Who Would Like This Book:
This book demystifies cooking by breaking down recipes to their core building blocks - simple ratios. If you love understanding the 'why' behind baking and cooking, or want the freedom to create your own recipes (think bread, cakes, sauces, and more), you’ll be thrilled with Ruhlman’s concise, approachable explanations. It’s especially great for curious cooks, kitchen experimenters, and anyone whose shelves are already full of recipe books but craves more kitchen confidence and flexibility. Imagine tweaking or inventing recipes on the fly, no recipe card needed!
Who May Not Like This Book:
If you’re hoping for a colorful cookbook with glossy pages and step-by-step photos, this isn’t it. Traditionalists who lean on precise recipes and those who dread the word 'math' may find Ratio too abstract or technical. It’s also not for someone seeking in-depth techniques or cooking school instruction - there are references to technique, but the focus is on foundational formulas, not hand-holding. Vegans may also be left wanting more plant-based ratios.
About:
"Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking" by Michael Ruhlman is a culinary guide that focuses on replacing traditional recipes with fundamental cooking techniques based on ratios. The book empowers readers to understand the scientific artistic ratios behind cooking, allowing them to alter recipes, adjust servings, and customize dishes to their preferences. Ruhlman's writing style is clear and straightforward, providing detailed explanations on various cooking elements like doughs, batters, stocks, meats, sauces, and custards, all while emphasizing the importance of mastering the basics before unleashing creativity.
Genres:
Topics:
Notes:
From The Publisher:
Michael Ruhlman's groundbreaking New York Times bestseller takes us to the very "truth" of cooking: it is not about recipes but rather about basic ratios and fundamental techniques that makes all food come together, simply.
When you know a culinary ratio, it's not like knowing a single recipe, it's instantly knowing a thousand.
Why spend time sorting through the millions of cookie recipes available in books, magazines, and on the Internet? Isn't it easier just to remember 1-2-3? That's the ratio of ingredients that always make a basic, delicious cookie dough: 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, and 3 parts flour. From there, add anything you want-chocolate, lemon and orange zest, nuts, poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, almond extract, or peanut butter, to name a few favorite additions. Replace white sugar with brown for a darker, chewier cookie. Add baking powder and/or eggs for a lighter, airier texture.
Ratios are the starting point from which a thousand variations begin.
Ratios are the simple proportions of one ingredient to another. Biscuit dough is 3:1:2-or 3 parts flour, 1 part fat, and 2 parts liquid. This ratio is the beginning of many variations, and because the biscuit takes sweet and savory flavors with equal grace, you can top it with whipped cream and strawberries or sausage gravy. Vinaigrette is 3:1, or 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, and is one of the most useful sauces imaginable, giving everything from grilled meats and fish to steamed vegetables or lettuces intense flavor.
Cooking with ratios will unchain you from recipes and set you free. With thirty-three ratios and suggestions for enticing variations, Ratio is the truth of cooking: basic preparations that teach us how the fundamental ingredients of the kitchen-water, flour, butter and oils, milk and cream, and eggs-work. Change the ratio and bread dough becomes pasta dough, cakes become muffins become popovers become crepes.
As the culinary world fills up with overly complicated recipes and never-ending ingredient lists, Michael Ruhlman blasts through the surplus of information and delivers this innovative, straightforward book that cuts to the core of cooking. Ratio provides one of the greatest kitchen lessons there is-and it makes the cooking easier and more satisfying than ever.
Ratings (1)
Incredible (1) |
Reader Stats (5):
Read It (2) | |
Want To Read (3) |
What can you read after
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking?
About the Author:
Michael Ruhlman is the author of twelve books, including the bestselling The Making of a Chef and The French Laundry Cookbook. He lives in Cleveland with his wife, daughter, and son and is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and Gourmet as well as his highly popular blog at Ruhlman.com.
When you click the Amazon link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commision, at no cost to you.
