The world of food is always changing. From a nutritional standpoint, who can keep up with what is good and what is bad for us anymore? From a professional restaurant perspective, one must keep up on the trends in order to stay in business.
Twenty years ago, vegetables were not the focus on the plate as they are today; influences from around the globe are dictating new flavours for sauces, as opposed to the once French-only heavy sauces. And one of the best ways to keep up on the trends, aside from travelling the world and working in a different restaurant every few months, is to carefully choose well thought-out cookbooks.
Cookbooks personally written by professional chefs and home economists are often a reflection of their journey through their life of food. For most foodies, flipping through cookbooks is a favourite pastime – for the pictures, for the recipes and for inspiration.
This week we’ve compiled a list of just some of our favourite cookbooks for you, the foodie, or for the foodie in your life, for the upcoming holiday season. We’ve even included the ISBN number to make the search that much easier.
Earth To Table: With so much well-deserved attention to local food and cooking in season, this book is at the top of our charts. Written by chef Jeff Crump and pastry chef Bettina of The Ancaster Old Mill, it’s as local as it gets. The recipes are organized seasonally, and include something for the novice to the advanced cook. Crump focuses on great technique, robust flavours and, of course, eating locally. Our favourite recipes include the Pan-Fried Mushrooms and Sticky Toffee Pudding. (0061825948)
Ad Hoc, by Thomas Keller, one of North America’s leading chefs and restaurateurs: inspiring for the professional and home chef alike, with ‘lightbulb’ moments on how to use different spices or vegetables. From brining meat to comfort food, the recipes in this book use timeless techniques for terrific food. (1579653774)
Dough by Richard Bertine. This is a book for the novice baker interested in creating bread from scratch at home. The basic white flour bread recipe is easy and straightforward, yet has enough character to use to make a classic baguette.
This book comes complete with a DVD to show exactly how to knead the dough. And once you’ve mastered the basics in Dough, you can then move onto his second book called Crust, which offers more advanced bread making recipes.
Nothing beats the smell of fresh bread baking in the house! (1904920209)
The Flavour Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. This book does not contain recipes. It is a go-to book about flavour pairings when you feel like being creative, while giving you direction on what works well together. The Flavour Bible works like a dictionary: look up a product, say, apples, and it will pair it with many complimentary foods, spices, herbs and flavours. The book also includes the techniques best suited for a particular food, for instance, baking apples. (0316118400)
