Customer Reviews

How to Cook Everything: The Basics

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Can a cookbook bring about a substantial change in your life? Well, this one sure did in mine!

A month or so ago I picked up _The Basics_ at the bookstore, thinking that some of the easy recipes could help me replace Healthy Choice TV Dinners as my standard evening fare. Well, not only have I thrown away those old TV Dinners to make freezer room for better food, now every evening I make delicious, healthy meals based on this book's recipes, meals that rival my favorite restaurants here in Seattle. And I'm having a great time doing it, too!

Personally, I've found Bittman's general purpose advice in the Introduction and "Basics" sidebars even more useful than the recipes. Advice about quality ingredients, the broad variety of interesting materials you can find at your corner grocer, and knowing when a meal is done - all the cooking basics I never learned from Mom but wish I had.

Mark Bittman, thank you - you've made me a believer and a rabid fan.

What a terrible disappointment this book was -- it's ALL in the How to Cook Everything cookbook that came out a couple of years ago. You are best to get the larger book and pass this one up. Mine is coming back to Amazon.

Mark Bittman, a widely recognized and respected cookbook author and New York Times food columnist, has succumbed to greed. He and his publishers have split up his very well received book `How to Cook Everything' into several separate pieces and is charging for the pieces more than the price of the original book. This volume, `The Basics' is one of the pieces.

The author and the publisher are not trying to hide this fact, although I suspect they will not shed a tear if you buy the book with the impression that this is new material.

On the surface, I am sure they will rationalize that they are doing their readers a service by providing parts of this very good book at a lower list price than the whole book. This is pure hokum. The original book is a very good contribution to the genre of `If you own only one cookbook, this would be it' cookbook. So, why would I want to buy only part of that book? If I want a book on basics, I would do much better to buy Alton Brown's `I'm Only Here for the Food'. If I want a book on quick cooking, I suspect one of Rachael Ray's books will be better AND cheaper.

Speaking of Herr Doktor Brown, he and his Food Network colleague Ina Garten seem to have caught the same case of avarice in that they have had knockoff volumes published with artwork which is based on their best-selling volumes, but which contain cut rate material, or maybe even no material. They are selling pure hype.

I have a great amount of respect for all three of these authors. I have even met Alton Brown and find him a truly gracious gentleman who deserves all good fortune and celebrity he can garner. But I do not wish these authors to put out products that some people can easily buy under a false expectation fostered by the product's marketing.

Do not buy this book. Buy the complete `How to Cook Everything' and be done with it.

First, I have to reply to the reviewer who says this is a silly knock-off of its mother book, "How to Cook Everything". Given this books title, wouldn't one expect it to be a subset of the book, "How to Cook Everything"? Well, I did. I've seen "How to Cook Everything" and that huge tome ain't going anywhere near my kitchen for some time.

At any rate, for a beginning cook this is a great book. I think first and foremost what a beginning cook needs are fairly easy, but excellent recipes, to keep one motivated to cook. In fact, of the "starter" cookbooks I've tried, this one has had by far the tastiest recipes. Moreover the book's title is very appropriate as it really does cover *all* the basics everyone should know, like pesto pasta, pancakes, pizza, chocolate chip cookies, etc.

I like the orginization of this book. Straightfoward groupings that make sense, like 'Breads and Breakfasts', or 'Deserts', etc. There is just enough information in here to get going and nothing more, and the info presented is clear and concise, which I like.
Another nice touch is most finished products are given a recommended storage and shelf life, like cookies (just one to 2 days in a covered container on the counter). I like this as I think I would tend to leave leftovers around too long, thereby creating a negative image of a dish in my mind because I insisted eating it unfresh.

A friend gave me this cookbook and I think it is marvelous. I looked to it for a method for cooking salmon steaks last night and the entry was clear and concise and made for perfectly-cooked salmon in the most easy way imaginable. I appreciate that it contains not so much "recipes" with list of ingredients, but actual methods of cooking all sorts of things, with suggestions for add-ins, seasonings, shortcuts, selection of meat, etc. It really is a perfect basic cookbook, as it's so adaptable to one's taste and skills and ingredients on-hand. Some of the other reviewers have complained that it's just a concise verion of "How to Cook Everthing", but I think the publisher makes it very clear in the description that this is what it is, and I think that is just fine. I will probably buy the full book eventually, but I think "The Basics" stands on it's own as a fine cookbook, and it's really a bargain at Amazon's $15.

This book is the perfect cookbook for the beginning chef. As a college student used to dorm food and frozen foods, this book was great as my first real cookbook. With simple recipes, tips on how to use all cooking utensils, and definitions of most of the terms used in the recipes, I was at the stove in no time.

Every cook, whether beginner or more advanced, should have this book. The recipes are simple enough for a beginner, but allow for experimentation for someone more advanced. There's great information on every page regarding the recipe or main ingredient. All in all, one that I would recommend to anyone!

When eat I broiled fresh fish, I like to be able to savor the flavor of the fish. Finally, a readable cookbook that allows me to cook snapper (just one of many examples) in a way that focuses on the best of the fish and doesn't hide it under some elaborate yam-mango-cilantro-currant-feta-olive-chutney-filo packet or another such overwrought creation of a bored, hyper-imaginative cook. The classics endure because they're based on simple combinations of ingredients that taste very good. This book lets you become a master of the classics.

This is a great primer/ reference book. It has delicious recipes, and a lot of focus on technique. We own at least 20 cookbooks, and use this one the most often.

I was never good at cooking in any way, shape, or form. I set out to find a book to learn how to cook, and I found this one.

This book makes cooking amazingly easy. From the very beginning, it presents the most important aspects of cooking and delineates what cooking utensils are essential and what the different forms of cooking are (broiling, steaming, grilling, etc.). The recipes provided are simple and easy to understand and follow; they also produce food that is absolutely delicious. Recipes are accompanied by suggested modifications and tips for shopping and preparing.

This is the perfect book for learning how to cook. I highly recommend it to anyone, particularly those who are like I was, knowing nothing about cooking.