Joy of Cooking [Paperback]

The thousands of recipes are mostly things you've seen before (lemonade and baked chicken) and some you probably haven't (see Baked Brains in the Beef section). It covers the use of most any ingredient you will see in cooking any dish - vegetable, poultry, or meat - and it will show you how to properly apply heat, add seasonings, and most importantly, how to modify the recipe. Diagrams are few (they aren't generally helpful in my opinion) and explanations can sometimes be short, but the book covers a lot of territory. That said, it is best not to consider the the "only" cookbook - rather, it should be the central one. Complement it with a cooking encyclopedia and a collection of cookbooks from specific regions or styles for a complete cooking set.

No shelf of cookbooks is complete without this book; I would be lost without it. Also, this makes an excellent wedding or birthday gift. Avoid the spiral-bound version, the book needs to be hardcover and well bound because of constant use in the combat zone (kitchen).

Unfortunately, this great concept is completely undermined by a lousy execution. The paper in this book is dark and grainy, smoother than pulp paper, but just as unreadable. The text isn't in the large and easy-to-read font we know and love in the original book, but rather in a cramped and heavy typeface. The pages are so flimsy that I'm afraid to flip through the book for fear that I'll tear one out.

The cooking information all seems to be faithfully reproduced. But definitely not the joy.

LEARNING TO COOK The Joy of Cooking is more than just a recipe book. It's a textbook. As a student, living on my own and having to take my first steps in the kitchen, this book was a life saver -- it taught me how to cook. Other cookbooks are mere collections of recipes: If you follow them carefully, you have a good chance at ending up with something close to what the author intended. But most cookbooks don't teach you anything about preparing food -- they're just recipes -- so you never really understand, for example, how different doughs are made and how they're used for different breads and pastries, or what kinds of fish should be broiled, fried or cooked, etc. The Joy of Cooking teaches you all that, and much more. If you take the time to actually read the descriptions at the start of each chapter, as opposed to just searching for and following a recipe, you will understand how to cook. The importance of this is immense: If you actually understand what your doing, as opposed to simply following directions, you can improvise, invent new recipes, correct any problems/mistakes/errors, etc. You will begin to think like a Chef. I own many cookbooks, but the Joy of Cooking is one of the very few that actually attempts (and does such a wonderful job) teaching you how to cook. You shouldn't miss up on this opportunity. It's very clear, very well-written, and is ideal for those that are taking their first steps in the kitchen.

RARE AND DIFFICULT TO FIND RECIPES While the Joy of Cooking can't contain each and every ethnic food, it is quite encyclopedic nonetheless. Often, I search dosens of cookbooks, surf the internet, ask friends, only to discover that what I'm looking for is already in the Joy of Cooking! I should have consulted it first! Do you realise that the Joy of Cooking will teach you how to make marshmellows, Halwa, Turkish pastry dough (for borekas), candy, and many other not-so-easy-to-find recipes? And all from scratch: Marshmellows are essentially whipped sugar syrup and gelatin. Halva is essentially sugar syrup and raw tehini sauce. Making Turkish pastry dough is an involved process that takes time and precision -- all the steps for which are in the Joy of Cooking. While I have all these recipes in other books as well, I have no other SINGLE book that contains them all. The Joy of Cooking is encyclopedic and diverse, its scope as far as procedures or ethnic foods are concerned is enormous. This should be your first cookbook, and unless you're looking for some really exotic procedures and recipes, it could very well be your only cookbook.