Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking

by Ruhlman, Michael
ISBN: 9781416571728
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Overview

Michael Ruhlman's groundbreaking New York Times bestseller takes us to the very "truth" of cooking: it is not about recipes but rather about basic ratios and fundamental techniques that makes all food come together, simply.

When you know a culinary ratio, it's not like knowing a single recipe, it's instantly knowing a thousand.

Why spend time sorting through the millions of cookie recipes available in books, magazines, and on the Internet? Isn't it easier just to remember 1-2-3? That's the ratio of ingredients that always make a basic, delicious cookie dough: 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, and 3 parts flour. From there, add anything you want--chocolate, lemon and orange zest, nuts, poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, almond extract, or peanut butter, to name a few favorite additions. Replace white sugar with brown for a darker, chewier cookie. Add baking powder and/or eggs for a lighter, airier texture.

Ratios are the starting point from which a thousand variations begin.

Ratios are the simple proportions of one ingredient to another. Biscuit dough is 3:1:2--or 3 parts flour, 1 part fat, and 2 parts liquid. This ratio is the beginning of many variations, and because the biscuit takes sweet and savory flavors with equal grace, you can top it with whipped cream and strawberries or sausage gravy. Vinaigrette is 3:1, or 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, and is one of the most useful sauces imaginable, giving everything from grilled meats and fish to steamed vegetables or lettuces intense flavor.

Cooking with ratios will unchain you from recipes and set you free. With thirty-three ratios and suggestions for enticing variations, Ratio is the truth of cooking: basic preparations that teach us how the fundamental ingredients of the kitchen--water, flour, butter and oils, milk and cream, and eggs--work. Change the ratio and bread dough becomes pasta dough, cakes become muffins become popovers become crepes.

As the culinary world fills up with overly complicated recipes and never-ending ingredient lists, Michael Ruhlman blasts through the surplus of information and delivers this innovative, straightforward book that cuts to the core of cooking. Ratio provides one of the greatest kitchen lessons there is--and it makes the cooking easier and more satisfying than ever.

  • Format: TradePaperback
  • Author: Ruhlman, Michael
  • ISBN: 9781416571728
  • Condition: Used
  • Dimensions: 8.42 x 0.66
  • Number Of Pages: 272
  • Publication Year: 2010

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  • The secret to unlocking the kitchen, one ratio at a time!

    Carrie S. - 3 years 5 months ago

    More than it is a recipe book, although it does contain recipes, Ratio is a wonderful book on baking and cooking theory. It gives you a basic foundation to build on your kitchen knowledge (or start from scratch!). It is essentially a "cheat sheet" for anything you might want to make. It is well laid out to cover baking almost anything, from cake to popovers to cookies; and explains how different ingredients interact depending on when and how you add them to a recipe. I have to admit I mostly use the baking chapters, but it has many helpful tips for both cooking and baking. I own a lot of cookbooks, and this is one of the few I refer to constantly; I also give copies away as a gift anytime someone I know says they want to learn more about baking! If you are afraid of the kitchen, this dispels the myth that baking is overly complicated and too difficult to understand. It's recipes and techniques leave plenty of room for creativity and experimentation, while leaving clear parameters, so the results are successful. You no longer have to feel trapped by the idea of doing something wrong in the kitchen; you just have to remember your ratios!

    HPB Staff Review