Become a Cooking Wiz

There are a few books that I feel are essential to every cook, chef and food lover’s library. If you cooked one recipe a night from one of these five books, within a year you’d be a serious culinarian.

How to Cook Everything  By Mark Bittman Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, makes cooking anything and everything incredibly simple. For every ingredient, Bittman gives easy-to-understand instructions and advice on how to make delicious dishes.

La Methode By Jacques Pépin Legendary chef Jacques Pépin guides the reader through tips and techniques to make nearly anything in the kitchen. This book is illustrated and makes it simple to follow along and perfect your culinary skills.

The Way to Cook  By Julia Child Julia Child’s The Way to Cook is filled with more than 800 fantastic recipes for the home cook. There are helpful tips and tricks along the way along with photographs for the more visual learner. This is a great book for learning classic-cooking techniques that you will use in your kitchen all of the time.

The Making of a Cook  By Madeleine Kamman Madeleine Kamman’s The Making of a Cook has been a cooking school essential since it was first published in 1971. She walks the reader through techniques used in every professional and home kitchen. With each recipe, you’ll notice your culinary skills improve.

James Beard’s Theory & Practice of Good Cookng By James Beard James Beard was a culinary educator for over 30 years, and he reveals that culinary knowledge in his book. From how to best roast a chicken to making foods on the grill, Beard’s techniques and tips are incredibly helpful in becoming a better cook.