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CookWise: The Hows & Whys of Successful Cooking, The Secrets of Cooking Revealed Hardcover – August 21, 1997
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length524 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWilliam Morrow Cookbooks
- Publication dateAugust 21, 1997
- Dimensions8 x 1.61 x 10 inches
- ISBN-109780688102296
- ISBN-13978-0688102296
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From Library Journal
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
From the Back Cover
Can you tell whether a recipe will work before you cook it? You can if you really know what's cooking.
In the long-awaited CookWise, food sleuth Shirley Corriher tells you how and why things happen in cooking. When you know how to estimate the right amount of baking powder, you can tell by looking at the recipe that the cake is overleavened and may fall. When you know that too little liquid for the amount of chocolate in a recipe can cause the chocolate to seize and become a solid grainy mass, you can spot chocolate truffle recipes that will be a disaster. And, in both cases, you know exactly how to "fix" the recipe. Knowing how ingredients work, individually and in combination, will not only make you more aware of the cooking process, but transform you into a confident and exceptional cook -- a cook who is in control.
CookWise is a different kind of cookbook. There are over 230 outstanding recipes -- from Snapper Fingers with Smoked Pepper Tartar Sauce to Chocolate Stonehenge Slabs with Cappuccino Mousse -- but here each recipe serves not only to please the palate but to demonstrate the roles of ingredients and techniques. A What This Recipe Shows section summarizes the special cooking points being demonstrated in each recipe. This little bit of science in everyday language indicates which steps or ingredients are vital and cannot be omitted without consequences.
Among the recipes you'll also find some surprises. Don't be afraid of a vinaigrette prepared without vinegar or a high-egg-white, crisp pâte â choux. Many of the concepts used here are Shirley's own. Try her method of sprinkling croissant or puff pastry dough with ice water before folding to keep it soft and easy to roll.
CookWise covers everything from the rise and fall of cakes, through unscrambling the powers of eggs and why red cabbage turns blue during cooking but red peppers don't, to the essential role of crystals in making fudge. Want to learn about what makes a crust flaky? Try the Big-Chunk Fresh Apple Pie in Flaky cheese Crust. Discover for yourself what brining does to poultry in Juicy Roast Chicken.
No matter what your cooking level, you'll find CookWise a revelation. Different people will use CookWise in different ways:
- Home cooks will value CookWise as a collection of extraordinarily good recipes.
- The busy chef can use CookWise as a reference book to look up and solve problems. Major headings are shown in the Contents and 42 At-a-Glance summary charts make problem solving quick and easy
- Beginning cooks can use CookWise as a howto book with easy-to-follow recipes that produce dishes looking and tasting like the work of an experienced chef.
- Food writers and test-kitchen chefs who are developing recipes can find the formulas and tips for successful recipes,
- Anyone who wants to improve a recipe can use CookWise as a guide. Here is how to make cakes moister, a pate A choux drier and crisper, a dish lighter or darker in color; how to make muffins peak better, cookies spread less, or a roast chicken juicier.
- Everyone who cooks needs to be able to spot bad recipes and save the time, money, and frustration that they cause. Many of the At-a-Glance charts point out specific problems.
CookWise is not only informative, it's engrossing, and many sections react like a mystery story. The knowledge you gain from its pages will transform you, too, into a food sleuth, an informed and assured cook who can track down why sauces curdle or why the muffins were dry -- a cook who will never prepare a failed recipe again!
About the Author
Shirley O. Corriher, national and international speaker, food writer, and culinary food sleuth, solves problems for everyone from large corporations, food editors, and test-kitchen chefs to home cooks. For ten years, Shirley was a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate and Tribune Media Services. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, Arch.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Artichoke Leaves with Hollandaise
Makes 3 to 4 Hors d'oeuvre servings
This old-time classic hors d'oeuvre is hard to beat.
What this recipe shows:
Microwaving is a quick, simple way to prepare an artichoke.
2 large artichokes, rinsed and stems cut off close to the base, sharp leaf tips trimmed if desired
1 recipe hollandaise (see below)
Wrap each artichoke in microwave-safe plastic wrap. Microwave one at a time for 6 to 7 minutes on High. Let stand 5 minutes. Push the leaves down to spread out and make them easier to remove. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold with hollandaise for dipping and a plate for the leaves, which are discarded after the edible portion has been eaten.
Classic Hollandaise
Makes about 1 1/3 cups
What this recipe shows:
Once the yolk-lemon juice mixture begins to thicken, it has reached a temperature high enough to kill salmonella.
Whisking in the melted butter over hot, not boiling, water off the heat prevents the yolks from scrambling.
Adding salt to the hollandaise after the ice cubes are added and the hot water has cooled prevents the yolks from scrambling.
4 large egg yolks
3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 tablespoon water
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Place the egg yolks, lemon juice, and water in the top of a double boiler or in a bowl resting over the top of a medium saucepan of simmering water. It is important that the top of the water be well below the upper part of the double boiler or the bottom of the bowl. Have the melted butter ready to drizzle in. Whisk constantly. The second that the yolk mixture begins to thicken slightly, remove the top of the double boiler or the bowl from above the hot water and continue whisking. Turn off the heat. Add four ice cubes to cool the hot water a little. Put the pan or bowl of yolks back above the hot water. Whisk in the melted butter, drizzling it in very slowly. If at any time the sauce looks as if it is about to break, remove bowl and continue whisking to cool it down or whisk in 1 teaspoon cold water. With constant whisking, whisk in the salt and cayenne. When all the butter is incorporated, taste and add more salt or cayenne as needed.
Copyright © 1997 by Shirley O. Corriher
Product details
- ASIN : 0688102298
- Publisher : William Morrow Cookbooks; First Edition (August 21, 1997)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 524 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780688102296
- ISBN-13 : 978-0688102296
- Item Weight : 3.15 pounds
- Dimensions : 8 x 1.61 x 10 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #100,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #62 in General Chemistry
- #210 in Cooking, Food & Wine Reference (Books)
- #233 in Cooking Encyclopedias
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Shirley O. Corriher has a B.A. in chemistry from Vanderbilt University, where she was also a biochemist at the medical school. She has problem-solved for everyone from Julia Child to Procter & Gamble and Pillsbury. She has taught and lectured throughout the world. She has long been a writer-- authoring a regular syndicated column in The Los Angeles Times Syndicate's Great Chefs series as well as technical articles in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Her first book, Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking is a bestseller and won a James Beard Award for excellence. Shirley has received many awards, including the Best Cooking Teacher of the Year in Bon Appetit's "Best of the Best" Annual Food and Entertaining Awards in 2001. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, Arch.
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Customers find the content stellar, useful, and interesting. They also appreciate the detailed explanations on recipe modification and ingredient options. Readers appreciate the science aspect of the book, saying it explains how and why cooking works.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the content stellar, useful, and interesting. They say it's a great book for someone who wants to know the hows and whys of cooking. Readers also mention the book is full of great recipes.
"...Well, I'm here to tell you that the reputation of this book is entirely deserved, and you should have no feelings whatsoever that there is any hype..." Read more
"...Written in a friendly, informative style, it's mostly facts & info, not photos, and every time I read it I learn something new..." Read more
"...Honestly, this book is just over all amazing...." Read more
"...To reiterate: the content is solid; the layout is weak." Read more
Customers find the recipes in the book good. They appreciate the detailed explanations on recipe modification and ingredient options. Readers also mention the book covers many aspects of cooking.
"...This is one of them. It's a general cooking book that covers scientific and tested methods for common techniques and recipes...." Read more
"...This cookbook is very interesting in that it's got real recipes, AND, more importantly to me, tells you what some of the ingredients do to make your..." Read more
"...More importantly, this knowledge will help you become a better, more versatile cook, able to improvise better than befofe...." Read more
"...It not only explains the why and how, but gives you recipes to follow...." Read more
Customers find the book's knowledge thorough and useful. They say it explains how and why cooking works in all the big areas of baking, frying, candies, and ice. Readers also appreciate the explanations of how ingredients work in recipes. Overall, they say the book has made them better cooks.
"...This is one of them. It's a general cooking book that covers scientific and tested methods for common techniques and recipes...." Read more
"...of a collection of recipes, but a Cook's book, that will teach you to cook better, more wisely, with better assurance of the results...." Read more
"...She explains it in simple terms...." Read more
"...It has turned me into a much better cook, and I have even created a few recipes of my own with the knowledge I have learned from this book..." Read more
Customers find the book readable and understandable. They appreciate the clear explanations and friendly, informative style. Readers also mention the recipes are fantastic.
"...Shirley's explanation is so clear, it embarrasses you into having dozed through that lesson in high school...." Read more
"...Written in a friendly, informative style, it's mostly facts & info, not photos, and every time I read it I learn something new..." Read more
"...so glad I finally ordered it - it's fun and informative, and I love the writing style." Read more
"...are with cooking and she does a great job explaining them in simple to understand terms. A great gift as well" Read more
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The primary value of the book is not that it explains mysteries of cooking technique, but that it explains them so well. I just finished a review of a book that attempted to explain the difference between saturated, mono-unsaturated, and poly-unsaturated fats, and it made a complete botch of the job. Shirley's explanation is so clear, it embarrasses you into having dozed through that lesson in high school. In fact, Shirley's book gives the clearest possible argument I have seen in a long time for justifying subjects like physics and chemistry in High School for people who plan to go into law or computer sciences or hair dressing. Everyone must eat. Therefore, everyone must either cook or rely on someone to cook for them. And, no sass about a raw cuisine either, because understanding what the absence of heat does to foods is as important as the application of heat.
My first very pleasant surprise when I started this book is that the first two chapters deal with baking subjects rather than savory cooking. And, I have read many an essay in the beginning of books on baking, and not a single one of them explains the mysteries of wheat flour, yeast, gluten, and bread making quite as well as Shirley's first chapter. Even Shirley's very good friend, Rose Levy Beranbaum does not tell the story quite as effectively. (No reason to pass on Beranbaum's books, however, she covers the whole picture very, very well.) The legendary star of the first chapter is Shirley's grandmother's `Touch-of-Grace Biscuits' on pages 77 - 78. James Villas has done a whole book on biscuits and intimates that none of his recipes quite reach the heights of this one spectacular biscuit. Shirley repeats this performance in the second chapter on pastry and piecrusts. One of the many lessons in this chapter which make you wish you had read this book years ago is the connection between creaming butter and sugar and the lightness of the resulting baked product. I won't give away the punch line. You should read the book.
The end of chapter has a section explaining fats and their role in cooking and baking which alone is worth the price of the book and so much more. The section begins by simply reviewing all the advantageous things fats do for various types of cooking, and various methods for reducing the amount of fat in various cooking methods. It is essential that this section be read in the light of the fact that we simply cannot live without some dietary fat as a source of fat soluble vitamins and other stuff, so don't get carried away with fat reduction.
Lots of people do not bake, but there is probably not a soul on the planet, or a least a soul within these United States who does not have the opportunity to cook or eat eggs. The nutritional value versus cost for eggs is staggering, and, it is probably the ingredient whose use depends more on technique than any other. And, this is even before you get into graduate level dishes such as souffles and omelets. One of my greatest revelations as I have been teaching myself cooking is the fact that egg foams are one of the three major leaveners, along with yeasts and chemical mixtures. Needless to say, this chapter covers the reason for beating eggs in a copper bowl. You must get the details on this, as no one to my knowledge has explained the effect completely before, let alone the reason for the effect. All you get from everyone else is that it's a good thing for fluffy egg foams.
The chapter on sauces presents the benefits of knowledge to cooking technique like no other. One of the most annoying errors speakers and writers make on things culinary is when they use the term dissolve to mean so many other things such as `incorporate', `mix', and especially `emulsify'. The whole world of French sauces would simply not be possible without the emulsifying power of eggs and butter. And, you will generally fail at even the simplest sauces unless you have some basic understandings on these matters built into your psyche. I'm not saying that French chef's are taught the physics of emulsions, because they don't need to. They are taught the proper techniques and repeat them a thousand times over until they can do it in their sleep. You will make a hollandaise or a mayonnaise or a buerre blanc two or three times a year, and have to study the recipe every time you make any of these, so any book learning you can get will make up for a lot of practice.
I hope Alton Brown has paid Shirley well for her appearances on `Good Eats', as I can see at least half a dozen of his shows which seem to be lifted straight from the pages of `Cookwise'. Ultimately, I rate this book even higher for the average reader than books by Harold McGee, as Shirley does a much better at explaining the connection between science and the practical application. I dare say she seems to do it as well or better than my hero, Alton.
Very highly recommended for enhancing your cooking and baking experience. A bit steep for complete novices, but `Cooks Illustrated' fans will be as happy as pigs in ...'.
This is a book I buy copies of to give to friends, along with Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking." Get them both, read them thoroughly and I guarantee your cooking skills will raise by quite a few notches. I've given copies to professional chefs and they've all come away better educated and impressed.
(I haven't read Shirley's "Bakewise" book yet, as I've just started getting into baking, but it'll be the first one I do.)
The photographs in this book are gorgeous, I mean I want to blog them up, frame them in hang them in my house sorta gorgeous. The book itself is giant which makes sense with everything that is covered in it. Honestly, this book is just over all amazing. If you are someone who wants to know what is happening in food, how to prepare things better and how to understand recipes instead of just reading them..or if you are someone who is developing your own recipes I advise you to pick this book up.
I picked up a used copy which didn't come with the jacket with the gorgeous bird on the front and the product information said something about some writing on the inside. Well there is some small writing on the inside cover that is some sort of user name or something..which I thought was the writing, many weeks later while actually flipping through the first five pages, I found an actually signed section and a note to the women who owned the book from Shirley her self..because of my above review and then this..the book is never leaving my home..it may not be autographed to me..but it's still pretty cool.. One of the times i've been truly pumped to by a used copy of something over a new one
The topics have interspersed illustrative recipes which detract from the logical presentation of the material. I would have included the recipes as an appendix, or at a minimum, at the end of each chapter. This would have enhanced the presentation and would have made it easier to wade through the material.
The book makes sense for folk like me with formal training in science, however, it is not a chemistry textbook. Yes, the author authoritatively explains physical principles, but does so at a newspaper reading level.
To reiterate: the content is solid; the layout is weak.
Top reviews from other countries
The book- one of the best books for understanding the Why and How of cooking. Was used as a course book in my culinary school class “Food Science”. I’m a head Chef and I bought this time to give to two of my Chef de partie to encourage their growth.
Zum Beispiel beschreibt sie ausführlich was Fette sind und wie die sich verhalten. Es ist nicht vom Niveau von Harrold McGee, aber dafür gibt es viel mehr tolle Rezepte.
Das Buch hat folgende Themen
Brot, und alles was es sich damit auf sich hat
Fett, was es ist und welche Funktion es in Rezepte bzw. Gerichte hat
Eier, von Anatomie des Eies bis zur Zubereitung
Saucen, wie man die macht und warum man was machen sollte
Gemüse, Obst
Fleisch, Geflügel und Fisch
Süße Träume und Schokolade, Desserts, Zucker und Eis.
Klare Empfehlung für jeder der was mehr wissen will











