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Cookbooks: The Classics, The Essentials & The Masters
16
items After over 20 years cooking professionally these are some of the my go to quintessential cookbooks. The list is always evolving and always growing.
Sections
4
The Classics
The Basics of Flavor Building
Masters of their Craft
Not Technically Cookbooks
The Classics
Often considered the gold standard for classical technique. This deep-dive into French cooking teaches methods from the basics to complex dishes, helping you understand cooking from the ground up.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol 1
Modern Cookery wouldn't exist without Auguste Escoffier. This book laid the groundwork todays cuisine. Over a century after is original publication this book remains a classic reference for culinary professionals and culinary enthusiasts alike. Featu...
Escoffier - Le Guide Culinaire: First English Translation
The Basics of Flavor Building
This book is a flavor encyclopedia. Looking for ubique flavor combinations this is your go to reference for experimenting.
The Flavor Bible: Essential Culinary Guide
This book gets you thinking about balance in your food. By balancing these 4 simple elements you will see your food and cooking drastically improve.
SALT FAT ACID HEAT
This classic cookbook is beloved for its minimalist style. The recipes are simple and focus on nailing the basics. Great for the novice cook.
How to Cook Everything: 2000 Simple Recipes
The penultimate encyclopedia for everything food related.
The New Food Lover's Companion
An amazing resource for preserving and canning including some great recipes that I find myself using over and over again.
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Masters of their Craft
The art of pasta making from visionary chef Evan Funke.
American Sfoglino: Master Class in Handmade Pasta
Alinea is more than a cookbook—it’s a window into Grant Achatz’s groundbreaking, avant-garde world of modern gastronomy. Equal parts art book and culinary manifesto, it breaks down the philosophy and techniques behind the iconic Chicago restaurant, f...
Alinea: Achatz, Grant
A masterclass in precision and elegance, this cookbook pulls back the curtain on one of America’s most celebrated restaurants. The recipes are ambitious, but even if you never plate a dish exactly as he does, you’ll walk away a better cook—with a dee...
The French Laundry Cookbook by Keller & Jones
Seafood Simple teaches readers how to master core skills, from poaching and deep frying to filleting a fish and shucking an oyster. These techniques are then applied to eighty-five straightforward, delicious recipes, many of which include substitutio...
Seafood Simple: A Cookbook: Ripert, Eric
This is the go-to Italian cookbook for students, newlyweds, and master chefs, alike. Beautifully illustrated with line drawings throughout, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking brings together nearly five hundred of the most delicious recipes from t...
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking: A Cookbook: Marcella Hazan
Beginning with four foundational doughs, American Sfoglino takes readers step by step through recipes for a variety of generous dishes that showcase traditional Italian cooking techniques, from essential sauces and broths like Passata di Pomodoro (To...
American Sfoglino: Master Class in Handmade Pasta
A love letter to pasta from one of Italian cuisine’s most trusted voices. This book balances classic techniques with approachable recipes that feel like they were passed down from a Nonna who wants you to win. From shaping fresh dough by hand to craf...
Lidia's The Art of Pasta: An Italian Cookbook
Not Technically Cookbooks
One of my favorite reads from the genuis mind of Anthony Bourdain.
Kitchen Confidential Updated Edition
This book will change your mindset about food. Looking to the detrimental cooking of our past, and the misguided dining of our present, Barber points to a future “third plate”: a new form of American eating where good farming and good food intersect.
The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food