The Everyday Chef Recipes Blog

Everyday gourmets tend to have a collection of cookbooks - but what kind of cookbooks appeal to you? There are literally millions of books on the market, running the gamut of gastronomical tastes and styles.

There are simple cookbooks, complicated cookbooks, restaurant cookbooks, baking cookbooks - you name it. Some of the most popular cookbooks contain recipes that the average home cook probably would never make, such as duck confit and foie gras napoleons. Why is the average person buying books with recipes they won’t ever make?

For inspiration, that’s why.

Chefs such as Thomas Keller produce cookbooks that are larger than life, filled with images that would make any food lover swoon. His recipes are long and involved, often requiring hours of work - but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the recipe. Flipping through the French Laundry Cookbook can give you all sorts of ideas. Like, who thought to combine duck with the flavor of raspberry? Little bits like this can be invaluable to your culinary creativity.

More simple cooks, such as Giada de Laurentiis produce equally gorgeous cookbooks that are more geared towards the home cook. Giada’s recipes are relatively easy to produce at home, though they may still intimidate novices.

So, go wild with your cookbook selection. Just because you might not be willing to buy an entire pig’s head to break down in the kitchen doesn’t mean that the recipe won’t reach you a new way to look at pork. Enjoy!

Bouchon