About this Book

"Think of this book as cooking skills for dummies ratcheted up to a higher level.... Well organized and explained."
--Booklist

"This book will turn a good cook into a great cook."
--Vancouver Sun

This step-by-step guide to essential cooking techniques explains and illustrates every important cooking method that, once mastered, will give a cook the confidence to make all dishes, no matter the challenge.

The ten chapters describe essential tools and equipment, and explain tried-and-tested procedures to prepare a wide range of items perfectly and consistently.

The book includes:

• Essential Equipment: Knives, utensils, pots and pans, ovenware, bakeware, gadgets and machines
• Sauces: Gravy, vinaigrette, mayonnaise, hollandaise, pastry cream, caramel, chocolate, and more
• Vegetables: Slicing, julienne, charring peppers, peeling tomatoes and more
• Fruits and Nuts: Peeling, skinning, pitting, poaching fruit and more
• Meat: Cuts of beef, lamb and pork; boning, roasting and more
• Poultry: Trussing, stuffing, spatchcocking, boning, jointing and more
• Fish: Boning, filleting, poaching, broiling, and more
• Seafood: Deveining shrimp, cracking crab, preparing squid, and more
• Eggs: Testing eggs for freshness, poaching, baking, souffle and more
• Pastry and Baking: Puff pastry, buttercream, pavlova and more
• Pasta, Grain, Legume, Bread: Ravioli, risotto, polenta, croutons and more
• Broths: Brown, vegetable, and fish broths; skimming and freezing
• Spices: Toasting and grinding spices, using a vanilla bean

200 Skills Every Cook Must Have is the one secret ingredient that turns any cook into a great one.