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Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Cooking Revealed with 235 Great-tasting Recipes
 
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Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Cooking Revealed with 235 Great-tasting Recipes [Hardcover]

Shirley Corriher
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
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Frequently Bought Together

Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Cooking Revealed with 235 Great-tasting Recipes + Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes + Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food
Price For All Three: £73.34

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 476 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (26 Jun 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0688102298
  • ISBN-13: 978-0688102296
  • Product Dimensions: 26.3 x 20.9 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 540,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Shirley O. Corriher
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Product Description

Review

"Corriher is a well-known culinary consultant and problem solver whose answers to kitchen mysteries have appeared in many food publications. Now she has set down some of her vast knowledge in this big, wide-ranging reference/cookbook. In seven basic chapters, from The Wonder of Risen Bread to Sweet Thoughts and Chocolate Dreams, she explains why recipes work, what to do when they don't and how to make them even better (anyone who's ever wondered why the same cake recipe always tastes better when her neighbor makes it will find out the probable reasons why). More than 200 recipes interspersed throughout demonstrate Corriher's explorations and explanations. Also included are At a Glance charts for easy reference (e.g., Fine tuning cookies), trouble-shooting charts (Yeast Bread Problems), charts on the basics (Whipped Cream: What to Do and Why), and dozens more. Although the recipes are delicious--and surely foolproof--this unique work will be far more valuable as a reference than as a cookbook. Highly recommended."--"Library Journal"

"Besides the background procedures and transformations discussed in chapter introductions, Corriher spells out the science lesson to be learned from each of the recipes, e.g., chilling potatoes in the fridge converts some of the starch to sugar and promotes the browning process in Oven-Fried Herbed Potatoes. Corriher, passing up no chance to inform is a persuasive tutor with many terrific ideas.... Curious-minded home cooks who are satisfied as much by the process of cooking as by its other rewards will find much to relish here."--"Publishers Weekly"

Product Description

Can you tell whether a recipe will work before you cook it? You can if you really know what's cooking.

In the long-awaited "CookWise, " food sleuth Shirley Corriher tells you how and why things happen in cooking. When you know how to estimate the right amount of baking powder, you can tell by looking at the recipe that the cake is overleavened and may fall. When you know that too little liquid for the amount of chocolate in a recipe can cause the chocolate to seize and become a solid grainy mass, you can spot chocolate truffle recipes that will be a disaster. And, in both cases, you know exactly how to "fix" the recipe. Knowing how ingredients work, individually and in combination, will not only make you more aware of the cooking process, but transform you into a confident and exceptional cook -- a cook who is in control.

"CookWise" is a different kind of cookbook. There are over 230 outstanding recipes -- from Snapper Fingers with Smoked Pepper Tartar Sauce to Chocolate Stonehenge Slabs with Cappuccino Mousse -- but here each recipe serves not only to please the palate but to demonstrate the roles of ingredients and techniques. A What This Recipe Shows section summarizes the special cooking points being demonstrated in each recipe. This little bit of science in everyday language indicates which steps or ingredients are vital and cannot be omitted without consequences.

Among the recipes you'll also find some surprises. Don't be afraid of a vinaigrette prepared without vinegar or a high-egg-white, crisp pate a choux. Many of the concepts used here are Shirley's own. Try her method of sprinkling croissant or puff pastry dough with ice water before folding to keep it soft and easy to roll.

"CookWise" covers everything from the rise and fall of cakes, through unscrambling the powers of eggs and why red cabbage turns blue during cooking but red peppers don't, to the essential role of crystals in making fudge. Want to learn about what makes a crust flaky? Try the Big-Chunk Fresh Apple Pie in Flaky cheese Crust. Discover for yourself what brining does to poultry in Juicy Roast Chicken.

No matter what your cooking level, you'll find CookWise a revelation. Different people will use "CookWise" in different ways: Home cooks will value "CookWise" as a collection of extraordinarily good recipes.The busy chef can use "CookWise" as a reference book to look up and solve problems. Major headings are shown in the Contents and 42 At-a-Glance summary charts make problem solving quick and easyBeginning cooks can use "CookWise" as a howto book with easy-to-follow recipes that produce dishes looking and tasting like the work of an experienced chef.Food writers and test-kitchen chefs who are developing recipes can find the formulas and tips for successful recipes, Anyone who wants to improve a recipe can use "CookWise" as a guide. Here is how to make cakes moister, a pate A choux drier and crisper, a dish lighter or darker in color; how to make muffins peak better, cookies spread less, or a roast chicken juicier.Everyone who cooks needs to be able to spot bad recipes and save the time, money, and frustration that they cause. Many of the At-a-Glance charts point out specific problems.

"CookWise" is not only informative, it's engrossing, and many sections react like a mystery story. The knowledge you gain from its pages will transform you, too, into a food sleuth, an informed and assured cook who can track down why sauces curdle or why the muffins were dry -- a cook who will never prepare a failed recipe again!


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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
I suspect there may be interesting food science in this book (as suggested by a reviewer), but I am disappointed that the author did not test her recipes. I can comment on only one recipe, the first and last I tried. I may never try another. Does 2&1/4 t. of salt in 14 muffins sound suspicious? 1/4t worked nicely. Vanilla in the instructions, but not in the ingredient list left me guessing. 450 deg. sound high? I removed them 5 minutes earlier than the minimum time and they were burned to inedibility on the bottom. 14 muffins she says? More like 21. A good scientist encourages replication. Let us hope the next edition shows the benefit of recipe-testing.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This is an excellent cookbook for the experimental cook. If you open up three or four cookbooks to gauge the similarities between different recipes for the same dish, get a few ideas, and then use them to make up a version of your own, this is the book for you.

Have you ever wondered which were important steps in a recipe, and which were OK to change? Have you wondered why you can't get consistent results from some ingredients, and wished you knew exactly what was happening so that you could compensate? Shirley Corriher explains chemically and mechanically what is happening to the ingredients at each point in preparation and cooking and gives you the benefit of hundreds of controlled kitchen experiments that it would take years (and endless patience) to duplicate for yourself. This book provides the tools to launch off into your own creations even in the previously mysterious realms of breads and sauces.

The recipes are good, but more importantly, they illustrate a particular reaction or effect, and give you the tools to customize them for yourself.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
I LOVE cooking, and with lots of reading, TV shows, many hours spent in restaurant dining rooms, at-home experimentation and mistakes I've fallen even more deeply in love with everything about food. So, naturally, when I had the opportunity to learn the "how and why" behind my failures and to learn more "tips and techniques" I ran right out to buy Shirley's book.

I am naturally curious, so, a book which explains WHY things happen seemed a logical addition to my 50 feet of cookbooks. I'm sorry to say that while I find the chemistry very interesting, the scientific explanations very clear, and I am learning a great deal, I have trouble with the book's organization. OK, perhaps it's not supposed to be like other "cookbooks", and it clearly isn't, but I think a good edit would improve the readability immeasurably.

Shirley does do an outstanding job of explaining "why", and that simple fact should not be overlooked, but this book seems best suited for "reading and learning" and NOT as a reference text where one would go to check out a technique or to find a recipe.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very good book
Shirley knows her stuff alright. This and bakewise are essential cookery books as even Khymos agrees. She must of spent her whole life perfecting these recipes what a legend. Read more
Published 3 months ago by DanV3185
Great info for interested cooks!
I heard the last portion of Shirley's interview on NPR and was impressed by how easily she described the science of bread making. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 1999
This is not just another cookbook......
This is not just another cookbook.......it's a book that discusses food properties and the hows and whys of successful cooking. Read more
Published on 25 July 1999
a great companion to the home chef
it is truly one of the best reference tools for the home chef. the recipes are nice and it is a remarkable tool for writing your own recipes.
Published on 4 July 1999
The Science of food!
If you're interested in the particulars of food, from bread to eggs to chocolate, this is the book for you. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 1999
Brings cooking down to a science. Builds confidence.
I am an avid cook and I loved this book. I actually read it like a cooking magazine instead of just using the recipes. Every recipe I have tried has been fabulous.
Published on 26 May 1999
The science is the secret -- and that secret is revealed!!
This "cookbook" is really more like a chemistry book. It teaches you what is going on when you cook. With this new understanding, ALL my recipes are better. Read more
Published on 7 May 1999
Liscense for Cooking Freedom!
This is the one book that gave me the understanding to be able to cook what I want with the items I have, and have them turn out great every time! Read more
Published on 20 Mar 1999
Great concept but some baking recipes don't work
Being an avid baker/engineer type, I was excited to get this book, but when I began to make some of the recipes, I was appalled at the mistakes Ms. Read more
Published on 28 Feb 1999
Paydirt!!!!!
As an avid cook, food lover and cookbook collector, I've always been frustrated by my lack ability to bake great bread from scratch, as well as the lack of competent cookbooks... Read more
Published on 9 Dec 1998
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