There are a few cookbooks that I always have at hand, and as I had no idea about what cookbooks were necessary before I took my kitchen seriously I feel that I should tell you about my favorites.
I absolutely rely on my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, I picked mine up about 5 years ago but they stay reliably well published. I enjoy this cookbook because the recipes are usually straight forward and call for readily available ingredients. There is also a pretty good selection to choose from, spicy if you feel like it or not if you don't. I have a somewhat more foreign pallat than that of what the Better Homes and Gardens publishers are catering to, which brings me to my other favorite cookbook.
The Joy of Cooking, is an absolute essential in my opinion if you are going to attempt to make European or traditional American food at any point the Joy of Cooking is an excellent companion. The book is full of detailed explanations on what you should do in any situation and why, often with an illustration to boot.
Aside from the Joy of Cooking and my Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks, I also enjoy having a good Thai cookbook around. By good I mean authentic. An Authentic Thai cookbook is not hard to find, you probably have a 1 in 4 chance of getting one, but the real trouble is being able to tell if you've found a good one or not.
Short of moving to Thailand or taking legitimate Thai cooking classes I'm not sure how I can advise you, but you can be guaranteed that a good Thai cookbook will often call for similar steps in preparing the food. For example if you have several curries in a row flip through and read the instructions. Do they look like the same basic process repeated? Do they involve paste you can buy from the store or alternately make at home? How about the ingredients? You should see a lot of shallots, fish sauce, lime juice, shrimp paste.
It's also helpful to select a Thai cookbook with a good illustrated dictionary section where pictures of fruits and vegetables that you would be unfamiliar with are presented and often described for your ease of understanding.
Well, I hope this has provided some insight. Good cooking to you!
I absolutely rely on my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, I picked mine up about 5 years ago but they stay reliably well published. I enjoy this cookbook because the recipes are usually straight forward and call for readily available ingredients. There is also a pretty good selection to choose from, spicy if you feel like it or not if you don't. I have a somewhat more foreign pallat than that of what the Better Homes and Gardens publishers are catering to, which brings me to my other favorite cookbook.
The Joy of Cooking, is an absolute essential in my opinion if you are going to attempt to make European or traditional American food at any point the Joy of Cooking is an excellent companion. The book is full of detailed explanations on what you should do in any situation and why, often with an illustration to boot.
Aside from the Joy of Cooking and my Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks, I also enjoy having a good Thai cookbook around. By good I mean authentic. An Authentic Thai cookbook is not hard to find, you probably have a 1 in 4 chance of getting one, but the real trouble is being able to tell if you've found a good one or not.
Short of moving to Thailand or taking legitimate Thai cooking classes I'm not sure how I can advise you, but you can be guaranteed that a good Thai cookbook will often call for similar steps in preparing the food. For example if you have several curries in a row flip through and read the instructions. Do they look like the same basic process repeated? Do they involve paste you can buy from the store or alternately make at home? How about the ingredients? You should see a lot of shallots, fish sauce, lime juice, shrimp paste.
It's also helpful to select a Thai cookbook with a good illustrated dictionary section where pictures of fruits and vegetables that you would be unfamiliar with are presented and often described for your ease of understanding.
Well, I hope this has provided some insight. Good cooking to you!
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