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Start Here: A James Beard Award Winner: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook: A Cookbook

by Sohla El-Waylly

A technique-led guide to cooking with confidence

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A technique-led guide to cooking with confidence

Sohla El-Waylly organizes this cookbook around the mechanics of cooking, with chapters devoted to skills such as managing temperature, building sauces, browning, working with butter, and making dough. More than 200 recipes span savory dishes and desserts, while practical guidance, scientific background, and recipe variations connect the techniques to a broad range of meals. The emphasis is on understanding the hows and whys behind a method, giving the book a teaching structure that goes beyond a collection of finished dishes.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Home cooks seeking to build foundational kitchen skills
  • Cooks who like learning the principles behind recipes
  • Readers looking for a cookbook that includes both savory dishes and desserts

Themes

Cooking techniques and fundamentalsKitchen scienceRecipe variationsSavory cooking and desserts

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AND IACP BOOK AWARD WINNER - Change the way you think about cooking! In this epic guide to better eating, the chef, recipe developer, and video producer Sohla El-Waylly reimagines what a cookbook can be, teaching home cooks of all skill levels how cooking really works.

"The new Joy of Cooking." --The New York Times

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, NPR, Epicurious, The Boston Globe

"The book I wish someone had handed me when I began my own journey as a cook."--from the Foreword by Samin Nosrat, New York Times bestselling author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat


"A book to return to again and again and again." --Yotam Ottolenghi, New York Times bestselling author of Plenty and Ottolenghi Simple

A practical, information-packed, and transformative guide to becoming a better cook and conquering the kitchen, Start Here is a must-have master class in leveling up your cooking.

Across a dozen technique-themed chapters--from "Temperature Management 101" and "Break it Down & Get Saucy" to "Go to Brown Town," "All About Butter," and "Getting to Know Dough"--Sohla El-Waylly explains the hows and whys of cooking, introducing the fundamental skills that you need to become a more intuitive, inventive cook.

A one-stop resource, regardless of what you're hungry for, Start Here gives equal weight to savory and sweet dishes, with more than two hundred mouthwatering recipes, including:

  • Crispy-Skinned Salmon with Radishes & Nuoc Cham
  • Charred Lemon Risotto
  • Chilled Green Tahini Soba
  • Lemon, Pecorino & Potato Pizza
  • Fruity-Doodle Cookies
  • Masa & Buttermilk Tres Leches

Packed with practical advice and scientific background, and an almost endless assortment of recipe variations, along with tips, guidance, and how-tos, Start Here is culinary school--without the student loans.
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