Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat : : Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking

How to use this book -- Pt. I: the four elements of good cooking : Salt ; Fat ; Acid ; Heat ; What to cook -- Pt. II: Recipes and recommendations : Kitchen basics ; Recipes: Salads, Dressings, Vegetables, Stock and soups, Beans, grains, and pasta; Eggs, Fish, Thirteen ways of looking at a chicken, Meat; Sauces, Butter-and-flour doughs, Sweets ; Cooking lessons ; Suggested menus ; Tips for further reading.
Whether you've never picked up a knife or you're an accomplished chef, there are only four basic factors that determine how good your food will taste. Salt, Fat, Acid, and Heat are the four cardinal directions of cooking, and they will guide you as you choose which ingredients to use and how to cook them, and they will tell you why last minute adjustments will ensure that food tastes exactly as it should. This book will change the way you think about cooking and eating, and help you find your bearings in any kitchen, with any ingredients, while cooking any meal. -- adapted from introduction.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Cooking submitted by i'm a blobfish on June 26, 2019, 4:32pm Even if you aren't an accomplished cook, you can still make delicious dishes from this book. Instead of focusing on the techniques, this book mostly focuses on the taste and the different flavors you can create. This book really helped me improve my cooking skills and attention to details to really make sure everything I cook is yummy.

Lessons, not just recipes submitted by redwood on July 26, 2019, 9:40pm Samin Nosrat doesn't just provide some fancy recipes--she actually teaches you how to cook, explaining how to understand the titular elements of good food in accessible chapters that come before any recipes. Great for cooks of any level.

Incredibly Helpful and Enjoyable submitted by reaganmalcolm on June 24, 2020, 11:33pm Samin Nosrat has managed to write a cookbook that is at once a lesson plan, a work of art, and a source for delicious recipes. By breaking down the elements of good cooking into their most base forms, Nosrat enables even the most skittish cook to feel confident in the kitchen.

Fascinating submitted by mandevil on June 14, 2021, 8:30am Gets right into the heart of what happens when you add salt, cook with fats, introduce acid and apply heat.