Need suggestions for ABSOLUTE beginner's cookbook [closed]

Question

I have a friend who is 24 and can barely make mac and cheese from a box. She lives with her grandparents due to some tough financial situations, so she survives, but she is always very impressed with the things I (and others) make. Just yesterday she was floored by the fact that brownies can be made from scratch.

Anyway, long story short I was going to give her some "cooking lessons" and a beginner cookbook for Christmas. Do y'all have any recommendations as to what would be a good cookbook for someone who truly knows nothing about cooking/baking?

• The book should start at the beginning and not make assumptions about cooking knowledge
• The instructions should be comprehensive
• An overview of ingredients would be helpful
• Obviously I need something without a lot of fancy techniques and ingredients

• Some fancier simple dishes that she could "show off" with would be great too

  I was thinking Betty Crocker, but don't know if that gets into the true basics.

Please let me know why your suggestion would be a good choice.

Answer 1

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook or it's lighter (calorie-wise) cousin The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook are ideal for cooks of all skill levels. The recipes are documented in detail. There are product reviews, equipment guides, and insets on why a given technique produces a good result. All of the detail provided adds up to confidence in the kitchen.

Best of all with the America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated family of publications, almost all of the recipes "just work" as written. Too many times I have scrounged up a recipe from somewhere, including my 1950s Betty Crocker, and messed up some step somehow or just picked a bad recipe, producing a poor result. I've done that all of 2 times in the 3 years I've been cooking from ATK.

All of the recipes have an ATK-style "Americanization" to them that tends to lean towards fairly standard ingredients in United States super markets, so they might not be as common outside of the States but are excellent here.

Either of these books are not only an ideal place to start but provide solid recipes for years to come.

Answer 2

"How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman is a good basic cookbook. There are not a lot of pictures but he gives clear instructions and covers the basics as well as some fancier dishes. Also I think the tone of this cookbook is very comforting.

Answer 3

I largely taught myself to cook out of Joy of Cooking, lo, these many years ago. The various "About..." chapters have a lot of good infromation, and the recipe instructions are clear.

Nowadays, I'd seriously consider Alton Brown's I'm Only Here for the Food. That doesn't rise to an actual recommendation, as I've only browsed through it rather than diving in deeply. For that matter, you could do worse than a box set of "Good Eats" DVDs....

Answer 4

If you need an absolute beginners cookery course, then I would recommend:

Delia's How To Cook (Books 1 - 3)

It is capable of teaching a person from scratch how to perform all basic cooking skills. Delia Smith is somewhat of a star here, probably the most well read in terms of cookery books.

Answer 5

For someone who can't cook, doesn't know their way around a kitchen, and could use help with basic food cooking techniques as well, the Starving Students' Cookbook fits the bill well. It is a very approachable book that breaks itself out into types of meals, and then ingredients. (I forgot to mention, one of the ideal parts about this book for those learning to cook is the 'starving' part. This book doesn't use expensive ingredients frequently that make you cry when your alfredo clots irrevocably.)

Answer 6

I bought the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that is amazing and I keep going back to it. My mom used it to learn how to bake, make candy, can, etc. I see that there is a kids version that might be good. You should check that out.

Answer 7

I learned quite a lot from Julia Child's The Way to Cook. It's a large-format book, and gives very good explanations about the how and the why, often with very clear photos of procedures. It works from the master recipe concept--if you are in a section about white sauces, you'll first learn how to make a basic bechamel, and then be presented with variations on it that all start with bechamel.

It is very French focused, but sticks mostly to simple, basic dishes (covering all traditional courses: appetizers, soups, salads, mains, desserts) that you can use as a great base to expand from, without being this 3-inch-thick tome. It won't show you how to do international cuisine like The Joy increasingly does, but the "how to" aspect is terrific.

I suppose the French focus might be off-putting for someone who knows absolutely nothing about cooking, on the idea that she might find the idea of French food as too fancy, too fattening or just intimidating. But it is really just a basic grounding in the most common way of handling the foods we all know.

I hope you have luck with your friend, whatever book you choose. In my experience, people who reach "a certain age" without having learned anything about cooking rarely have all that much interest and are frustrating students at best. But I'm sure there are plenty who just need help over a roadblock (like never having HAD to cook) and then take to it like fish to water.

Answer 8

Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything is your best option. (As someone else pointed out, it's large, but it's also comprehensive.) Many recipes in it are extremely simple, some requiring as few as 4 ingredients. And they are basic--"omelets," "hamburgers" "chocolate chip cookies," etc. However, the book does contain some more complex recipes, so as your friend increases her skills, she can make impressive dishes. Though Betty Crocker is good, as is Joy of Cooking and several of Julia Child's books, I do think that they expect at least some knowledge of cooking terminology. It is possible to start from zero and become a fantastic cook. With your guidance, your friend is well on her way.

Answer 9

When I first started cooking for myself in college I got the The Healthy College Cookbook. It was really great for a beginning for several reasons. First, it has a whole section on what foods and equipment you need to stock your own pantry so that you can cook for yourself regularly. You mentioned that this friend is living with her grandparents but at some point she'll have to figure this out and the book does a great explanation of what you absolutely need and what you might want in the future. It also breaks down each recipe into how quick it is and how cheap it is and there are a lot of recipes that are both cheap and quick to prepare. It gives a few variations for most of the dishes and the things it suggests are things that are easy to make for yourself but that you could also bring to a potluck or serve to friends at a dinner party. It was invaluable when I was learning to cook and then I gifted it to a friend who was learning to cook for himself.

While I love Bittman's How to Cook Everything, it's pretty big and can be intimidating for someone who barely knows how to boil water. The Healthy College Cookbook was great because it was fairly small for a cookbook so it felt much more manageable to me when I had no idea how to do anything in a kitchen without a box.

Answer 10

Cooking for Dummies.. 'nuf said?

Further, I found that I like the process of this book, because it builds you up to some more complicated set of dishes to prepare instead of just a collection of easy recipes. Your post makes me think you're interested in starting out in cooking, but want to get better. Good luck :)

Answer 11

I think that part of the issue with cookbooks for beginners is that that too many cookbooks read like alchemy formulas. Others seem to be more fluff -- a picture of food, some stories about some travels to (insert foreign country here) and the marvelous hole-in-the-wall-café where they had the most magnificant meal ever, recipe follows.

There are some cookbooks for the more technically minded (eg, Cooking for Geeks, Alton Brown, etc), but if you've got someone who's scared of cooking (and there's quite a few who are), I like the ones that have a little humor to them ...

Some that come to mind are:

• For the guys: Dad's Own Cookbook (for years, it was my go-to book ... at least, the first edition was, don't know what's change in the new edition)
• For parents (lots of funny stories to go w/ each recipe): The Crabby Cook Cookbook (also a website)

... for single females, if you can find a copy maybe The Little Black Apron: A single girl's guide to cooking with style and grace (not sure how beginner it is ... I don't have a copy)

Other ones, not quite as funny, but still good:

• For singles : Going Solo in the Kitchen (covers gear, shopping tips, etc, not just recipes)
• The I Don't Know How To Cook Book
• How to Cook Without a Book (for those people who can make 1 or 2 dishes, but freak out w/out a recipe)

Answer 12

I agree that the idea of a general purpose reference book is useful -- I also like How to Cook Everything and the (old version of) Joy of Cooking, but I'm not sure if that's the best way to start learning to cook. These large books can seem intimidating and overwhelming to the total beginner.

My favourite book for the beginner is actually an excellent children's cookbook, Elliot's Extraordinary Cookbook. It's originally Swedish and has lovely illustrations and lots of food information (as well as a bit of a story) along with the recipes. It's not at all condescending and includes a wide range of recipes that would result in some great basic skills and general confidence in the kitchen. There are simple recipes with things like potatoes and eggs, but also recipes for stuff like yeast bread and baked fish in tin foil parcels. I think it's a lot more approachable as a first book, than a general purpose reference.

If you want something a little more "grown up", then I would suggest something like Jamie's Dinners or Jamie's Ministry of Food (published as Jamie's Food Revolution in the US). Both these have a selection of useful basic recipes, written in a simple, clear way. The latter book was specifically written with non-cooks as the intended audience (and released in relation to the tv shows of the same the name).

Answer 13

I would suggest making your own cookbook. Not only is it more personal, but you can tailor it to her needs. I would suggest lots of recipes that you prepare and put in the oven, since these types of recipes usually involve setting a temperature and timer. This is how I learned to cook most of my meals, and to this day, I still use the oven most often.

Answer 14

I would recommend Alton Brown's Good Eats: The Early Years. You'll learn recipes and you'll also learn the science behind cooking. It's also an entertaining cookbook. It has recipes and techniques from his show Good Eats.

Answer 15

In general, I can recommend every single book written by Jamie Oliver: they all free you from the fear of doing anything wrong, instead he encourages you to try different things to get your own style of cooking.

One book especially written for beginners is Jamie's Food Revolution (Amazon).

I intended to show the cover here but haven't got enough rep

Answer 16

My suggestion would be to take a good all-purpose cookbook, like Joy or How to Cook Everything, or something like that, then to pick 30 simple recipes that span a range of techniques and ingredients. (Grilled steak, roast chicken, dinner rolls, broccoli with lemon and garlic, black bean chili, chocolate cake, apple pie, white bread, mashed potatoes, waffles, etc.) Then, cook those 30 recipes several times each, until you really understand how variations in time, temperature, ingredients, etc., affect the food. Then find a few variations in other cookbooks. Do Steak Diane, broccoli rabe, pan-roasted potatoes, etc. Same ingredients, different flavors and techniques. After six months or a year, you're probably tired of the same dishes, but pretty good at them, too. At that point, you can probably pick up a random cookbook and use it without too much intimidation.

Answer 17

I am looking for a cookbook for beginners (including myself) too. What to Cook and How to Cook It is the closest to what I imagine; a lot of step-by-step pictures from top-down perspective. I have not bought the book but its table of content shows basic recipes that everyone should like and want to try.

Answer 18

If she is even slightly in the technical side of things, I can't recommend Cooking for Geeks highle enough. A beautiful introduction both how and why to hack food.