The Food Lover's Companion

by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst

Book Overview

"Essential for anyone who talks, eats, or thinks about food." --Bev Bennett, Chicago Sun-TimesThe New Food Lover's Companion is an indispensable resource for everyone from home cooks to culinary... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764112589
• ISBN13: 9780764112584
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: B.E.S. Publishing
• Length: 792 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 4.8" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

The perfect gift!!

Naa loved it, it will be used immensely. It’s a amazing reference tool for any home cook, foodie, line cook or chef.

One of the must-haves for your kitchen!

When I first started toying with the idea of going to culinary school many years ago, a chef I spoke with recommend 2 books to get my feet wet with culinary terms, knowledge and technique. The first was Larousse "Gastronomique" and "The Food Lover's Companion". So, I immediately went out and purchased both and still have them to this day. I also recommend them to others just starting out, as well as to food enthusiasts, because they make great reference materials. Both "Gastronomique" and "Food Lover's" serve similar purpose with different levels of detail. The excellent thing about "The Food Lover's Companion" is that it is much, much more portable than "Gastronomique" and gives you just the right amount of information needed. I have been in the food industry for years now, and still will flip through it and get wrapped up in finding various things I didn't know or had forgotten. It's one of those books you can take to a doctor's appt, or an oil change and while you are waiting and flip it and learn a few things!

Delicious Descriptions

I was at first captivated and then consummed by this tiny and yet seriously comprehensive volume years ago when I found one of the first editions. This is the third edition and it is completely amazing how many food, drink and culinary terms can be packed into such a tiny package. I love the feel and weight of this book and the ease of which you can use this book to look up terms fast and furiously when you are writing about food. The rounded corners on the pages make this a book you can flip through very easily and it is all pleasantly alphabetical. The Contents Include: Terms: The volume of the work. The Extras: Ingredient Equivalents Substituting Ingredients Pan Substitution Chart High-Altitude Baking Adjustments Boiling Point of Water at Various Altitudes General Temperature Equivalents Hand Test for Grilling Temperatures Oven Temperatures Fahrenheit/Celsius Conversion Formulas Microwave Oven Conversion Chart Recommended Safe cooking Temperatures Candymaking Cold-Water Tests Frying Temperatures Smoke Points of Popular Oils Fatty Acid Profiles of Popular Oils U.S. Measurement Equivalents Wine and Spirit Bottle Sizes Approximate Metric Equivalents Metric Conversion Formulas Food Guide Pyramid What's a Serving? Food Label Terms A Guide to Food Labels Pasta Glossary British and American Food and Cooking Terms Consumer Information Sources Meat Charts Additives Directory Did I say this was Comprehensive? For food lovers this reaches a point of inspiration unlike any other book on food I've found. I love having so much information all in one book. It is literally a food dictionary which describes food in all its delicious detail. This book has received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic acceptance in the culinary community. For home cooks, it is also a real bonus and could be considered an essential compliment to your entire cookbook collection. This edition has changed slightly. The listings increased to almost 6,000 and there are thousands of food tidbits sprinkled throughout the tantalizing pages of information. I love the historical lore and information on the exotic origins of some of our most innocent and sweet selections. Vanilla is suddenly seductive and is actually native to tropical America. "The vanilla bean was once considered an aphrodisiac, and was so rare that it was reserved for royalty....The saga begins with the orchid blossoms, which open only one day a year." There are almost three pages filled with information on this orchid. Who would have known unless you were doing intensive research. Sharon Tyler Herbst has given us an incredible gift by doing the research for us. If you are unsure of how to pronounce an ingredient, there are pronunciations for all the basic words. The basic bibliomaniac delights in this book include: -Entries arranged alphabetically and cross-referenced -Alphabetization by letter, rather than just by word, so that multiple-word entries are treated as single words. -Multicultural ent

Great reference

I first saw this book at my sister's house and loved it. It's been updated under a new title, The New Food Lover's Companion. ISBN 0764112589

The New Food Lover's Companion: Comprehensive Definitions of

A vital book of food reference. Crucial for all who seek the ultimate knowledge on food related terms and definitions. Keep it within reach, it will help you keep acurately informed about the ever expanding culinary universe of wine and food terms, foreign terms, methods, utensils, heirloom to new foods.