The best Professional Cooking books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

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.

Saw this yesterday. It’s a $40 book on sale for $3.99 on kindle. The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FA0P86/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5smkCbBV27J03

I have tried to use the application a few times. From my experience, it seems limited. I think as more information is added you will begin to see more depth.

If you are interested in flavor pairings I suggest you check out the book Culinary Artistry. It has a huge sample of flavor pairings. It is a great book that is easy to navigate.

https://www.amazon.com/Culinary-Artistry-Andrew-Dornenburg/dp/0471287857/ref=nodl_

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.

You might want to pick up a copy of Chocolates & Confections. It's an industry text. Covers most everything you'd need on professional candy and chocolate making, including confectionery fondant (what you're describing).

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.

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.

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&qid=1520779413&sr=8-2&keywords=the+flavor+bible

I was going to copy over the listing from The Flavor Bible but it's too long.

but the highlighted ones are: almonds, basil, blackberries,, blueberries, capers, cheeses (goat, ricotta), chicken, coconut, greek cuisine, lamb, mint, nuts (esp. hazelnuts), orange (juice, zest), pistachois, poppy seeds, raspberries, rosemary, thyme, vanilla, veal.

The capitalised and bold are: fish, garlic, honey, shellfish, sugar (brown, white).

Meyer Lemons are: cream, grapefruit, honey, lemon, lime, orange, sugar, vanilla.

Not so much the management, but Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg's Culinary Artistry has a lot of good reading about plate and menu design, flow, etc. Also from them, The Flavor Bible is a great inspiration.

Flavor Bible is currently $4 for Kindle version on Amazon if anyone is looking for a discounted copy. https://www.amazon.com/Flavor-Bible-Essential-Creativity-Imaginative-ebook/dp/B001FA0P86

You might want to get a copy of Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner - I have the older edition (2007) and it has a section on Fondants and Fudges which includes ~~a dozen~~ several recipes and a great deal of theory. It is full of information. I've made their marshmallow recipe many times for my kids.

The difference between what you typically find in the US and what you had here is the actual fermentation process. The original sauerkraut gets the taste from the fermentation process, as is written in the excellent recipe by u/FatBoy_87. I would advise you to follow this recipe and yes, it will take a week to develop true flavor.

Btw: loads of other veggies greatly ferment. Fermentation is kind of fashionable these days, Noma f.e. is very famous for its use of fermented product. If you are interested in this, this is an excellent book:

https://www.amazon.com/Noma-Guide-Fermentation-lacto-ferments-Foundations/dp/1579657184

Your best bet would be to learn about fermentation like what they do at Noma

The Noma Guide to Fermentation: Including koji, kombuchas, shoyus, misos, vinegars, garums, lacto-ferments, and black fruits and vegetables (Foundations of Flavor) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1579657184/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_ClwaGb87BRH4Z

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs $23 hardcover on amazon brotha 👌

The Professional Chef. Tons of recipes, no fluff. Definitely more textbook than cookbook though.

Also, an Amazon reviewer of the book said this

>The biggest inconvenience is that the quantities are referenced by weight so it might say 2oz of sugar and I have no idea how much that is. 

Which is just funny to me. The book has measurements in both imperial and metric for each recipe.

The Flavour Bible or The Flavour Thesaurus

In the meantime, check out "The Flavor Bible." It's a few bucks on Amazon but it's well worth the price. It shows you which spices/herbs work great with different types of food.

I highly recommend "Culinary Artistry" for the "why" ...

https://www.amazon.com/Culinary-Artistry-Andrew-Dornenburg/dp/0471287857/ref=sr\_1\_12?dchild=1&keywords=plating+food&qid=1624467141&sr=8-12

Well, on the extreme side, "The Professional Chef" textbook I believe is the one used by the culinary institute of America. I picked one up off Amazon for $36 just for the hell of it. It's really interesting and reads more like an academic text than a cook book. It can be quite intense though.

A much more popular choice and a much easier read would be "The Food Lab" by Kenji Lopez-Alt who is a writer for serious eats. The book has plenty of recipes but does an unbelievably amazing job explaining the science and reasoning behind the choices that are made as well as various "experiments" that kanji does to answer cooking questions. It definitely teaches technique and really helps put you in the right "mindset" for cooking without a recipe.

Here are links to both.

https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355

https://www.amazon.com/Food-Lab-Cooking-Through-Science/dp/0393081087

Go buy this book from Amazon. It is AMAZING if you are looking for food pairings that scientifically taste great.

The Flavor Matrix

Disclaimer: I have no association or affiliation with the author other than buying his book. I learned about it from Kenji @seriouseats.

The book is phenomenal and everyone should buy it, BUT this is the regular Amazon price (since late April), so there's no need for everyone to click through a Facebook page (and affiliate link) to get it.

Here's a direct link to the book on Amazon.

This'll probably get buried, but you should consider getting them The Flavor Bible. It's basically a guidebook for experimenting with flavors in a way that won't kill taste-testers. ;)

I'm not a pro but I live with one who has been pushing me to stretch myself.

Buy cookbooks written by professional chefs. Study them, cook from them a lot, follow new recipes exactly at least once before you start messing with them.

A pro typically cares more about mastering a technique than following a recipe. For example, last week we had a whole chicken that I wanted to roast low and slow. The recipe I was working with said to spatchcock the chicken and roast it for 2.5 hours at 325F, but I started cooking late in the day and wanted to speed it up, so we cut it into 6 pieces - breasts, legs, thighs - and it was done roasting in about an hour. I knew it would work because I have enough experience roasting a cut-up chicken at different temperatures to be sure. Trying a lot of different recipes for roast chicken gives you a chance to study, develop your intuition as a cook, and deviate from a recipe with confidence. Fundamental techniques like roasting, braising and stewing, making the French mother sauces, stir frying and pan frying, etc, are infinitely adaptable once you've done it enough to have a template memorized.

The other main thing is getting confident with experimenting with flavor. I'm still working on this, and there's a lot of ways you can build your confidence. One is to pick up a couple of cookbooks that focus on exploring the technique of building flavor, like Ottolenghi's Flavor or The Flavor Matrix. You could take a deep dive into an ethnic cuisine to get familiar with flavors typical to that region. Or, you could pick a spice or condiment and challenge yourself to cook with it as much as possible for a couple of weeks to force yourself to get familiar with it. On the savory side, soups are a VERY forgiving vehicle for flavor experiments, and on the baking side, I'd say scones and ice creams have been the easiest for me to mess around with.

https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0470421355/

This is the primary instructional book for the Culinary Institute of America.

It's big and seems a bit daunting, but if you attempt it page by page, it will explain exactly (and in perfect detail) all of the basics.

Took me about 2 years to make my way through it, but now I actually have skills and can make things "on my own" without needing detailed recipes.

Edit:

> How to cook everything from the best culinary school in America. This is The Mothership for recipes and basic culinary techniques. Anyone and everyone serious about food and cooking should have one in their kitchen.

--Anthony Bourdain

If you like learning from books I would highly recommend buying a used copy of a Professional Cooking book that Culinary colleges use.

New ones cost about $50-75 but older editions with 98% of the same content can get found for $20 and can be used as a culinary bible.

Amazon: The Professional Chef

In my experience the two biggest differences between Cook and Chef are managing costs and managing people. It’s like the difference between being an older sibling vs being a parent. The food is almost irrelevant in these two respects.

You can get the CIA’s main textbook at Amazon super cheap. That will give a broad overview and teach you about costing items. There are a ton of great books on managing people. I like Zingerman’s.

That being said, the buck stops at the Chef. The Chef better be able to answer any questions about the food quickly and efficiently. You still need to know more than your cooks.

I just took a step back from Head Chef/Owner to Sous Chef at a catering company. I am learning so much more as a sous after having been the boss than I did before becoming the boss. The journey is not always so linear.

Good luck! You will always get out what you put in. It’s on you.

Here are some links to the books I mentioned:

The Professional Chef https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764557343/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8GI9AbHWF5FRH

A Lapsed Anarchist's Approach to Being a Better Leader (Zingerman's Guide to Good Leading) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0964895692/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_tQI9Ab17KX68J

I see this recommended a lot too: https://www.amazon.com/Noma-Guide-Fermentation-lacto-ferments-Foundations/dp/1579657184/ref=pd_bxgy_2/131-9574775-2355808?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1579657184&pd_rd_r=7414aed1-a4e0-4d8b-b8d0-27141943d192&pd_rd_w=mUaBa&pd_rd_wg=nCMy9&a...