing so, we come to understand how we can get the effect we want (cripsy vs. chewy cookie) and figure out what we've done wrong (pastry creme coddling: add more sugar so that the egg proteins don't coagulate as quickly). I wish Corriher wa...more
Feb 18, 2013
Jeannie
added it
a classic!
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Feb 10, 2013 01:30am