The Food Encyclopedia: Over 8,000 Ingredients, Tools, Techniques and People (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Carol Sherman (Author)
Key Phrases: food encyclopedia, kitchen brigade system, culinary term meaning, North America, New York, Middle Ages (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Selected as one of the 'Best of Reference 2007' by the New York Public Library. (New York Public Library (nypl.org) 200704)

Cooks seeking a serious all-in-one reference will find this a treasure trove of historical and culinary detail. (Diane C. Donovan The Midwest Book Review (California Bookwatch) 200703)

[Winner of a Special Jury Award in 2006:] This Food Encyclopedia is a new masterpiece. (Gourmand 2007)

In-depth information and ... the latest culinary trends and techniques... this authoritative source will delight anyone who loves food. (Susan C. Awe American Reference Books Annual 200703)

Whether you're looking for an entertaining read or need some mealtime advice, this authoritative guide is a one-size-fits-all. (Diane Hodges Cookbook Digest 20070418)

Oh, foodies, celebrate! ... Hours and hours of delicious reading. (Arizona Daily Star 20061102)

This is the newest reference book on my desk, and it has already come in handy several times. (Florida Times-Union 200611)

One of the most complete [food reference books] I've ever seen in a single volume. (Dave DeWitt Fiery-Foods.com 20061214)

You won't find a better food reference... This is an excellent reference for the home cook. (Carol Anderson Escondido North County Times 200707)

This heavyweight [is] packed with answers to all of your questions about what's on your plate. (Phoenix Home and Garden 20061108)

book for everyone who likes food, cooking or simply being informed... just plain fun to read. (Jo Ellen O'Hara Birmingham New 200707)

Wealth of information... This readable work is a great resource for people interested in the culinary arts. Summing Up: Recommended. (J.C. Tucker Choice )

Product Description

The most comprehensive and authoritative food encyclopedia available.

Cooking can be a wondrous adventure, especially with a thorough understanding of the history and origins of food, a grasp of the cultures and environments involved, and an appreciation for those who over the years have played key roles in its development.

The Food Encyclopedia has 8,000 entries, with cross-reference on foods, wines, beverages, cooking methods and techniques, and biographies of prominent people. It is the most comprehensive food reference in the marketplace today, featuring 500 stunning illustrations and photographs alongside its extensive coverage.

In the entry on arugula, for example, we read that it is an assertive salad green, eruca sativa, has a peppery taste somewhere between nasturtium and watercress, and is used frequently in Mediterranean dishes. The ancient Romans used both the leaves and the seeds of arugula. Thomas Jefferson, in detailed written instructions to his gardener at Monticello, listed arugula as essential for his kitchen garden.

Included are more than 150 biographies of prominent individuals -- chefs, authors and inventors -- who have contributed to food and its lore. Chefs include Julia Child, Paul Bocuse, Alice Waters and Michael Stadtlander. Among the notable authors are Elizabeth David, M.F.K. Fisher and Irma S. Rombauer. The inventors include Carl Sontheimer the developer of the Cuisinart food processor.

Becoming more familiar with words and terms, and finding out the background behind a food or an ingredient, ensures a well-prepared dish and adds to the pleasure of serving it. For any cook, this authoritative and fascinating book is an outstanding reference and cookbook companion.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 701 pages
• Publisher: Robert Rose (October 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778801500
• ISBN-13: 978-0778801504
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 6.9 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #306,529 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #59 in

  Books > Reference > Encyclopedias > Cooking

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of little mistakes. Other books are better! Good Biogs., March 9, 2007

By	B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

`the food encyclopedia' by Jacques L. Rolland and Carol Sherman with `other contributors' is published by the Canadian publisher, `Robert Rose, Inc.', a specialist in culinary volumes with `Bible' or `Encyclopedia' in their titles. Some of these volumes, by their sheer size and volume of information, such as the `Food Substitution Bible' by David Joachim are genuinely worthy of their pretentious titles. With this volume, one should start to question its authority as soon as you see it's falsely modest all lower-case title.

The long and the short of it is that any book of this size and cost, with it's `encyclopedic' pretensions is asking you to take it as an authority on its subject. Lamentably, with about a third of the articles I read, the authority of this book is simply laughable.

The most serious problems are simple factual errors. For example, in the article on the `metric system', it states that a centimeter is 100 millimeters long. A centimeter gets the 100 in its name from being a 1/100th of a meter, being only 10 millimeters long, a millimeter being 1/1000th of a meter. Other errors are just a bit subtler, as when in the article on `sodium', it is described as a `mineral'. This in itself is mistaken, as sodium, a very highly reactive metal, simply never occurs alone in nature. It has none of the properties of any mineral, which are generally compounds of a metal and a non-metal. The article compounds the error by saying its mineral name is `halite'. This is the name of common salt or sodium chloride. An even more serious howler is in the article on `nitrate', which is described as an `organic' compound. All, I say ALL compounds identified with the name `nitrate', such as sodium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, calcium nitrate, and on and on, are INORGANIC compounds!

These two gross errors found after reading no more than a dozen articles reduces my faith in the technical accuracy of the book to a minimum.

The cover of the book brags about having entries on 8,000 ingredients, tools, techniques, and people. Regarding ingredients, I find a lot of variability in the articles. In an `encyclopedia', I would expect that every article on a distinct plant or animal would include the scientific name of it. There may be some vague rule at work here, but it doesn't make any sense to me to give the scientific name for New Zealand spinach, but do not give it for `nigella seeds' (or more accurately, the plant from which nigella seeds are harvested).

On `tools', I find the book incomplete, but possibly not totally useless. There is an article for `China cap', but none for `chinois', or even any reference to `chinois' in the `China cap' article. I'll give our editors a small pass on this one, as the `Larousse Gastronomique' has an article on `chinois', but none on `China Cap' (and I do believe there is a small difference between the two).

But this brings up an important question. If you do not already own a copy of the `Larousse Gastronomique', the foremost authority on European cooking knowledge, why would you spend a sizable amount of money on this flawed book when for about half again the price, you can get a true authority.

This is not the end of the problems for this tome. One of its very best attributes is its sidebar articles of culinary biographies. I find the effort spent on this feature has given us an excellent selection of subjects, with practically no lightweight celebrities included. For example, it's longest biographies, including photographic portraits, are reserved for the most important 20th century culinary figures, such as the great American triad, James Beard, Craig Claiborne, and Julia Child. Among other American culinary notables, we get Alice Waters, Ruth Reichl, M. F. K. Fisher, Jacques Pepin, Paul Prudhomme, Harold McGee, Irma Rombauer, Pierre Franey, and Ella Eaton Kellogg. The last is interesting because neither her husband, John Harvey Kellogg, the founder of the Kellogg's food company nor other famous American food entrepreneurs such as H. J. Heinz or Milton Hershey are profiled. I was especially pleased to find articles on two Elizabeth David protégés, Jane Grigson and Alan Davidson, as well as the influential American expatriate writer, Richard Olney.

The selection is based almost entirely on those who have had an intellectual impact on American culinary habits. Thus, Waters and Prudhomme are in, but there is no mention of Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay, or any other `Food Network' fave. There is not even any mention of the Food Network, which may have been an oversight. But even this very nice feature has its flaws. Three oversights should tell the tale. The article on Jacques Pepin cites his years at Howard Johnson's test kitchen, but says nothing of this fact about Pierre Franey, even though Pepin was Franey's subordinate at this company. The article on the very much alive Diana Kennedy gives her date as `early 20th century'. The article on Julia Child gives the impression that Madame Child first enrolled in cooking school while living in the United States, and it was not for several years after that when she and her husband went to work in Paris. In fact, the two were married in 1946, moved to Paris in 1948, where Julia almost immediately enrolled in `Le Cordon Bleu'.

Overall, this book shows a dismal lack of editing and accuracy. Save your money for better books such as 'Larousse' or Alan Davidson's 'The Oxford Companion to Food' or 'The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America'.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure trove of historical and culinary detail., March 11, 2007

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This is no casual consumer's guide, but an in-depth reference appropriate for college-level culinary school holdings and many a public lending library's reference collection. Over 8,000 ingredients, tools, techniques and people are profiled in an alphabetical reference defining cooking terms, ingredients, foreign ingredients and more. Many have cross-references and multiple spellings, and there's a healthy dose of culinary history in addition to tips on techniques and over a hundred biographies for prominent food people in the industry, both well known and lesser-known. Cooks seeking a serious all-in-one reference will find this a treasure trove of historical and culinary detail.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If You Pass the Test, You don't Need the Book, January 17, 2007

By	M. L Martindale "Owner/Operator http://www.Fo... (LARGO, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

THE FOOD ENCYCLOPEDIA:
Over 8,000 Ingredients, Tools, Techniques and People

By Jacques L. Rolland and Carol Sherman and contributors


This work is a one-volume collection, 700 pages, with countless helpful, colorful illustrations. This collection is arranged alphabetically with cross referencing. Many carry entries for additional information. This book is one you will keep close to your desk.

Chances are you are not comfortable with each of these entries. Test yourself:

* What is accoub?

* What is amlou made from?

* Where would you find bara brith?

* Had any Bath chaps lately?

* How would you serve bottarga?

* How would you use buffalo berries?

* Where would you likely order cala?

* What would you do with a cazuela?

* Ever heard of a charcoal biscuit?

* What's another name for a chinquapin?

* When would you serve ciecamarito?

* What is a comal?

* Can you name nine different curry paste types?

* What is "blue rare?"

* What does the number, "86" mean to a bartender?

* What's another name for an elver?

* How would you use gianduja?
* What is Gueuze?

* How would you use joja santa?

* Can you tell some of the background of Madhur Jaffrey?

* How do you make mugwumps?

* If you order "omakase" what do you get?

* What is a pissaladiere?

* What's another name for a Fiddlehead?

* Do you realize there are 22 names for sugar types?

* What is toucinho?

* And. What is zhug?

If you can answer all these questions, you probably don't need The Food Encyclopedia.