Ratio

Great book that takes you out of cookbooks and into the science of cooking. I'm just growing into the understanding that cooking is not as mysterious as it feels if one understands the role each ingredient, procedure, and treatment plays. It's why I love Alton Brown ... reading his thoughts on bake/broil/steam/fry gives you insight into WHY you'd choose a procedure. So does this book.

I feel like this is the stuff that Iron Chefs know. The basic ratios. Master these and the variations become easier to understand.

Great read. Great info. Great book.

Rather than teaching you recipes, Ratio teaches you the basis of how food is made. It teaches you the proportions of commonly made items like bread and cookies, and from there you can modify the recipes to produce what you want. Probably the most important cook book on my shelf.