If you had to pick a single book to prepare someone for the basics of
cooking, the various techniques and simple chores--is there anything to
recommend?

I just went snooping for "cooking for beginners" on Amazon. The
highest rated with the most reviewed was "How to Boil Water". I read
the two negative reviews and they seemed pretty valid.

Any thoughts on the matter?

I can continue rambling through odd-ball cookbooks in my wife's
possession, the odd tv recipe, or the trillions of online recipes, but
sure would like an organized approach to learning some good approaches
and techniques that will serve me well.

It would be nice if there was a straight-ahead book that had "The 30
Things You Should Know How to Cook", with instruction.

On May 13, 4:15 pm, gtr > wrote:
> If you had to pick a single book to prepare someone for the basics of
> cooking, the various techniques and simple chores--is there anything to
> recommend?

There are many. You just have to browse through a bunch to find one
that matches your approach to learning. I have recommended Jacques
Pepin's _Complete Techniques_, a combination of his two earlier books,
La Methode and La Technique. They were two of my bibles years ago and
still are highly useful references. Highly recommended in the new
combined edition. He breaks methods and techniques down in detail and
gives a lot of examples of how and when to use them. I've also
recommended Julia Child's _The Way to Cook_ which is thorough and
authoritative and beautifully presented. But I think the Pepin is
more systematic, which seems to fit your query better. -aem

gtr wrote:
>
> If you had to pick a single book to prepare someone for the basics of
> cooking, the various techniques and simple chores--is there anything to
> recommend?
>
> I just went snooping for "cooking for beginners" on Amazon.

I'm very partial to "Joy of Cooking" in its various editions. It's a
very good primer for folks who know little to nothing about cooking
anything basic. As with anything '), YMMV

Sky

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice!!

On May 13, 7:15*pm, gtr > wrote:
> If you had to pick a single book to prepare someone for the basics of
> cooking, the various techniques and simple chores--is there anything to
> recommend?
>
> I just went snooping for "cooking for beginners" on Amazon. *The
> highest rated with the most reviewed was "How to Boil Water". *I read
> the two negative reviews and they seemed pretty valid.
>
> Any thoughts on the matter?
>
> I can continue rambling through odd-ball cookbooks in my wife's
> possession, the odd tv recipe, or the trillions of online recipes, but
> sure would like an organized approach to learning some good approaches
> and techniques that will serve me well.
>
> It would be nice if there was a straight-ahead book that had "The 30
> Things You Should Know How to Cook", with instruction.

'The Art Of Garde Manger'

On 2010-05-13 21:36:57 -0700, A Moose In Love said:

> On May 13, 7:15*pm, gtr > wrote:
>> If you had to pick a single book to prepare someone for the basics of
>> cooking, the various techniques and simple chores--is there anything to
>> recommend?
>>
>> I just went snooping for "cooking for beginners" on Amazon. *The
>> highest rated with the most reviewed was "How to Boil Water". *I read
>> the two negative reviews and they seemed pretty valid.
>>
>> Any thoughts on the matter?
>>
>> I can continue rambling through odd-ball cookbooks in my wife's
>> possession, the odd tv recipe, or the trillions of online recipes, but
>> sure would like an organized approach to learning some good approaches
>> and techniques that will serve me well.
>>
>> It would be nice if there was a straight-ahead book that had "The 30
>> Things You Should Know How to Cook", with instruction.
>
> 'The Art Of Garde Manger'

By Sonnenschmidt and Nicolas?