Product Description

EVERY HOME COOK HAS QUESTIONS

and How to Peel a Peach has the answers. Whether you're a bona fide beginner or a kitchen dynamo, chances are you've been stumped by culinary questions great and small. In these pages, wise, worldly culinary professional Perla Meyers comes to the rescue, offering a wealth of information about ingredients, equipment, and techniques in a forthright Q&A format. With timeless recipes that illustrate her points, it's as if this prominent cooking teacher is by your side, conducting a series of special classes just for you.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1144717 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-09
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .99" h x 7.50" w x 9.04" l, 1.86 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

From Publishers Weekly
To create fantastic food you need more than a book of recipes, says Meyers."To me," she writes, "this is where cooking begins-with the intimate knowledge of one's ingredients, how to shop for them, store them and cook with them." In this marvelous reference guide, the award-winning author passes that intimate knowledge along to her readers, answering questions like "how can I tell a really fresh cabbage?" and "is it a good idea to marinate veal?" Most of the book is presented in a Q&A style, with lovely recipes interspersed throughout, but each section also begins with a mini-essay in which Meyers describes her love for food or her beliefs about cooking. In "Poultry," she explains that "chicken was a religion" in her family; every bird was bought fresh in a Barcelona market. Like Meyer's previous cookbooks (Spur of the Moment Cook; The Seasonal Kitchen), this volume emphasizes fresh seasonal cuisine and down-to-earth economy. She suggests, for example, that tomatoes be tucked under the bed to ripen and that readers eat "the beautiful, black, pearl-like seeds nestled together at [a papaya's] core." Meyers is also alert to seasonal and regional variations: carrots are sweeter in the Northwest than in the Northeast, she says; look for blood oranges from December to May. There is a fantastic final chapter on grilling. Meyers is up-front about her bias towards Italian and Spanish food, and the book does contain a few omissions. (Radishes, for example, are ignored.) But these gaps are minor in such an otherwise complete book. Inspiring for the advanced cook, invaluable for the novice, this volume will be a treasured reference guide in many kitchens. 150 recipes.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Back Cover
EVERY HOME COOK HAS QUESTIONS

and How to Peel a Peach has the answers. Whether you're a bona fide beginner or a kitchen dynamo, chances are you've been stumped by culinary questions great and small. In these pages, wise, worldly culinary professional Perla Meyers comes to the rescue, offering a wealth of information about ingredients, equipment, and techniques in a forthright Q&A format. With timeless recipes that illustrate her points, it's as if this prominent cooking teacher is by your side, conducting a series of special classes just for you.

"If you [listen to Meyers' suggestions], your life in the kitchen will be immeasurably easier and more satisfying."
—Robin Mather Jenkins, Chicago Tribune

"The coolest-concept book of the year."
—Daryna Torey, Wine Enthusiast

About the Author
PERLA MEYERS is one of the country's leading cooking teachers and a highly sought-after food industry consultant. She is the author of eight cookbooks, including the award-winning The Seasonal Kitchen, which is in the Cookbook Hall of Fame, and Spur of the Moment Cook. Her articles have been featured in the New York Times, Bon Appétit, and Food & Wine.