200 Skills Every Cook Must Have: The Step-by-Step Methods That Will Turn a Good Cook into a Great Cook - Softcover

[Review of hardcover edition: ] This would be a great book for someone starting out in the kitchen or who has been cooking for just a few years.--Nancy J. Stohs"Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel" (01/08/2014)

[Review of hardcover edition: ] The book, a fine choice for cooking novices and those unsure of how to make Pavlova, provides kitchen building blocks ranging from cracking an egg to flambeing, with step-by-step images, expert tips plus charts on meat cuts and equipment.--Bill Daley, Judy Hevrdejs and Joe Gray"Hartford Courant" (12/12/2013)

[Review of hardcover edition: ] This book will turn a good cook into a great cook.--Vancouver Sun (12/13/2013)

[Review of hardcover edition: ] Think of this book as cooking skills for dummies ratcheted up to a higher level.... Two British chefs export their ways and wisdom to teach, update, and demystify novices as well as experienced cooks about critical kitchen skills. Along the way, when recipes are offered, so much the better. Their basics cover literally anything necessary to start cooking, from the rudiments of fashioning a tomato sauce to advice for soaking saffron. Therefore, such advanced skills as crafting croissants or building a fancy cake don't qualify. Many of the 200 techniques feature color photographs; all include ingredients, directions, expert tips, and, occasionally, recommended variations (for instance, foodstuffs to fold into couscous). It's the tips, though, that readers will savor... Well organized and explained.-- (12/01/2013)

"Think of this book as cooking skills for dummies ratcheted up to a higher level.... Well organized and explained."
--Booklist

"This book will turn a good cook into a great cook."
--Vancouver Sun

This step-by-step guide to essential cooking techniques explains and illustrates every important cooking method that, once mastered, will give a cook the confidence to make all dishes, no matter the challenge.

The ten chapters describe essential tools and equipment, and explain tried-and-tested procedures to prepare a wide range of items perfectly and consistently.

The book includes:

• Essential Equipment: Knives, utensils, pots and pans, ovenware, bakeware, gadgets and machines
• Sauces: Gravy, vinaigrette, mayonnaise, hollandaise, pastry cream, caramel, chocolate, and more
• Vegetables: Slicing, julienne, charring peppers, peeling tomatoes and more
• Fruits and Nuts: Peeling, skinning, pitting, poaching fruit and more
• Meat: Cuts of beef, lamb and pork; boning, roasting and more
• Poultry: Trussing, stuffing, spatchcocking, boning, jointing and more
• Fish: Boning, filleting, poaching, broiling, and more
• Seafood: Deveining shrimp, cracking crab, preparing squid, and more
• Eggs: Testing eggs for freshness, poaching, baking, souffle and more
• Pastry and Baking: Puff pastry, buttercream, pavlova and more
• Pasta, Grain, Legume, Bread: Ravioli, risotto, polenta, croutons and more
• Broths: Brown, vegetable, and fish broths; skimming and freezing
• Spices: Toasting and grinding spices, using a vanilla bean

200 Skills Every Cook Must Have is the one secret ingredient that turns any cook into a great one.