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‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Is a Love Letter to Amateur Cooks

theatlantic.com

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Re: ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Is a Love Letter to Amateur Cooks

#3

Post by jb188 »

JauntTrooper wrote: post #2

My wife is loving this book. It's very different from other cookbooks. It's more narrative, and teaches you how to think about cooking rather than just providing recipes to follow.

I just finished watching this and LOVED it. I haven't read the book yet, but it is now on my todo list. I love to cook and found so many tips in here to make rethink how to assemble a meal.

Re: ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Is a Love Letter to Amateur Cooks

#4

Post by war1025 »

jb188 wrote: post #3
JauntTrooper wrote: post #2

My wife is loving this book. It's very different from other cookbooks. It's more narrative, and teaches you how to think about cooking rather than just providing recipes to follow.

I just finished watching this and LOVED it. I haven't read the book yet, but it is now on my todo list. I love to cook and found so many tips in here to make rethink how to assemble a meal.

I read the book last year and watched a couple of the episodes of the show last weekend.

The book is super informative and useful for thinking about how to build dishes that will taste good. The show seems more like a food travel show that is semi based around on of the items.

Both are good, but if you were impressed by the show, the book will blow you away.

Re: ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Is a Love Letter to Amateur Cooks

#8

Post by nemo44x »

Great book - every home cook should read it. A truly effective philosophy for building dishes. You’ve maybe heard the expression “the acid cuts through the fat” before and this book explains why and is useful in finding ways to adapt this technique.

Having 50 or so pages dedicated to salt is great. Knowing when to salt something and what effect it will have on the food is particularly useful. Effective brining and salting is critical to cooking.

I didn’t care too much for the show. Just unremarkable imo. But the book is great.

Re: ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Is a Love Letter to Amateur Cooks

#9

Post by deyturkerjerbs »

JauntTrooper wrote: post #2

My wife is loving this book. It's very different from other cookbooks. It's more narrative, and teaches you how to think about cooking rather than just providing recipes to follow.

This is the exact reason why I became a huge fan of Chef John since 2010. He has follow-along style videos of cooking different dishes. What I love about him is that he purposely keeps a fluid recipe to add in what you like, omit anything you don't, concious about possible alternative ingredients for personal taste, dietary restrictions, etc. Also has a great sense of humor.

I highly recommend checking out some of his videos here https://www.youtube.com/foodwishes

Re: ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Is a Love Letter to Amateur Cooks

#10

Post by tincholio »

nemo44x wrote: post #8

Great book - every home cook should read it. A truly effective philosophy for building dishes. You’ve maybe heard the expression “the acid cuts through the fat” before and this book explains why and is useful in finding ways to adapt this technique. Having 50 or so pages dedicated to salt is great. Knowing when to salt something and what effect it will have on the food is particularly useful. Effective brining and sa…

I haven't read the book, but I share your feeling about the show. It was a bit disappointing.
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