When comparing How to Cook Everything vs How to Read a French Fry, the Slant community recommends How to Cook Everything for most people. In the question“What are the best books for learning how to cook?” How to Cook Everything is ranked 1st while How to Read a French Fry is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose How to Cook Everything is:
Each chapter starts with "Essential recipes", which are the building blocks for the more complicated foods that follow.
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Pros
Pro Well organized
Each chapter starts with "Essential recipes", which are the building blocks for the more complicated foods that follow.
Pro Pragmatic recipes allow for learning by doing
As a beginner book, it functions like a food dictionary or thesaurus.
Pro Organized by Ingredient
Start with the ingredient you want to eat and explore from there.
Pro Very widely read and used book
The book was published in 1998 and has become very well known. This is a revised edition though, so you will find more up to date content.
Pro Includes over 2000 recipes
Pro Contains interesting facts about food
You will truly learn a lot about food from this book. For example, Russ explains why a fruit that stops being irrigated just before harvest has better taste than one that is irrigated up to the last moment.
Pro Gives useful cooking tips with explanations
For example, you will learn why it's a good idea to always start cooking beans in cold water.
Pro Gripping read
Russ Parsons spices up a vanilla cook book with his wits and commentary about the industry.