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I've read part of it, and really enjoyed it, and I would say: It breaks cooking down into four simple, basic principles (the salt, acid, fat, and heat of the ti
by Hasu 6y ago
I've read part of it, and really enjoyed it, and I would say: It breaks cooking down into four simple, basic principles (the salt, acid, fat, and heat of the title), then deep dives into each one and explains exactly how those things contribute to the taste of different dishes. This allows you to learn to cook without just following a recipe and knowing that if you apply those principles correctly to whatever food you have in your kitchen, you can make something reasonably tasty.
Of course, learning to cook also involves many other techniques and combining flavors in more complex ways, but if you're starting out and can't boil an egg, it's a great introduction to the basics of what makes food taste good.
- taurath 6y agoIt’s a pretty deep read I’d say. It’s improved a lot of my instincts in the kitchen (what’s a dish or pot missing) . Recipes are also nice but can be a cost trap until you generate a sense of what sorts of things you want to have stocked. For that I’d say stick to one grouping of recipes (like say, Italian) to get a basic idea of what “most” recipes use in that grouping. That will save you money as you won’t have to be going out for different new spices, canned goods and oils every time you cook.
- m_mueller 6y agoSounds a lot like how I've learned cooking during my student time. It's fun experimenting with techniques until you understand how to extract a decent flavor out of each ingredient. I think this is why master chefs never stop learning, it's a really deep rabbit hole until you've perfected just one dish, repeatably.