The must-have book for anyone who cooks, might cook one day, or just watches other people cook

Recipes are okay. I don’t love them. Which is why I often convey a method or technique, instead of littering the internet with a gaggle of measurements and steps that mean ten different things to ten different cooks.  But ratios – yes, cooking ratios – really light my fire.  And are the only surefire way to success in any kitchen adventure.

Never hunt for a recipe again

Cooking ratios boil down to science, and are the simple formulas that professional cooks rely on for consistency. While any executive chef with half a brain will require his cooks to learn dish recipes for consistency,  a majority of trained cooks and chefs understand the basic formulas behind them.

Take a quiche, for example.  Google will tell you that there are hundreds of thousands of trillions recipes for quiche.  I’ve got news for you – half of them are #$%& (please excuse my bleep).

Because all you really need to know is that for every cup of dairy in the batter, you need two eggs. That’s it. Now you can spice up the classic any way you want, and it will set perfectly moist every time. So how do you discover the magic of ratios…?

Of course, there’s an app for that. And a book, but the application is cheaper.  The author, Michael Ruhlman, is a journalist who’s really into food (takes one to know one), and publishes culinary musings on his own, and with many notable chefs.

The book encompasses all manner of cooking and baking – from home-simmered stocks to doughs and batters.  And I find it even more useful than the book because it takes you one step further in calculating the math.  Because don’t get me wrong – I love ratios. But I definitely do not love math.

Yours in ratios,