The Cook's Pocket Bible

Even the most experienced cook has questions. After all, no one (with a life) can remember everything they need to know when they're in the kitchen, from how long a 16lb turkey will take to roast, to which bits of a dragon fruit you can eat. But where do you go for the answers? Until now, most of us have had little choice but to phone a friend. But what if they're out? Or they're the one you're trying to impress with your classic vegetable soup (what does the recipe mean by julienne?), or poached salmon (how do you rescue a curdled hollandaise?), or your fluffy meringues (what were the proportions of egg white to sugar again?). This book puts the answers to all those on-the-spot questions right at your floured fingertips, including: What's the best way to carve a shoulder of lamb? What proportion of fat/flour/milk goes into a white sauce? Are these leftovers still OK after two days in the fridge? Can you substitute crème fraiche if you've run out of fromage frais? What can you serve vegetarians for Christmas dinner? This book will be indispensible to all enthusiastic cooks (and reluctant ones too), and save hours combing through standard cookbooks for the particular snippet of advice you need.