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Cookwise

post #1 of 10
1/21/07 at 9:58am
Thread Starter 
I hope I'm doing my posting in the right spot.. I'm trying to get opinions on books, not giving opinions, so I'm a little unsure if this is the spot to be..

I'm looking for opinions on the book Cookwise, by Shirley O. Corriher..
Thanks..
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post #2 of 10
1/21/07 at 11:19am
Most people like it.

I didn't.

I learned some stuff from the book but I think there are better ones such as On Food and Cooking. I didn't like anything I cooked out of Cookwise so while the recipes performed as described, the food I tried had poor flavor in my opinion. And what's the point of cooking if the eating isn't good?

Phil
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
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post #3 of 10
1/21/07 at 11:41am
Cookwise is not really a cookbook, per se, but more of a handbook on how recipes work or don't work. Shirley offers the recipes as examples of the chemical reactions that she explains in the text. If you are having difficulty with a particular recipe you can research solutions to the problem in her book. It's readable and accessible in a way that appeals to the average consumer. I've found it enormously useful. Harold McGee's book is good too, but I find the chemistry and physics to be overwhelming, and not necesarily relevent to a particular problem that may be at hand.
The difference is about who the audience for each book is intended to be. Shirley Corriher's is directed more toward the home consumer and those involved in food communications for that particular market. My impression is that Harold McGee's book is more geared to the food service professional and students of culinary disciplines.
I have copies of each, but Cookwise is more stained and dogeared than On Food and Cooking.

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post #4 of 10
1/21/07 at 1:17pm
Well said.
Rgds Rook
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post #5 of 10
1/21/07 at 2:36pm
Yes.

But if you want to practice the principle to see it work to really understand it, wouldn't you rather make a good dish? Cook's Illustrated and their books achieve this end too but with good food and more depth of info.

Phil
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
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post #6 of 10
1/21/07 at 8:06pm
I use both Cookwise and On Food and Cooking a lot for research.

I love Cookwise, and I love Shirley Corriher. If you ever get to see her in person, DO!!! She just has so much fun explaining stuff. :bounce:

I also love On Food and Cooking, when I want a deep scientific explanation. Harold McGee is may be drier, but gives tons of info.

While they are similar in subject matter, as has been noted their approach is very different. And somewhere in between is What Einstein Told His Cook by Robert Wolke. I'm glad I have all of them.
"Notorious stickler" -- The New York Times, January 4, 2004
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post #7 of 10
1/22/07 at 8:08am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for you insite everyone.. I think I'm gonna go for this one!
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post #8 of 10
1/22/07 at 9:17am
I've seen her on TV, the PBS program Real Simple. She was excited about what she was discussing, I think it was fresh cracked pepper vs the pre-ground stuff.

Phil
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
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post #9 of 10
1/22/07 at 1:29pm
I have mixed feelings about the book. It does explain a lot of stuff, though i was put off by the many occasions where she recommends some chemical stuff (examples don;t immediately come to mind). I also tried some recipes and they weren;t great. Maybe i tried the wrong ones. Maybe her taste is not like mine. I did get one exceptionally useful thing from her book, however, and that is her recommendation for salt from trapani. I found some in a whole foods store here, and i never imagined salt could have a depth of taste like that. It definitely improves everything you add it to. It's not grey and disgusting looking like some sea salt is (I think, who needs whole polluted sea salt?), though it tends to clump in a salt shaker and i have to heat it and dry it out to put in the shaker, but it is well worth it.
I also agree that cooks illustrated has much better recipes and plenty of explanation.
"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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post #10 of 10
1/22/07 at 5:15pm
I'm probably going to get some flack for saying this, but, generally speaking, food scientists can't cook. It's a left brain, right brain thing. I love Shirley Corriher, Alton Brown and Robert Wolke and hang on to their every word... but... their recipes leave a lot to be desired.

Molecular gastronomy, though, changes the playing field a bit. It marries art and science- both hemispheres of the brain. If Herve This or Harold McGee opened a restaurant, I'd be there in a heartbeat.
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