Larousse

Larousse Temático Universal: El universo y la Tierra, la ciencia y la tecnología es una obra de consulta que explora el origen y la estructura del universo, el sistema solar, la Tierra y sus fenómenos naturales. Profundiza en los avances científicos y tecnológicos que han transformado la vida humana, incluyendo la física, la química, la biología, la informática y la ingeniería. Con un enfoque claro y accesible, combina información actualizada con ilustraciones, esquemas y show more fotografías. Es ideal para estudiantes y lectores curiosos que deseen comprender los fundamentos del cosmos, el planeta y los descubrimientos que impulsan el progreso científico y técnico. show less

I had this book on the shelf for years, and supposed it to be snooty and French. It is - and terrific stuff, too.
Handling a roadkill just after Christmas I browsed the book for venison recipes and discovered one (see Roebuck) attributed to Christian Dior, of all people. To my slight surprise it read well - it had, I imagine, a sort of New Look simplicity. And it was a triumph.
Now I browse the great tome occasionally, finding all sorts of treasures, including little biographies of show more extraordinary people, mostly French cooks and critics. show less

I don't care if you're never going to use this cookbook. OWN IT. READ IT. NOW.
The recipes are written in a non-accessible form for the beginner, it's like when my mother tells me how to do a recipe (plus some measurements). Here's one example on how to make chocolate cream puffs:

"Prepare some confectioner's custard (pastry cream) and flavour it with melted chocolate. Separately prepare some chocolate fondant icing (frosting) using 200g fondant icing and 50g cocoa blended with 2 tablespoons show more water. Fill some choux buns with chocolate custard and coat with the fondant icing. Leave to set."

That's it. That's the whole recipe. Of course, things referred to here such as the pastry cream and choux buns do have a recipe mentioned in the book. It's pretty minimalistic. show less

A surprisingly complete tool for translating, or for conducting business in Spanish. While I have a number of denser and wordier dictionaries that should ostensibly be more 'authoritative', I -- and other translators I know -- have more confidence that this one will deliver up the apt term when needed. It also has an appendix on business correspondence, various equivalency tables and a list to clarify political-geography designations in Spanish.