Half a dozen bookshelves filled with just cookbooks, so apparently I am not too strict. I think that cooking from recipes is kind of catch-22. Recipes seem to

Half a dozen bookshelves filled with just cookbooks, so apparently I am not too strict. I think that cooking from recipes is kind of catch-22. Recipes seem to be most useful to people who already are adept at cooking (in particular cuisine and in general) but when you don't know how to cook recipes seem to be practically only source of information. I think if you are already adept at cooking, know techniques, cuisine etc. then you will be able to judge the book on your own. For example, if you are just starting up with Italian cuisine, you will be thoroughly disappointed by The Silver Spoon. It is huge compendium of recipes, but it is very light on any kind of explanation of technique -- assuming the reader is already steeped in the Italian culture. On the other hand it is very useful to me as one of the books to look for a little bit of inspiration when I just want to throw in something new. Just going through the list of ingredients is usually enough for me to imagine the process and reading the description is more of a confirmation that I actually understand what is going on.