Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking

The book uses an interesting method of conveying recipes using ingredient weights and ratios to one another. It takes a little getting used to, but makes a lot more sense of some of the really old cookbooks I've tried to decipher. I think the book is worth keeping on my kitchen shelf for future reference! ( )

I was fascinated with this book. Ruhlman can go on at times, but overall it was a well-written exploration of one of the most fundamental concepts in cooking: ratios. Guided by a simple spreadsheet bestowed on him by one of America's premier chefs, Ruhlman explains how ratios connect our breads and donuts, quiches and ice creams. Even sausages and stocks come under close scrutiny. Even if you aren't moved to start making your own slurries, the information in the book will give you a better understanding of the art and science of cooking. ( )

The author's main point is that everything is interconnected. By altering the ratio of egg : flour : fat : liquid, and by altering the order in which you combine them, you can change any type of cooked food into any other type of cooked food. In other words, a crepe batter really isn't that different from pasta dough.

Of course, I already knew that a crepe batter wasn't really terribly different from pasta dough.... I was hoping for specifics on what tied them together. I was looking for chemistry! ("Additional egg does this; more beating does this; butter vs. shortening changes the texture of your baked goods in this way....") However, although it contains that information interspersed through the book, the book isn't focused on (dare I say?) that slightly more sophisticated level. Instead, it's focused on Ruhlman's gospel, which is not more complicated than the refrain "it's all the same thing; don't be so intimidated!."

In any event -- glad to have read this one. ( )

I'm very intrigued at the approach this book takes: that understanding the basic ratios in many "core" recipes allows one to improvise freely in the kitchen. This is a bit of a misnomer, though, since in some things the basic techniques are equally important (such as the differences between pound and sponge cakes; the ratios are the same, it's the technique that makes them different). I'll admit, though, at this point I have not yet tried cooking using the reatio system- though I'm looking forward to doing so- and may edit my review after I try a few different ratios. ( )

I am not a cook. In fact, I mostly dread the whole menu planning, grocery shopping, cooking routine. It's just so endless. At least it was until I discovered this book.

Ration: The Simple codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking has been an absolute revelation to me. It's as if everything I hated about cooking has been cleared away and now I can be ME in the kitchen. Why? Because I won't be spending untold hours sifting through reecipe web sites or countless cookbooks trying to find a recipe that looks as if it would embody the flavors on the tip of my tongue and running around in my head wishing for me to express them. Thanks to Mr Ruhlman now I KNOW how to translate the flavor/texture wishes into something I can eat.

I've actually paused my reading of this book a little over half way through because I'm so excited to get in the kitchen and COOK! No looking for recipes or buying prepackaged mixes because I can do this. Me! I can walk confidently into my kitchen, pull out the basics I never used and put them to work.

First up was a gnocchi browned in butter and roasted garlic topped with a sauce of roma tomatoes and spinach. YUM!!!

Now I will read the remaining sections as I need them. If you've ever wished you knew how to just walk in the kitchen and make something, no mixes, no recipes, this is the book you need. My copy has a permanent place next to the stove. ( )