Michael Ruhlman's groundbreaking New York Times bestseller takes us
to the very "truth" of cooking: it is not about recipes but rather about
basic ratios and fundamental techniques that makes all food come
together, simply.
When you know a culinary ratio, it's not like knowing a single recipe,
it's instantly knowing a thousand.
Why spend time sorting through the millions of cookie recipes available
in books, magazines, and on the Internet? Isn't it easier just to
remember 1-2-3? That's the ratio of ingredients that always make a
basic, delicious cookie dough: 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, and 3 parts
flour. From there, add anything you want--chocolate, lemon and orange
zest, nuts, poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, almond extract, or
peanut butter, to name a few favorite additions. Replace white sugar
with brown for a darker, chewier cookie. Add baking powder and/or eggs
for a lighter, airier texture.
Ratios are the starting point from which a thousand variations begin.
Ratios are the simple proportions of one ingredient to another. Biscuit
dough is 3:1:2--or 3 parts flour, 1 part fat, and 2 parts liquid. This
ratio is the beginning of many variations, and because the biscuit takes
sweet and savory flavors with equal grace, you can top it with whipped
cream and strawberries or sausage gravy. Vinaigrette is 3:1, or 3 parts
oil to 1 part vinegar, and is one of the most useful sauces imaginable,
giving everything from grilled meats and fish to steamed vegetables or
lettuces intense flavor.
Cooking with ratios will unchain you from recipes and set you free. With
thirty-three ratios and suggestions for enticing variations, Ratio is
the truth of cooking: basic preparations that teach us how the
fundamental ingredients of the kitchen--water, flour, butter and oils,
milk and cream, and eggs--work. Change the ratio and bread dough becomes
pasta dough, cakes become muffins become popovers become crepes.
As the culinary world fills up with overly complicated recipes and
never-ending ingredient lists, Michael Ruhlman blasts through the
surplus of information and delivers this innovative, straightforward
book that cuts to the core of cooking. Ratio provides one of the
greatest kitchen lessons there is--and it makes the cooking easier and
more satisfying than ever.
