Culinary Artistry

A must have for people who do a lot of scratch cooking or professionals. Not a cookbook. Expects you to know how to cook. Includes popular spices listed by country. Includes ingredients and spices that pair well with different entrees, or proteins. Recipes here and there.

Let me clarify what this book is and what it isn't: It's not a cookbook. This isn't some grand tome one picks up to select the perfect recipe for a certain occasion. This book is a companion for those who write their own recipes. When you're putting together a dish and you're stumped on that one last component to put it over the top, chances are you'll find it here. Maybe you have a dish you love and want to adjust it seasonally? This is a great resource. Hmmmmm, I do this Spanish dish and I think it would be fun to give it a Korean flair but I want to keep it grounded, sensible and delicious. There's good advice to be had here. I'm a professional chef and to be honest this isn't the first book I grab when I'm looking to get inspired, but it's usually the last book I put down when I'm putting the finishing touches on a dish. Those of you in the business will understand, you know when you're tasting that dish and it's really good but it just needs that little something and you can't quite put your finger on it? before you go down that hellish road of a pinch of this and a dash of that after a grand tour of your walk-in please thumb through this book! You'll save yourself a lot of aggravation. Usually after about a minute or two of browsing this book's charts you'll have that 'Aha Moment' and take your dish where it needs to go. This isn't a book for novices though. Not that one needs to be a professional to use it, the ambitious home cook can certainly find many uses, but I don't see how this book would be useful for a beginner. Keep that in mind. I highly recommend this for any advanced cook, I've found it incredibly useful.

Great book, everyone who condider culinary career should get this book, got it many years ago from one of my chefs and recently got few of them for my sous chefs. You will not find r3cipes there, but it's one of the best reference book out there

Great book for cooks and understanding flavor pairings!

I bought a copy of this 10 years ago when I was in culinary school. My sous chef from the restaurant I worked in recommended it to me to help give me ideas for recipes and dishes I had to present in classes. While in advanced baking, my final was to create a signature dessert. I wanted it to be elegant, but not overdone. Classic, but layered. I needed flavors that melded together to create something unique. In this book I learned which spices compliment fruits, vegetables, proteins. Which herbs bring out the best flavors. What foods compliment one another and which are opposites you should steer clear of. I learned that spicy, smoky peppers not only add to chocolate, but also oranges, creams, cherries. And I was able to craft my signature dessert! Not only did I ace my exam-- I have referenced this book hundreds of times over the years for inspiration in the kitchen. If you want to learn how to mix, mold and layer flavors-- buy this book!

An excellent presentation of what it takes to move seriously up the ladder of professional cooking. Even for the home cook there is solid information on how to improve skills, increase knowledge, and develop understanding of flavor combinations. Thorough and detailed in presentation. Just wish there were pictures to illustrate.

Have you ever found yourself stumped trying to decide what goes with what? Are you confused about how to build flavors and balance out a dish? Cooking is an art and preparing a satisfying meal that you will be proud of when your guests rant and rave requires that you understand what you are doing and why. If you are able to understand the fundamentals behind the technique, you open the doors to being able to create your own masterpieces without the assistance of a cookbook using your artistic talents and knowledge. Culinary artistry is a book that is required reading for any individual that wishes to understand the fundamentals of cooking and be able to move beyond basic usage of cookbooks following each step, basically blindfolded. It is a book that should be read from cover to cover but can also serve as a reference guide. On the surface you can look up various ingredients and see what goes best with what or you can read the entire book and gain valuable knowledge, as for example, why cranberry sauce goes well with Turkey at your thanksgiving dinner table.

This book is one of the best books in my collection. It is not a recipe book, nor is it a book on presentation with pretty pictures. It is a book to help you take the next step in developing your own recipes or to use as a reference when improvising. I have found several uses for this book so far and I keep it close at hand any time I am in the kitchen. 1. This is a great reference for what foods go together. 2. Helps in figuring out how to balance flavours. 3. A source of inspiration for new recipes. 4. The few recipes in this book are actually very good. I would not reccommend this as a beginer book. It will be most useful once you have a handle on some techniques and a variety of recipes. I really cannot say enough good things about this book.

Geniales Buch ich kann es jedem Koch empfehlen. es ist zwar auf englisch aber ich denke in der zeit in der wir leben sollte jeder gute Koch englisch können. Es hilft mit sehr bei Menüs oder einfach um selber mal kreativ zu sein. Der Aufbau ist genial.

Beautiful condition, 100% happy

Todo lo que esperaba e incluso mejor! En tiempo y forma fueron entregados. El libro es muy fácil de leer no obstante está en otro idioma.

I bought this item as a present for my daughter and it was delivered in plenty of time for her birthday. I must admit it did worry when she went to her wish list and found it was shorter than she thought it should be!!!

I used this and the Flavor Bible as prime reference guides. You learn how to sculpt a full plate of taste profile and textures as well as plating suggestions. It is great. You need to have an idea on how to use it, but, if you have a bit of talent; this book should be on your shelf! I am a cross reference queen. This and the other book are allowing me to have more fun in the kitchen. Which also means happy people around me as I like to feed more than just myself.