The Cook's Book of Ingredients

546 Pages·2010·33 MB·English

by  Gary Ombler

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For anyone who appreciates good food, d ’
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this has to be their new kitchen companion.

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Find out: e
O T H E C O O K ’ s B O O K O f
The best way to wrap brie
What the freckles on an apricot tell you n O
Which sustainable fish to buy instead of cod K I ng r e d I e nt s
A good technique for cutting up pumpkin t

The flavour of ostrich meat O
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An authentic recipe for guacamole
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What to do with a whelk
Use this definitive visual reference to help you choose top-quality, in-season produce,
seek out unusual ingredients, learn the best preparation and cooking techniques,
and try out exciting new flavour pairings.
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Find out more about our values and Discover more at 2,500 world ingredients with classic recipes
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T H E C O O K ’ S B O O K O F
I NG R E D I ENTS

T H E C O O K ’ S B O O K O F
I NG R E D I ENT S
LONDON, NEW YORK, MELBOURNE,
MUNICH, AND DELHI
Photographers Gary Ombler, Roger Dixon,
Jon Whitaker, Lorenzo Vecchia, Gary Seagraves,
Petrina Tinslay, Nicki Downey, Will Heap,
Chris Villano, Deepak Aggarwal
Project Editor Norma MacMillan
Editors Helena Caldon, Fiona Corbridge,
Mary Scott, Belinda Wilkinson
Designer Miranda Harvey
Picture Researcher Jenny Faithful
CONTENTS
FOR DORLING KINDERSLEY
Senior Editors
Laura Nickoll, Scarlett O’Hara
Design Consultant
Heather McCarry
Art Editors
Kathryn Wilding, Elly King, Caroline de Souza
INTRODUCTION 6
Editorial Assistant
Kajal Mistry
Design Assistants
FISH & SEAFOOD 12
Elma Aquino, Danaya Bunnag
Editorial Assistance
Sarah Ruddick, Alastair Laing, Andrew Roff
MEAT 100
Senior Jackets Creative
Nicola Powling
Managing Editors
Dawn Henderson, Angela Wilkes VEGETABLES 180
Managing Art Editors
Marianne Markham, Christine Keilty
Production Editor HERBS 280
Maria Elia
Senior Production Controller
Alice Sykes
NUTS & SEEDS 314
Creative Technical Support
Sonia Charbonnier
First published in Great Britain in 2010
SPICES 326
by Dorling Kindersley Limited
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL
Penguin Group (UK)
Copyright © 2010 Dorling Kindersley Limited
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior written permission of the
copyright owners.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 4053 5318 2
Colour reproduction by Colourscan, Singapore
Printed and bound by Toppan, China
Discover more at
www.dk.com
DAIRY & EGGS 362
FRUITS 410
GRAINS, RICE, PASTA & NOODLES 478
OILS, VINEGARS & FLAVOURINGS 508
INDEX 526
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 544
INTRODUCTION
In the past twenty years, food lovers and cooks the world over have witnessed the
phenomenal growth of a vast global market. It is as if a seemingly constant and burgeoning
stream of produce is there for the asking – exotic fruit and heirloom vegetables, rare-breed
meat and poultry, remarkable fish and seafood, artisan cheeses and cured meats, rare spices
and herbs, authentic sauces and flavourings. The list goes on and more keeps coming –
sometimes making us feel like excited children in a sweetshop.
Since good cooking is about good ingredients, we need the knowledge necessary for
making informed choices. We need to be able to recognize quality – ingredients that are
the best of their kind, produced with care and pride. We need to know when food is in
prime condition, how to store it, ripen it, prepare it, cook it, or preserve it in the most
appropriate way. Regardless of where we live, if we are to make the most of this rich
global market, we need to be aware that everyday ingredients in one part of the world
may seem unusual or exotic in another. If we don’t recognize ingredients or know what to
do with them, we are likely to pass over items that could enrich our culinary repertoire.
The Cook’s Book of Ingredients provides the in-depth information you need to do all this
and more. It will fascinate and inform beginners and experienced cooks, professional
chefs, passionate foodies, and even the mildly curious whose interest has been kindled by
the sheer wealth of produce available.
Every page of this book reveals an ingredient that simply must be tried, or a new piece of
information about a familiar ingredient. Space is devoted to lesser-known regional items, with
foods such as beremeal and biltong given the same attention as chicken and cheese. For every
ingredient, there is a short introduction describing provenance and seasonality, together with
insider information on how to assess quality and freshness, and clear explanations of how best
to prepare and cook the ingredient. Following this are recommendations for flavour pairings
with compatible ingredients that will open the mind of even the most accomplished cook.
The book includes over 200 classic recipes, distinctly regional but well known the world
over, chosen to showcase a particular ingredient and to help you explore its flavours further.
These are classic recipes from around the world in which the ingredient is star.
This colossal culinary encyclopaedia has been produced by a team of expert food writers,
chefs, and connoisseurs, backed by worldwide regional consultants. Photographers have travelled
the globe to far-flung food markets, from Barcelona’s Boqueria to San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza to
Tokyo’s Tsukiji in search of the very best ingredients to illustrate the book. Their work is shown
in 2,500-plus photographs of a complete spectrum of foods: fish and shellfish, meat, poultry,
and game, vegetables, herbs, spices, dairy and eggs, fruits, nuts and seeds, grains, rice, pasta, and
noodles, oils, vinegars, and flavourings.
Had this book been produced twenty years ago, it would have been a slim volume with
fewer photographs. Missing would be some of the exotica that long-haul travel has
made commonplace, along with the melting pot of foods emerging from our increasingly
multicultural society. Fewer pages would be devoted to the wealth of fresh produce that
modern harvesting and refrigerated transport systems have made possible. The book
would also be lacking some of the in-depth knowledge and culinary expertise that the
internet makes so speedily accessible.
In the 80s and 90s, supermarkets ruled the roost; decades later they remain the essential
one-stop shop for many of us in the West. That said, our growing passion for food has been
matched by a significant rise in delicatessens, butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers, farm
shops and farmers’ markets. Their shelves are packed with produce, much of it in season
and locally grown, opening up yet more choices. Mail-order food companies are increasing,
too. We can order every imaginable ingredient, from exotic spices and heirloom beans
to foie gras and oven-ready squirrel, by e-mail or phone – though this rather misses the
sensory pleasure of looking, touching, and smelling to evaluate what is on offer.
The time has never been better for the curious cook. Every day the larder grows, with foods
that were previously geographically or culturally isolated now being shared at tables around
the world. With this unprecedented abundance, we can return from our travels, inspired by
the food we have eaten, and create the same dishes at home – from an aromatic Thai curry or
spicy Mexican mole to Spanish paella or Hungarian goulash. Whether we live in Dallas or Dijon,