wreathian's review against another edition
5.0
What a fun jaunt through the kitchen with a woman who is endearingly passionate about food and flavor. I never read cookbooks. But I'ma buy this one.
nuggetworldpeace's review against another edition
i like the narrative section of this book a bunch!! samin nosrat's voice comes through so nicely, and she's all about taking food, having a few sparse guidelines, and running with it. (i haven't tried any of her loose recipes tho so can't rate)
wilhelmisscreaming91's review against another edition
5.0
This book made me a much more thoughtful and intentional cook. I feel more creative in the kitchen now that I have a way to approach the what and why of adding ingredients. I could say much more but it's probably already been said.
I really get a kick out of some of the negative reviews, especially when two people dislike the book for exactly the opposite reason. Some reviewers have criticized the book for being too basic and for "beginners," while one negative review said the book was far too advanced for the average home cook like her. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I really get a kick out of some of the negative reviews, especially when two people dislike the book for exactly the opposite reason. Some reviewers have criticized the book for being too basic and for "beginners," while one negative review said the book was far too advanced for the average home cook like her. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
jackwwang's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent primer on the PRINCIPLES of cooking. Most cookbooks are just dense compilations of recipes, better used as a reference than to read as a narrative. It is I suppose possible to glean the underlying principles of good cooking from recipes, but one has to read between the lines, like deciphering how to play piano by reading sheet music, it's incredibly difficult and tedious. Nosrat writes the cookbook that most of us home cooks have wanted to read, a clearly written narrative introduction of the general principles that allows you to make something tasty NOT from recipe.
The hand-drawn illustrations are very cute and surprisingly helpful to facilitate visualization of concepts difficult to describe in prose. I can read several pages on julienne and not learn as much as a single drawing of julienned carrots.
Nosrat has a gift for storytelling, she could have given us just the concepts and I would have been happy with just the dry facts just because that information has almost never been packaged in such a straightforward way, but she chooses to add some flavor to her exposition, bringing lessons to life from personal anecdotes (often self-deprecating), and the joy she gets from cooking clearly shines through in her prose.
Highly recommended for all but the most seasoned home cooks.
The hand-drawn illustrations are very cute and surprisingly helpful to facilitate visualization of concepts difficult to describe in prose. I can read several pages on julienne and not learn as much as a single drawing of julienned carrots.
Nosrat has a gift for storytelling, she could have given us just the concepts and I would have been happy with just the dry facts just because that information has almost never been packaged in such a straightforward way, but she chooses to add some flavor to her exposition, bringing lessons to life from personal anecdotes (often self-deprecating), and the joy she gets from cooking clearly shines through in her prose.
Highly recommended for all but the most seasoned home cooks.