The Food Substitutions Bible: More than 5,000 Substitutions for Ingredients, Equipment and Techniques [Paperback]

`The Food Substitutions Bible' by David Joachim runs a big risk in assuming such a pretentious title, as it simply invites a search for things which are missing in order to take it down a peg or two. I have to say, however, that compared to several other `bible' titles published by this `Robert Rose, Inc.' company, this book more than lives up to its promise. On the way, it happens to fill a great need in one's culinary library.

Most good cooking manuals have substitutions and `how to make' for several of the more common pantry items such as buttermilk, lemon juice, crème fraiche, and preserved lemons. It it's an especially good book, it may have as many as 100 such substitutions. This book advertises `more than 5000 substitutions'. The book doesn't just stop at one substitution or recipe for each item. Many options have three or four or five. It also does not stop with formulas or recipes. It does an excellent job, for example, of giving substitutions for common cooking tools such as a zester or a potato ricer.

Of course, I could not resist trying to find things the book missed. I am happy to say I did find a few, but I am also happy to say that with one exception, they were all very obscure. I found no entries for the ancient Roman fermented fish sauce, `garum' or the traditional French sour grape condiment, `verjus' or the middle eastern spice, `Aleppo pepper' or the North African pantry item, salt preserved lemon. I think all these are fair, in that I have seen recipes for all these in at least one cookbook and I have seen all of them used in at least two modern cookbooks.

I also felt some of the substitutions were just a bit less than useful, as the item being substituted may have been just as hard or harder to come by than the missing ingredient. For example, if I don't have venison, it is highly unlikely I will have antelope meat or gazelle meat or buffalo meat. Fortunately, this observation is generally a quibble, as we are also given `beef' as a substitute for venison.

My last quibble with these entries is that several substitutions are a bit questionable for all but the most casual situations. For example, suggested substitutions for mozzarella are Gouda, provolone, Muenster, and Fontina. I think all of these are much too strongly flavored to act as a good substitute for classic mozzarella uses. I suppose that if all you want is `some soft cheese', these would work, but I would question all of these in a baked dish or in classic raw dishes such as the Caprese salad.

The other side of the coin is brilliantly represented by the ingredient guides in the back of the book including apples, rice, clams, pears, dried beans, lentils, olives, mushrooms, potatoes, chiles (fresh and dried), flour (wheat and alternatives), Asian noodles, roe, crabs, oils, vinegars, and salts. These pages alone are worth the price of the book. I am forever trying to remember which apples are best for baking and which clams are best for chowder. I will have to puzzle no longer.

Oddly, this book will probably be more of a service to experienced cooks than to rank amateurs, as it is at its best with unusual ingredients. The experienced cook will also be much better at identifying the good from the bad substitutions.

Very highly recommended for all cooks!

I really enjoyed this book, even though like others stated, some of the items were so obscure I had never heard of them! LOL. Saying that, I would still recommend it highly for anyone who cooks. I mean who hasn't started cooking and realized they did not have an essential ingredient. I looked up several of my favorites items to see if any of the substitutions were feasible, most were. Each of the ingredients in their reference book includes a description of the item, i.e. Durum Flour: finely ground durum (high-gluten) wheat.

One of the features I liked about the book is that some of the listed ingredients, i.e. butter and all-purpose flour, include substitutions "To Vary the Flavor" or "For Better Health". Many of the substitutions also include info on how it might affect your recipe. For example, if you look up Butter, the "For Better Health" substitution states: 1/2 butter and 1/2 vegetable oil, best "for baking, especially quick breads and some cookie doughs: reduce baking time slightly; baked goods will be slightly more chewy; use pastry or cake flour for lighter texture..." This kind of info is just the thing to help make me a better cook.

The final sections include ingredient tables for common foods and include direction of what they are best suited (cooking, baking, eating). Other tables include ingredients with characteristics of each variety and what can be substituted within the categories (potatoes, beans, pears, apples, olives, legumes, lentils, mushrooms and more).

I definitely recommend this book for anyone who loves cook.

We believe in a Kitchen Murphy's Law that says sooner or later you're in the middle of a recipe and find out you are missing a key ingredient. Thank goodness for David Joachim's researching skills because the second edition of "The Food Substitutions Bible" is an amazing compilation of just what will work in place of the original thing.

We love the A to Z organization of this book so it's easy to quickly find the perfect subtitute for anything from coconut cream and parchment paper to bleu cheese and guar gum. This bible is sure to save the day because you will never have to ruin a recipe again thanks to the wrong or missing ingredient!

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