10 Kitchen Bibles

10 Kitchen Bibles

Ten of the Best

Every kitchen has a holy cookbook, the all-time favourite that is spattered and worn, our best ally through a lifetime of cooking everything from family meals and classics, to dinner parties.

Here are some of the great kitchen bibles that have made their mark:

The Cook’s Companion by Stephanie Alexander 

Turning cooking from a worry to a joy should be the goal of all cookbooks and The Cook’s Companion does exactly that. Known as Australia’s kitchen ‘bible,’ it’s the all-time favourite go-to for anything you want to know about ingredients and cooking techniques. Just think of9781920989002-fully-updated_WEB a dish, any dish, and you’ll find it in The Cook’s Companion along with inspiration, advice and encouragement from the woman regarded as one of Australia’s great food educators. Written in Alexander’s warm, chatty style with recipes that are easy to follow and super-reliable, it’s no wonder that The Cook’s Companion has pride of place in over 500,000 Australian homes.

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

When Mark Bittman began to write what would become one of the most highly acclaimed, bestselling cookbooks of the last 20 years, such was his desire to pass on all that he’s learned, that the most pressing question was not what he should include, but what could he possibly omit? Inspired by the success of books like Joy of Cooking, Mark’s How to Cook Everything covers almost every culinary ‘basic’ under the sun, from guacamole to ratatouille, from roasting meat to salads, soups, sides and desserts. The focus is on teaching home cooks the principles behind recipes, so that they can develop their own versions. As he says, ‘If you can make one chicken breast recipe, you can make 50, but you don’t need 50—you need one good one and some ideas for variations.’

The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt

The appeal of The Food Lab reaches far beyond the artfulness of science and its role in every dish, its meticulous formatting, with recipes arranged by the technique used to prepare them. Kenji, as he’s affectionately known, described his award-winning, bestselling book ‘as a book for people who want to learn the hows and whys of cooking.’ Yielding hundreds of unconventional cooking tricks, T he Food Lab is an earnest expression of Kenji’s love for both food and the science which moderates and emboldens it.

51lYyHZTBgLEssentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

Marcella Hazan’s brilliant cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, quickly turned her into culinary royalty as the queen of Italian home cooks and chefs. Said to be the most important, most consulted and enjoyed Italian cookbook of all time, Essentials is designed as a basic manual for cooks of all levels of expertise. Like Rome, Marcella’s charm is eternal, and her cookbook reflects this with all the warmth and richness of Italian dishes. Passionate, inspiring and authentic, true lovers of Italian food cannot be without this cookbook.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volumes 1 and 2 by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle

These are the books that made Julia Child famous for introducing the haute elegance of French cuisine to mainstream America. The first volume, a broad exploration of French flavours and techniques, stemmed mostly from ideas born of a brilliant collaboration between Child, and French chefs, Beck and Bertholle in their French cooking school. The second volume delved deeper into aspects of French cuisine not included in the first edition, particularly in the stunning baking section.  For lovers of French food who Julia_-_Mastering1want to refine and expand their culinary repertoire and simply learn from the best, these volumes should be your go-to.

Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer

The journey that led to the publication of this inspiring cookbook was not an easy one. Following her husbands’ death in 1930, Irma was left widowed at 52. As a way to help her deal with the grief, her children encouraged her to write down all her recipes, and so she spent the summer creating what would eventually become the famous Joy of Cooking. From such simple origins, Joy of Cooking went on to become one of the most influential cookbooks of all time. The backbone of many home cooks’ libraries and commonly found in commercial kitchens as well, this cookbook is said to have been the spark that ignited Julia Child’s love for cooking.

The Silver Palate Cookbook by Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso

91iYnmYDvxLOutside a bookshop, you will be hard pushed to find a copy of The Silver Palate Cookbook that is not tattered and worn. That’s because the much-loved book is full of great dishes that have never dated. In fact, the reverse, it was well ahead of its time. Published in 1982, with recipes that mix Spanish, Mediterranean and Asian flavours, it was the one of the first cookbooks to feature what we know of today as ‘fusion’ food at a time when the world was obsessed with French fare.

To finish off our list, some other kitchen essentials…

The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

Baking Illustrated by Cook’s Illustrated Magazine Editors

The Dessert Bible by Christopher Kimball

Good Meat by Deb Krasner

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