The best Culinary Arts & Techniques books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

This book actually became a bit of a meme a few years back because it's so sad and she talks about her husbands death and such which spawned the idea for the book.

Subsequently it sent the prices of the book on Amazon and such skyrocketing (at least for a book) at the time.

Here's the amazon link where you can find some humours reviews on it.

There's a whole cum cookbook out there somewhere. I don't feel like looking for it but I've gotten it as a gift for a white elephant exchange with friends once.

Edit: got unlazy. It's called Natural Harvest.

Amazon link in case anyone wants to buy it for a friend: https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Harvest-collection-semen-based-recipes/dp/1481227041

Harold McGee's book "On Food and Cooking", has great explanations of the science behind foods and cooking techniques.

https://www.amazon.com/Food-Cooking-Science-Lore-Kitchen/dp/0684800012/ref=sr_1_2

Here's some more resources:

Natural Harvest

Semenology

Apologies to anyone genuinely bamboozled. And if you are not already aware of the fantastic <em>Salt Fat Acid Heat</em> (which preceded the Netflix series of the same name), you should really give it a look.

If you're looking for pairing suggestions/ideas, the flavor bible is a great resource for pairing flavors. It can provide great suggestions for flavors to pair with your protein and even great flavors to enhance your current sides.

My girlfriend is a pescatarian (who doesn't even eat all seafood) and I am a picky eater with a distaste for a lot of greens. A recipe we both like without substitutions is a rare beast. That's why by far the best cookbook/cooking information for me has been the Culinary Institute of America textbook The Professional Chef. It's not built around recipes at all. The chapters are built around techniques and skills, and recipes are like the homework problems at the end of the chapter/book. Reading through it and learning about technique has allowed us to successfully improvise with the ingredients we do like much more so than trying to substitute liberally in others' precise recipes.

On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee is highly regarded as a comprehensive background for history, and science of food. It does not have any recipes though.

He got that info from this post incase you’d like to learn more.

In the comments of that post, someone also shared a legit 62-page semen cookbook.

How to Cook Anything replaced Joy of Cooking as my favorite general cooking reference.

Need to know how long to steam a artichoke, or the ratio of stock to rice in risotto, or what to do with that random ingredient you bought at the store. It's got all the basics covered.

A friend once got gifted a cooking book.. for cocking with sperm...

https://www.amazon.de/Natural-Harvest-collection-semen-based-recipes/dp/1481227041

This is my favourite one, https://www.amazon.ca/Natural-Harvest-collection-semen-based-recipes/dp/1481227041

There's also a bartenders serving guide, https://www.amazon.com/Semenology-Bartenders-Paul-Fotie-Photenhauer/dp/1482605228

Great book. There's a reason Salt is the first word of the books title. It is the most critical ingredient when it comes to flavor.

Edit: non-affiliate link for the book on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Salt-Fat-Acid-Heat-Mastering/dp/1476753830

Sooooo, there’s this recipe book called Natural Harvest and I’m honestly wondering if maybe your roommate had a copy. Haha.

You don't know what's bad until your friends make you something from the Natural Harvest cookbook

Edit: There’s a version for bartenders as well

I mean there's a cookbook and a bartending book.

Natural Harvest: A Collection of Semen-Based Recipes https://www.amazon.com/dp/1481227041/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CispCb7CHFK5A

Semenology - The Semen Bartender's Handbook https://www.amazon.com/dp/1482605228/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ajspCbDKNMGC7

There is a book of semen based recipes on Amazon...

I bought one for a friend's birthday, and it is truly disgusting. I recommend the recipe for man made oysters.

The Flavor Bible. Its my favorite cookbook that oddly has no recipes in it.

Its a giant cross reference chart of what ingredients pair with what according to 40 chefs. You can look up eggs for example, and they list everything that goes good with it... meats, veg, fruits, herbs and seasonings, etc. with the best ones highlighted.

On top of all that theres musings from the consulting chefs on how they like to use ingredients in sidebars near the entries. Famous dishes that made good use of the item in question (but no recipes). And other little tips like when certain ones are in season, if they have a strong or subtle flavor that might overpower, or be overpowered by, others. And more.

I have both these books plus The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316118400/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_atIyAbZ73DT45

I can say I open the food lab for just about every meal. Well worth the money!

Sorry for not making that a link. I'm on the app and can't figure out how to change the displayed text of the link.

He should have not jizzed in it, and instead just left this book lying around.

Natural Harvest: A Collection of Semen-Based Recipes

The Flavor Bible gets thrown around a lot, but for good reason. It's a great resource when trying to formulate your own recipe. It focuses on things like which foods have affinities for other foods, seasonality, and sensations different foods have. It's a great thing to page through when you have whatever the equivalent of writer's block is for cooks.

There’s an author who has a couple of recipe books out, one for food and the other for drinks... all for cooking with semen.

So, apparently it’s a thing ��

If you are curious, but don’t trust my link (it’s to the book on amazon), you can google Natural Harvest by Paul Photenhauer. The vast majority of reviewers are being campy or explicitly state they bought the book as a joke, but the author is very serious about it.

Video of him making the “Macho Mojito”

Idk if this is what the other redditor was talking about, but amazon has a listing for "Natural Harvest"; https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Harvest-collection-semen-based-recipes/dp/1481227041

I highly recommend reading some of the available pages. It's hilarious, especially at the desserts section.

I hope you know you're an internet cliché.

The primary difference between a chocolate cake and a brownie besides changing the butter preparation is the higher sugar content in brownies. You can't throw off the moisture ratio by a third and then be shocked you got chocolate cake.

You might enjoy this book:

Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416571728/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ugEtCbFYYCPZQ

here's where I break out my copy of The Flavor Bible:

SWEET POTATO Flavor Affinities

1) allspice + Cinnamon + Ginger

2) apples + sage

3) bacon + onions + rosemary

4) chile peppers + lemon zest

5) chorizo sausage + orange

6) cilantro + lime juice

7) kale + prosciutto

8) maple syrup + pecans

yes I know the first 2 don't really fit with what you may traditionally think of when you think of soup. But #3, #4 and #7 sound really good.

Great tips like this and more can be found in 'Natural Harvest - A collection of semen based recipes' available from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-Harvest-collection-semen-based-recipes/dp/1481227041

The Flavor Bible isn't really what you're asking for, but it might be useful. https://www.amazon.com/Flavor-Bible-Essential-Creativity-Imaginative/dp/0316118400/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1520779413&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=the+flavor+bible

Here are a couple of things that helped me:

Binging with Babish Cooking Equipment- This will give you an idea of the right tools that will help. If you can only afford one of these, get a knife. You can get like a $30 knife on Amazon here. I use this one and it's great. You don't have to spend $150. Some of these tools will be unnecessary for a beginner, but you'll start to get an idea of some of the most helpful tools.

How to Cook Everything: The Basics- I recently bought this book because I wanted to learn some of the easy things (how to cut a chicken, how to make the best eggs, etc). This book is GREAT - it assumes you know nothing. It has pictures of what the recipe should look like during prep, during cooking, and when finished and that is SO helpful. I've made probably 25% of the recipes in it (that's a lot in one book, for me). Read through the summary sections (he also includes a more thorough - and probably more realistic - equipment list) before you start to cook, and it'll give you a great ground level to start on.

It sounds like you're on the right track regardless. Hope these recs help.

If you really want to learn the ins and outs of taking recipes to the next level, I strongly recommend the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat. I've been a pretty serious home cook for about fifteen years, but this book has really opened my eyes to how easy it can be to get amazing, flavorful results with some fairly basic techniques.

I don't know what's worse... that or this:

https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Harvest-collection-semen-based-recipes/dp/1481227041

There's also this:

https://www.amazon.com/Semenology-Bartenders-Paul-Fotie-Photenhauer/dp/1482605228