Reddit reviews The Way to Cook: A Cookbook

Julia Child, The Way to Cook. My husband got it for me shortly after we got married, when I was already a pretty serious cook. Now that was about 25 years ago. Man did that book ever up my game. And also forced me to unlearn some things I had been doing that just didn't work out well. How I wished I had had the book all along. Of course, it was only recently published. I still use it fairly often, for desserts and other stuff I don't make frequently enough to have down pat.

It's definitely not a collection of recipes. Though she has chapters on soups, fish, fowl, meat, and so on the recipes are grouped by technique. She shows you how to make some dish or other as a "master recipe" then gives variations on it using the same technique but with different meat or what have you.



>Teaching is so important to the object of this book that it is one of the very few books I know which could easily serve as a good textbook for a course on cooking.


I could hve written this one:
>If you just have but 1 cookbook, this should be the one. Her recipes show you how and in a flawless manner. This is about the basics, techniques, etc. Many of my basic cooking skills and go to recipes are from this book

Might I suggest an alternative method? In my experience, the study of the techniques to cooking are at least half the battle in laying a foundation for a good culinary education. Rather than take the direct simple-to-complex recipe route, perhaps there is value in utilizing a hybrid method of learning where the recipes are centered around the use of particular skills in the kitchen. Some useful materials that come to mind are "Complete Techniques" by Jacques Pepin or "The Way to Cook" by Julia Child. Once these types of technical skills are engrained in your cooking process, you will find the true joy of cooking which is much less about following instructions and more to do with finding your "culinary groove".

[The Way To Cook] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Cook-Julia-Child/dp/0679747656) -- not only is it a fantastic cookbook, it is appropriate for all different levels of skill and provides foundational recipes that are then adaptable for personal use. It's a fantastic book.

The one book that has changed my cooking game was The Way to Cook by Julia Child. It’s not the cheapest book, but can be gotten for $12 used it looks like.

I grew up with Mexican/Spanish cuisine being my forté. And I get Thai influence from my wife. But the fundamentals and education in that book are universally applicable. The great thing is that if I want a spin on one of Julia’s recipes, I can google it and a dozen people have made variations of each recipe due to her influence in the cooking world.

Serious Eats is a wonderful website for getting the why behind the how in cooking as well.

I wish you all the best!

The Way to Cook - Julia Child

The Way to Cook by Julia Child - 1993 It's a classic. I use it once a week.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Cook-Julia-Child/dp/0679747656/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413930864&sr=8-1&keywords=the+way+to+cook

I bought my Joy of Cooking as a poor college student. It is now 26 years old, and it will be handy to the kitchen for the rest of our days. Terrific book.

Alton Brown's your man, via TV, the web and the first book, especially. I'm Just Here For The Food is a better teaching book than Joy, though nothing beats Joy's comprehensiveness.

And, IMHO, Julia Child is the woman, though I'd recommend her The Way To Cook as the one book to get, if you have to pick one. We actually carry it with us when we travel for Thanksgiving. I was going to leave our copy at the in-laws, but my wife didn't want to part with it, even though I was going to order another one. Mrs. Child considered it her magnum opus, and she designed it carefully to teach someone how to cook.

What everyone says about 'just try it' and 'tweak your recipes' is true. Practice is where it's at, but informed practice will get you where you want to go much more quickly.

Happy cooking and Bon Appetit!