Cookbook Profile: On Cooking

On Cooking

Techniques from Expert Chefs

by Sarah R. Labensky and Alan M. Hause

Few books can claim to be essential resources for the aspiring chef and the dedicated home cook. That On Cooking: Techniques from Expert Chefs by Sarah R. Labensky and Alan M. Hause is going into its third edition in less than 10 years is proof that it is a stellar reference for anyone serious about food. On Cooking is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the culinary arts, designed to help new cooks master the essentials and experienced chefs expand their repertoire. From nutrition and menu planning to preparation, cooking, and presentation, it is a celebration of the culinary arts that will benefit professional and amateur cooks who want to amplify their skills.

This updated and expanded edition of On Cooking, with more than 940 international recipes (190 that are new and others updated) and 1,800 full-color photographs, is a veritable encyclopedia covering the gamut of subjects from understanding the very principles of food to mastering every manner of cooking technique, all while making the reader fully aware of nutrition and food safety. The recipes reflect a vast range of cooking that spans classical French to new American cuisine. Along with a scrupulous listing of ingredients, in standard and metric equivalents, nutritional analyses accompany each recipe. The tested dishes, tips, and techniques were contributed by the authors, experts, and many of today's foremost chefs, including Wolfgang Puck, Alfred Portale, Mark Miller, and Graham Kerr.

On Cooking is replete with full-color photographs, line drawings, charts and sidebars that identify fresh ingredients, illustrate different preparation techniques and styles, and present the finished dishes. Finally, the book's exhaustive index has been reorganized for even quicker reference. In addition to being an indispensable tome on the art and science of cooking, the book's individual recipes are equally illuminating. Among the panoply of recipes for basics like sauces, stocks, soups, and pastry, the reader will rediscover classics such as Tournedos Rossini and Duck à l'Orange while delighting in new-style cooking such as Wild Mushroom and Veal Soup and Duck Prosciutto with Fresh Mango. Every chapter of the book offers an overview of basic procedures, while encouraging imagination, creativity, and experimentation.

Sarah R. Labensky is Director of the Culinary Arts Institute at Mississippi University for Women. She is the Secretary/Treasurer of the IACP, and a member of the James Beard Foundation, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs, and Les Dames d'Escoffier, and is co-author of On Cooking and Webster's New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts. She lives in Columbus, Mississippi. Alan M. "Skip" Hause is the owner and executive chef of his own catering company, Fabulous Food, Inc., in Phoenix, Arizona. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, he served for 16 years as executive chef for a catering company in Phoenix, and is active in charity work throughout the Southwest.

Buy the Book!

On Cooking
Techniques from Expert Chefs
by Sarah R. Labensky and Alan M. Hause
Prentice-Hall
ISBN: 0130618659
$50.00/hardcover (3rd edition)
1,800 full-color photographs
Information provided by the publisher.