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How To Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food Hardcover – Big Book, August 14, 1998
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- Print length944 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherJohn Wiley & Sons Inc
- Publication dateAugust 14, 1998
- Dimensions8.5 x 2.25 x 9.75 inches
- ISBN-100028610105
- ISBN-13978-0028610108
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Bittman starts with Roasted Buttered Nuts and Real Buttered Popcorn, and moves right along, section by section, from the likes of Black Bean Soup (eight different ways), to Beet and Fennel Salad, to Mussels (Portuguese-style over Pasta), to Cream Scones--and he hasn't even reached seafood, poultry, meat, or vegetables yet, let alone desserts. There are 23 sections in this cookbook (!) that reflect directly on the how-to of cooking, be that equipment, technique, or recipe.
Every inch of the way the reader finds Bittman's calm, helpful, encouraging voice. "Anyone can cook," he says at the beginning, "and most everyone should." More than a few college kids are going to head off to their first apartments with Bittman's book under arm. More than a few marriages will benefit with this book on the shelf. And anyone who loves cooking and the sound of a great food voice is going to enjoy letting this book fall open where it may. No matter what the page, it's bound to be a tasty and rewarding experience. --Schuyler Ingle
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
From the Inside Flap
- Over 1500 inspired recipes and clever variations for all occasions
- Cooking times for every recipe
- Roasting times and temperatures as well as measurement conversions
- More than 250 detailed drawings of food preparation techniques, plus a list of the illustrations for easy reference
- Numbered steps in every recipe for ease in keeping your place
- Helpful sidebars, such as "Twenty-Three Pasta Sauces You Can Make in Advance"
- An exhaustive menu-suggestion section
- A vast glossary of terms and techniques
- A comprehensive index that makes finding what you need a snap
- A selected list of mail-order sources
- A list of recipes that take only 30 minutes or less to complete
- A list of recipes that take 60 minutes or less to complete.
From the Back Cover
Nationally known cooking authority Mark Bittman shows you how to prepare great food for all occasions using simple techniques, fresh ingredients, and basic kitchen equipment. Just as important, How to Cook Everything takes a relaxed, straightforward approach to cooking, so you can enjoy yourself in the kitchen and still achieve outstanding results.
Praise for How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman:
"In his introduction to How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman says, 'Anyone can cook, and most everyone should.' Now, hopefully everyone will this work is a rare achievement. Mark is in that pantheon of a few gifted cook/writers who make very, very good food simple and accessible. I read his recipes and my mouth waters. I read his directions and head for the kitchen. Bravo, Mark, for taking us away from take-out and back to the fun of food."
Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of the international public radio show "The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper"
"Mark Bittman is the best home cook I know, and How to Cook Everything is the best basic cookbook I've seen."
Jean-Georges Vongerichten, award-winning chef/owner of Jean-Georges
"Useful to the novice cook or the professional chef, How to Cook Everything is a tour de force cookbook by Mark Bittman. Mark lends his considerable knowledge and clear, concise writing style to explanations of techniques and quick, classic recipes. This is a complete, reliable cookbook."
Jacques Pepin, chef, cookbook author, and host of his own PBS television series
"Sometimes all the things that a particular person does best come together in a burst of synergy, and the result is truly marvelous. This book is just such an instance. Mark Bittman is not only the best home cook we know, he is also a born teacher, a gifted writer, and a canny kitchen tactician who combines great taste with eminent practicality. Put it all together and you have How to Cook Everything, a cookbook that will inspire American home cooks not only today but for years to come."
John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger, coauthors of License to Grill Visit
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : John Wiley & Sons Inc; 5th ptg. edition (August 14, 1998)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 944 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0028610105
- ISBN-13 : 978-0028610108
- Item Weight : 4.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 8.5 x 2.25 x 9.75 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #255,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #493 in Cooking Encyclopedias
- #505 in Cooking, Food & Wine Reference (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

Mark Bittman is the author of thirty acclaimed books, including the How to Cook Everything series, the award-winning Food Matters, and the New York Times number-one bestseller VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00. For more than two decades his popular and compelling stories appeared in the New York Times, where he was ultimately the lead food writer for the Sunday magazine and became the country’s first food-focused Op-Ed columnist for a major news publication. Bittman has starred in four television series, including Showtime’s Emmy-winning Years of Living Dangerously. He has written for nearly every major newspaper and magazine in the United States, and has spoken at dozens of universities and conferences. His 2007 TED talk has more than four million views; in 2015 he was a distinguished fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently teaching at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, editing Heated, an online food magazine, and writing a book about understanding food. He can be found at markbittman.com, heated.medium.com, @bittman on Twitter, and @markbittman on Instagram.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book informative and useful for cooking. They appreciate the simple recipes with fresh flavors and little work. The instructions are straightforward and easy to follow, with simple ingredients. Many readers find the book readable and well-written, making it a great gift for new chefs. However, opinions differ on the pacing - some find it fast-paced, while others mention it's slow.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book's content helpful and informative. They say it provides useful instructions, diagrams of techniques, and lists of suggested recipes for specific situations. The book explains cooking in a rational way, teaching most of the basics. It encourages improvisation and provides helpful pointers for doing just that. Readers mention it is a great reference and appropriate for both beginners and more experienced cooks. They also mention the ingredients and instructions are presented in a clear and easy-to-follow fashion, making many dishes can be made.
"...I also like the procedures shown with simply pencil drawn diagrams - everything from dividing a chicken to preparing an artichoke...." Read more
"...The philosophy of the book is ideal for home cooking. Pick good ingredients, add minimal flavorings, cook, and serve...." Read more
"...The sections on kitchen equipment and cooking techniques are pretty helpful for expanding basic cooking knowledge and skills, and once the basics..." Read more
"...The best thing, though, is that I feel like this cookbook is practically an educational resource...." Read more
Customers find the recipes in the book simple and easy to follow. They appreciate the fresh, bright flavors and minimal work required. The paperback version includes sample menus and fantastic ideas for simple dishes like pork chops. The book also provides an alphabetical list of fruits and vegetables with instructions on how to select them.
"...Every dish has fresh bright flavor, with very little work. He has definitely earned his nickname, "The Minimalist."..." Read more
"...Speaking from this limited viewpoint I will say this the best cookbook I've ever seen and the only one I've read completely through...." Read more
"...Bittman's best recipes are excellent, food that I would praise in a restaurant, and it's a treat to find one of them...." Read more
"...So I love the fact that this cookbook has very good recipes for ethnic food!!..." Read more
Customers find the recipes in the book straightforward and easy to follow. They say it starts with simple ingredients and allows the chef to grow with their cooking levels. The clear presentation makes the recipes accessible for beginner cooks. While some customers consider it the best cookbook for simple yet creative and elegant home cooking, others mention that it's difficult to browse through the text.
"...it with canned spaghetti sauce again, once you have tried his quick and easy recipes. Every dish has fresh bright flavor, with very little work...." Read more
"The title says it all, everything is simplified to learn to cook. Great author." Read more
"...Most of the recipes are fairly quick.Disadvantages:-..." Read more
"I really like this cookbook because the instructions in the book are very simple...." Read more
Customers appreciate the simple ingredients and clear instructions. The recipes use fresh ingredients and straightforward techniques. Readers like the explanations and substitution suggestions. The recipes are basic enough to be elaborated or adapted by the reader.
"...impressed when I found out that this cookbook contained the exact proportions of ingredients that my mother use to make chinese black bean sauce...." Read more
"...quite as detailed as Anderson, it is however, a big-fat, recipe-stuffed miracle of a book...." Read more
"...- Ingredients can be a pain to find, and what Bittman says is easily available in supermarkets often doesn't seem to be available anywhere around..." Read more
"...; ... the recipes in this section are all simple, require usually less than 5 ingredients and can be prepared in just a few minutes...." Read more
Customers find the book well-written and easy to read. They appreciate the clear writing style, glossary, and insightful recipes.
"The title says it all, everything is simplified to learn to cook. Great author." Read more
"...Lastly, the cookbook is an actual pleasure to read!..." Read more
"...comments about ingredients, utensils and recipes have been fun and insightful...." Read more
"...Generally speaking he uses fewer ingredients, and his writing is so concise, I'm never in doubt...." Read more
Customers like the book as a gift. They say it makes a great wedding shower or housewarming gift for new chefs and college grads.
"...I prefer the soft rather than hard cover. This is a great gift for the 'new chef'...." Read more
"...This book also makes a great gift; people always thank me for the thoughtful gift. I learned so much from this book, thank you Mark Bittman!" Read more
"...This cookbook would make a wonderful wedding or shower gift but is also very appropriate for an more experienced person who enjoys cooking and baking..." Read more
"This should be in the kitchen of every home. It is the perfect book for the newlyweds, the college grad that is moving into his/her first apartment,..." Read more
Customers have different views on the pacing of the book. Some find the recipes simple and easy to follow, with great results and little work. Others mention poor execution and choices that are hit or miss for home cooking.
"...Every dish has fresh bright flavor, with very little work. He has definitely earned his nickname, "The Minimalist."..." Read more
"...the results, while generally good for home cooking, have been a bit hit-or-miss...." Read more
"...My favorite recipe is the key lime pie - perfect every time and better than any that you'll have in a restaurant." Read more
"...And, many of the recipes I did look up were weird. Poor execution and poor choices, as far as I am concerned...." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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foods instead of processed foods, I highly recommend "How To Cook
Everything" by Mark Bittman. Many recipes and cookbooks out there call for such "convenience" items as canned soups or pre-processed foods. Bittman's recipes, on the other hand, draw on the idea of a basic "pantry" of plain, pure foods, supplemented by fresh vegetables and fruits in season. Many of his recipes combine vegetables that come in season at the same time, and so are appropriate for those living off a garden. In addition, he gives step-by-step instructions, aimed at the inexperienced cook, on how to cook, well, everything-- soup, bread, beans, grains, vegetables, meats, seafood, fruits, cakes, etc... (Except armadillos, as my father keenly pointed out. There are no recipes for armadillos.) Detailed illustrations finally made it clear to me exactly how to chop up a whole chicken. There is even a frank discussion about beans and gas.
Bittman draws on the home cooking traditions of almost every world ethnicity. Tangy Middle Eastern recipes sit right next to spicy Thai ones and savory French ones. There is a whole chapter on pasta. You will never serve it with canned spaghetti sauce again, once you have tried his quick and easy recipes. Every dish has fresh bright flavor, with very little work. He has definitely earned his nickname, "The Minimalist."
Cooking with this book has opened up a whole new world for me. It is helping my family transition from processed foods to pure foods. I now make a lot of foods I would have bought processed, such as chicken broth. My chicken broth in particular has proved extremely useful. I freeze it into broth cubes which I put in my kids' soup to cool it. I also give it to a friend of mine who is often sick and who is allergic to soybeans. (You'd be surprised how many processed foods have soybeans in them, even bread crumbs! Read the labels.)
One of the best marks of a cook book in my mind is it gives you the desire to try not only new recipes but also new types of food. This is something Mr. Bittman has encouraged me to do. I do not know how many times my children have come in while I was cooking a meal from this book and asked what I was making. Upon telling them what it was they curled their lips and asked if there was going to be anything else. Their culinary tentativeness ended with their first bite, and the began to ask if I would make it again.
My children also love this book. My son (9 years old) will read and a number of times I've come home and found it on my desk open to a specific recipe that my son wanted me to make.
I also like the procedures shown with simply pencil drawn diagrams - everything from dividing a chicken to preparing an artichoke.
Mr. Bittman is great and I love his book.
That's my 2 cents.
Some advantages of the book:
- It assumes you know virtually nothing about cooking. There are sections on how to mince garlic, dice an onion, core a bell pepper... For me, and for many others, it's great. Experienced chefs can easily skip these parts.
- It's huge. It has an example of just about every (Western) food you might want to cook. Certainly, one could go much further in each area by buying specialty cookbooks.
- The philosophy of the book is ideal for home cooking. Pick good ingredients, add minimal flavorings, cook, and serve. Most of the recipes are fairly quick.
Disadvantages:
- The prep time of many recipes seems significantly underestimated, and often needs to be doubled. Maybe the time printed in the book is amount of time Bittman takes, but as more of a beginning chef, I can't fathom it.
- Ingredients can be a pain to find, and what Bittman says is easily available in supermarkets often doesn't seem to be available anywhere around Harrisburg, PA (not exactly an out-of-the-way place), without checking dozens of specialty markets. What this and the previous statement mean is that cooking these recipes becomes significantly less easy to do after work.
- My biggest problem is that the results, while generally good for home cooking, have been a bit hit-or-miss. I enjoy good restaurant food, and I'd like to think that I could cook the same quality food at home. Bittman's best recipes are excellent, food that I would praise in a restaurant, and it's a treat to find one of them. His worst recipes are purely average, or even a bit below.
What I've surmised so far, although I've only cooked a small percentage of the book's recipes, is that Bittman is at his worst with foods that need a lot of added flavor or spice. I've noticed this in his Italian, Chinese, and Thai recipes - all of them seem to be clearly missing some crucial element of flavor. If I were more experienced as a cook, I'm sure I could identify what it was, but I'm not.
Generally I think this is more a problem with quality control and scope than anything else - with 700 recipes, it's hard for Bittman to wholeheartedly recommend and repeatedly test all of them. I still have no problem recommending this book to everyone as a base cookbook, with the caveats above.












