Book Review | The Illustrated Cook’s Book of Ingredients
*I received a copy of this book for review, but was not compensated financially in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based solely on my experiences while reading this book.*
Title: The Illustrated Cook’s Book of Ingredients (DK Illustrated Cook Books)
Author: DK Publishing
About the Book:
Featuring useful information on buying, ripening, storing, and working with unusual ingredients, The Illustrated Cook’s Book of Ingredients serves as an invaluable reference for food lovers and cooks intent on making the most of all the ingredients available today.
With more than 250 recipes featuring key ingredients, along with background information about the journey from field to plate, The Illustrated Cook’s Book of Ingredients is perfect for foodies and home cooks looking to take their cooking to the next level.
My Review:
The Illustrated Cook’s Book of Ingredients is a wealth of information! I think of it like an encyclopedia of every ingredient you could ever imagine and then some. It showcases over 2,500 ingredients from around the world.
The author points out that the types of ingredients we cook with today has vastly changed from even 20 years ago. In our global society, we have access to more and more exotic ingredients than ever before. You have supermarkets, natural food stores, delicatessans, butchers, bakeries, international food stores as well as online stores that will ship you ingredients right to your doorstep. I consider myself adventurous when it comes to trying new food. I’ll always be up for trying almost anything once. My issue is that I don’t know what to make with it or even what to look for when I’m out shopping.
The Illustrated Cook’s Book of Ingredients is divided up into types of food. There’s a chapter on Fish & Seafood, Meat, Vegetables, Herbs, Nuts & Seeds, Spices, Dairy & Eggs, Fruits, Grains, Rice, Pasta & Noodles and Oils, Vinegars & Flavourings. As you can see it’s quite thorough and covers just about every category that you can think of.
Each section has photographs of the ingredients, recipes, step-by-step preparation tips, and lots more. I’ve never gutted a fish and it was neat to see it explained with photos in a step-by-step fashion. I may give it a try this summer if we end up going fishing.
There’s a lot of information and I recommend going through the book slowly so you aren’t overwhelmed. The other day I was shopping for mangos for a recipe I’m making and looked it up in the book. I learned what I should look for in a mango at the store and I also found out that cooking a mango destroys most of the flavour. I guess fresh is the way to go. I was going to add mango to a chicken chili in the slow cooker, but decided to use it as a garnish to retain the fresh, sweet flavour.
I’m ready to step out of my comfort zone and try some new types of foods. I’ve got the information, recipes and the motivation to experiment with the help of this book. I’d recommend for any foodie who is genuinely interested in food or someone that wants to step out of their cooking comfort zone too and play around with new ingredients.
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What a precious valuable book that will be a nice addition to our food books and cookbooks!
This would be an amazing gift for someone just starting out with cooking! I bet we would all learn something from it!
perfect for mother’s day.. although its already over i can get this for my mom for her birthday next month!
I Love these kinds of reference books! very valuable info!
I would love to have this cook book!!
I am going to seek this out!! Thanks for the good write up!!
Its high time somebody released the basics of what cooking is about. I like the beat of the drum of this book!
This book sounds amazing! There are so many things I don’t know about fruits and veggies and I am sure this book would help me be more confident at the grocery store. Lovely review!
These kind of books are good to have around for reference
I keep coming across this book. It would be great for anyone to have. I’d for sure flip thru the pages for reference quite often!
This is an awesome book and thank you for your review.
Great book. Love that it has buying and storing tips and information. I often find myself asking what to look for or how to pick the best ones. Illustrated is a must in a book like this. Thanks.
This is wonderful! I hate wasting things and am willing to try new things but don’t know what to do with them. This book solves that and is a great reference tool! Thanks for the review!
I would love to have this book, it would be so interesting!
I love cookbooks! Sometimes just to look through at all the beautiful illustrations. Cooking and preparing food is sometimes a great artform as well.
This sounds like a book that every cook should have on their book shelf. I think mango tastes better fresh, you should just serve it in a salad. Thank you for sharing this review.
What a great looking book! My husband and I have recently become vegans. It’s involved getting much more heavily involved in produce and the use of fresh herbs. This book would be a great asset! I also think it would be a great book to give as a gift, especially for new brides, especially those young ones who are just learning how to cook.
great book for someone who has recently moved out of mommy’s house and wants to cook
This would be a great addition to my kitchen> I love to know everything about all ingrediants I use
I love cookbooks and this sounds like a nice addition to any kitchen
I need this book!! Hopefully I can find it at my local bookstore tomorrow.