Cooking Basics For Dummies (For Dummies (Cooking)) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My idea of the "For Dummies" books is that they are supposedto be for the beginner and not intimidate anyone. As an aboveaverage cook who is regularly asked for a recommendation on where a newcomer to the kitchen should start, I had hoped that this could be my answer. Unfortunately, there is a fatal flaw that make me hesitate and certainly give a disclaimer with any recommendation I might provide.
My biggest reservation has to do with the chapter on equipment. While I will certainly not disagree that I can cook slightly better with better equipment, I also know that you can be a perfectly good cook with 50 cent knives and $5 saucepans. This chapter should have been an appendix - "When you're ready to buy the best tools" instead of such an early chapter. At most the chapter should have contained a discussion about what each item is used for, and stopped there. As it stands, it succeeded mainly in putting off the less experienced cooks I showed it to.
This is a shame, since much of the rest of the book is useful, funny and informative. I have since recommended it to one person with the caveat that they should ignore that chapter until they could afford not to. But most people just starting out can't afford what's in there. (Heck, I'm well beyond starting out and can't afford much of it. Then again, I regularly produce gourmet meals on a $20 set of knives and a $50 set of pans. So can anyone.)
In the end, the author broke what I consider to be the cardinal rule of the "For Dummies" books - MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE. In the end, a $50 knive and a $100 pan are just not accessible and also, not NECESSARY to be a good cook. Learning the skills of cooking can be done on almost ANY equipment (the tops have to seal and the knives have to cut - that's about it). This book made it seem necessary to drop a $1000 or so before you could start boiling water and that's not just inaccessible but intimidating, too.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Cooking Basics For Dummies (For Dummies (Cooking))

Get 38% OFF

Click here for more information about Cooking Basics For Dummies (For Dummies (Cooking))