I own 'many' books on cooking & food in general. I love the ones that take the time to explain & describe, the ones you can take to bed. I admit that I'm addicted, constantly looking for more. Hence, the question: If you could only have 3 books about food & cooking, what would they be?

Ok, maybe desert cottage. I'd need a fridge, stove and a pantry.

I have hundreds of cookbooks (Ok, so I work in a bookstore) but I always keep coming back to Fannie Farmer and The Joy of Cooking for the basics. My TJOC is from the '70's before all the fat got stripped out. Apparently the latest edition has put much of the fat back in, but I haven't had a chance to compare recipe-to-recipe yet.

I'm a big fan of Cooks Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen, but I can't watch the shows. For some reason Chris Kimball just bugs me. The Family Cookbook they did a few years ago is most excellent. It is a big, honkin' 3 ring binder with more information per square inch than any other cookbook I have.

So those would be my three. I often look up the same recipe in all three - toss 'em in a blender and add my own extra spin. Fun!

Chris W - NH USA

As I mentioned above, I work in a bookstore, and this year is going to be a banner year for really expensive, coffee-table cookbooks.

Two ones just in are "A Day at el Bulli" by Ferran Adria and "Alinea" by Grant Achatz. Any molecular gastronomes out there?

"No soup for you!" This stuff is really out there. Cooking with liquid nitrogen, a whole science lab of ingredients, and the strangest techniques and presentation you have ever seen.

No beef stew. No chocolate cake. No fried chicken. No pasta.

But in a way it is like a horror movie --- I can't look away. It really is fascinating stuff. They both have spectacular photography. Next time you are in your local bookstore check them out. I've already got a few inspirations. Hmmm, cucumber jello? Beet sheets? (sort of like fruit leather made with beets)

These are NOT your desert island cookbooks; but they sure are fun to read in bed.

So what are your three Donald D?

Chris W - NH USA

(oh, also - Dawn, your link above doesn't seem to work. Did it move elsewhere?)

Sorry Chris..... here is a link to a blog post about this same subject http://blog.rouxbe.com/favorite-book-about-food-and-cooking/

Question for you: we are considering the world's first-ever fully supported video cookbook (Rouxbe in print with full video support for every recipe). What do you think?

Thanks for your quick reply Joe, but I still get a 404 - page not found error. Sorry.

Rouxbe in print? Oh, yes! I could handsell that like nobody's business.
Staff recommendations sell books. We got in an obscure book with a CD about sounds you hear at night. Normally we'd be lucky to sell the single copy we ordered. I wrote a review pitching it to parents of folks who had kids going off to camp for the summer - we sold over 100.

BAM! Y'all! I've been doing the bookselling thing since 1983. I'd be happy to do all I can to make a Rouxbe book happen. I assume you can see my home e-mail address in my profile. If not leave a note here and I'll post it.

You can see my current reviews here:

http://www.toadbooks.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storepicks&page=92701

Chris W - NH USA

Hands down, without a doubt, my favorite cookbooks are (in no particular order) The New Best Recipe, by Cook's Illustrated, The Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine by John Folse, and How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques by Steve Raichlen. I will have to admit, Weber's Big Book of Grilling by Jamie Purviance, Sandra S. McRae, and Tim Turner should also be included. I've turned to all four of those books, and read them cover to cover so many times the pages are falling out, and the bindings are coming apart. And though not necessarily a cookbook per se, I'm on my fourth Food Lover's Companion due to my wearing them out, loaning them out, or just plain leaving it somewhere it shouldn't be. That book is addictive.

1. Bittman, Mark "How to Cook Everything" basically for numbnuts, a general go to guidebook; 2. Baugniet, Rebecca "Pizzas & Flatbreads" which you would think is restrictive but covers breakfast, seafood, salad, and other numerous forms of pizza and flatbreads; and 3. Armstrong, Julian "A Taste of Quebec", since my significant other lives there well, Montreal actually, knows I love to cook and would appreciate me cooking a few dishes of the region. I never knew I would fall in love with some of them. Goat cheese in phyllo tartlets, I served as one of my appetizers for New Year's Eve. I usually make leg of lamb the Italian way, garlic parsley and rosemary inserted into the meat with olive oil etc. This book introduced me to a new recipe leg of lamb with sage and red, yellow, and green peppers and white wine.

I'm new here so forgive me for butting in.... I have two that I absolutely can't live without. 1. The Way to Cook, Julia Child and 2. Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, Marcella Hazan. I have found that without exception, every recipe I have tried from The Way to Cook, when prepared following Julia's excellent directions, produces a professional tasting result. Marcella Hazan's recipes are valuable to me because the recipes are "authentic" Italian recipes rather than Americanized or prettied up versions of a basic recipe. It provides valuable information about sauces and which pastas they are appropriate with, menu ideas and more.

No such thing as "butting in." We're all hungry here.

Julia's, The Way to Cook, was my first 'real' cookbook, and is actually falling apart from constant use. I do take her cooking times with a grain of salt though. Her Chicken Breast Ballottines is a goto for special meals. Marcella's Butter & Parmesan cheese sauce is the epitome of Italian cooking: Simple, fast & delicious. I've used it as the foundation of many fine meals.
>>So AnnieS, your third pick?

I would recommend checking out the Culinary Institute of America's books,any of them.On Amazon.com one can buy the actual textbooks they issue to students.These books are extremely helpful for quick reference. American food by Evan Jones is a good read. Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential is the funniest book I've ever read. If one has ever worked in or had friends or family in the restaurant biz, this book is a must. Johnson and Wales has some awesome pastry textbooks as well. A couple years ago I started a paper notebook for quick referencing. This has come in handy when one has things in the oven,burner ,and grill outside.

If I could only have three.. .and that is all I could ever have?

Larousse Gastronomique - Every chef needs this book. Period.

On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen - It will help you understand the scientific aspect of what happens when you cook. If you can grasp what is in this book, you will be an all around better chef.

Culinary Artistry - An absolute must for anyone who isn't a slave to recipes.

If I was given a fourth book... it would HAVE to be:
Saucier's Apprentice

Oh, and for fun reading...

Kitchen Confidential
The Making of a Chef
The Soul of a Chef

The Great Canadian Bread Book by Janice Murray Gill, Anita Stewart's Canada, and Baking, from my home to yours, by Dorie Greenspan. I took the Anita Stewart out of the library last month and knew we just had to own it, so I ordered it from our local bookstore; it has become one of those books one treasures. The Dorie Greenspan has our favourite buttermilk cake in it, the one I use as the base for all our birthday cakes, and the Janice Murray Gill is where I learned almost everything I know about baking bread. Our of a collection of about 500 cookbooks, those are the three I would choose.

In a debate found Larousse Gastronomique in dvd form only; since when did "cookbooks" become available only in DVD? I don't have a computer in my kitchen, I just like a hard copy

Simple to Spectacular - How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication. The simplicity of ingredients, the photographs, it is truly lovely. Oh and written by Jean-George Vongerichten (owner of several NYC resturants) and Mark Bittman (NYT reviewer and cookbook writer). I know, I really must stop writing on this forum. But it was a gift and I had to let you know it was lovely.

Julie - sure, Larousse Gastronomique is available in print - not cheap, but it is available ISBN 0-609-60971-8 . Your local independent bookseller should be able to order a copy for you (being an independent bookseller myself I don't recommend 'The Borg' ) But I'd actually recommend you just start saving your pennies -- there will be a new, revised edition out this fall, probably October. Maybe put it on your Christmas list? Somehow I missed 'Simple to Spectacular'. I'll look for it. Always love a good recommendation.

Paddy, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only cookbook junkie. I have hundreds as well. Several years ago I did a major 'downsize' to my whole library. I sold some, I donated A LOT, but I also posted a bunch at paperbackswap.com then converted the credits I earned there to credits at swapacd.com and got lots of music to listen to while I cook. Old books out, new music in. Yay! Now we're cookin'!

And I will save my pennies; I had to have a new bookshelf built in my place for all the cookbooks and cooking magazines. I've now indexed my favorite recipes on my computer so I can just do a search. It became impossible to recall where I had seen a recipe. Chris W, do you happen to know what edition the new version will be? And thank you so much for the info, something you only get from the indies; I worked for one when I was 17 and got my first version of The Joy of Cooking. Laminated the cover too. Little did I know then, it would be one of the best things I could ever have done to that cookbook, it has gotten so much use over the years. I will not count the number of cookbooks; they merely add to my happiness by there shear existence in my life and apartment. To count them would give them context as property, not joy. If that makes sense to any one out there reading this site.

I absolutely hate cookbooks... I loathe their existence. I feel that if people had a proper understanding of ratios and molecular gastronomy, that the entire populace would no longer be slave to recipes.

It's not hard to remember things like 5 parts flour/3 parts water for bread dough and things the like...

After that, understanding molecular gastronomy allows you to understand the HOW and WHY of cooking...

I do, however, wholly agree complimentary flavor books like Culinary Artistry and The Flavor Bible, etc.

As you all know from your Rouxbe experience, I feel strongly about the way in which people can become better cooks - and the learning will not likely come from most recipe-driven cookbooks.

However, in defense of the 'cookbook' and the millions of novice and experienced home cooks out there that use them, cookbooks are a fantastic place to find new ideas, gain inspiration and even discover new flavor combinations that work (something that is very difficult even for many experienced cooks). So don't discount cookbooks. They can be a great resource. We read them all the time here at Rouxbe for ideas and inspiration.

But like Matthew said, too many people are enslaved to recipes as a way to drive success. I find it interesting that this has happened in today's society, particularly when we learn skills for almost everything we do in life - except cooking (for most).

I agree with you to an extent... however, that same "inspiration" can be gained by flavor matching references like the two mentioned above (They just happen to be my two favorites, there are hundreds out there).

Granted, I'm looking at this through the eyes of someone who has a formal culinary degree and nearly 15 years in the kitchen following that degree, but still...

just need a few ideas about what to make for dinner or items to put together for a dinner party. Not all of us are creative from the get-go and really need the help. Matthew proportions are one thing, coming up with new and different ideas (especially for the children on the cusp of revolution over the same meal being served again at the end of a busy work day) is difficult. Kind of makes a cookbook a necessity. Or you can feed the kids day in day out, without the benefit of a culinary education. Don't mean to b*tch and don't have kids, just sit for the siblings.

Julie, that's where references like the Flavor Bible come in. They tell you what flavors compliment each other, so you can change things up.

Ratios teach you dishes, and the ratios of everything needed to create them. From there, you can substitute ingredients in and out for taste to compliment each other as long as you maintain the basic ratio...

My palate knows what flavors it believes compliment each other, and guess what, that is what I go by, not someone else's criteria. I have eclectic tastes, so I seldom wish to be dictated to. Hey, I'm stubborn, I'm Italian. If I am cooking for a group, especially for strangers (persons other than family) ideas would come from a cookbook. Emphasis on the word ideas, because I change recipes all the time. Unless I am baking. And I still eliminate things I seriously detest, like parsley and cilantro, which I think taste like an over-used armpit, to say it as gracefully as possible. They almost never make it into one of my dishes (unless it is lamb stew then the parsley will go in, the only time). My apologies to all on the site, seriously. I have to apologize to my sister all the time for doing it, so why not you guys.