Taste & Technique: Recipes to Elevate Your Home Cooking [A Cookbook] Hardcover – September 13, 2016

You can always tell which cookbooks actually get used by the ruffled pages, the stains, and the cracks in the spine to frequently used sections. This book has now become one of my "go-to" books along with my David Liebowitz and Edna Lewis of recipes that are nearly guaranteed to work the first time. Sometimes I'm a little reluctant to buy cookbooks from chefs because oftentimes the recipes are broken-down professional restaurant versions that don't work well at a smaller home-cook scale. Not these - they have clearly been thought-out, measured, and tested for a home kitchen. The Asparagus Veloute with Walnut-Parsley Pistou includes lovely steps like adding blanched and blended spinach to the end to create a bright green color. I now add that Pistou to all sorts of dishes, I loved it so much. The Brussels Sprouts with Pickled Mustard Seeds has become my new favorite way to cook that vegetable - perfectly tender but also blackened and crispy. And the Biscuits - let me tell you about the biscuits. I live at 5280 ft, and most baking powder biscuit recipes developed for sea-level collapse and turn out like hockey pucks. This recipe is the most reliable I have ever cooked at high altitude and has become a favorite treat to bring to parties since they are such a special treat here.I love this book so much that I just bought a second copy as a gift for my mother. The photographs, the detailed steps, the little "extras", what serious home cook wouldn't love this book?

Every recipe so far is a 5-star winner! Naomi, I can not thank you enough. Your instructions inspire confidence and produce great food. Last night I made the pan-seared salmon. You could have said, "Heat the oil, add the salmon, and cook for about three minutes." Instead you entered my kitchen, hovered over the pan with me, and coached me along. "Heat a black steel pan over high heat until very hot. Add the oil and heat until the surface is rippling but not smoking. Add all of the salmon, skin side down, and press lightly with the back of a fish spatula (see page 373) to ensure a good sear on the skin. Cook until the fish looks opaque approximately halfway up the sides, about 3 minutes." Salmon is not cheap. I can't afford to figure out what you mean when you tell me to start cooking it. I need to know what you mean. You continued with me every step of the way until my plate matched the picture in the book. Beautiful! Delicious! And you have offered me plenty of white space on the page to add my own notes, comments, and praise. You have thought of everything! I am grateful!In your introduction you said, "It's my hope that this book will encourage you to get into the kitchen, take cooking seriously, and feel good about it."It has.I am.And I do.Thank you! And my family thanks you as well!

'Taste and Technique' is not just a cookbook. It is a cookbook, a textbook, a beautiful picture book, and a book which is fascinating to read. It is book which is for the home cook, both novice and more advanced (as some of the recipes fall into both buckets), as well as anyone who is interested in learning a little bit about cooking basic techniques but is not committed to going full steam ahead. Put simply, it's one of the most beautiful cookbooks I have ever read.This book will teach you how to make everything from white chocolate mousse to hollandaise sauce; from horseradish gremolata to apricot brown butter tart; and souffles to aioli. Everything's in here and it's all beautifully displayed and explained.One word of caution. Because of its size and some of the complex recipes, it may seem a bit intimidating; however, the writing style is very approachable and the photos help make this a very enjoyable book to read. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a true interest in cooking.

good with explanations for her special approach to cooking....great flavors..

Beautiful book and I will be using some of these recipes. I love sauces and I love to cook. This is a beautiful book. Well written and designed. She was an amazing chef so I'm delighted she wrote this and I have a copy.

So far so good

I have way too many cookbooks. Like kids, it is hard to choose favorites as they each have so much to offer. That being said, this is certainly one of my favorite cookbooks, and possibly #1. One could spend months working through Taste & Technique and learn so much about cooking technique, seasoning food, ingredients, etc.It is a very personal book. Chef Pomeroy talks about dishes from her childhood that influenced her as a person and a chef. I enjoyed hearing about the Go To salad her Mom made for her family growing up, or the souffles that were a staple for them.Perfection and attention to detail is part of the gig here. For example, when a dish calls for a spicy mustard, the author specifies what type to use, and provides details on the distinct flavor profile to look for in the mustard to keep the dish balanced. Brand names are provided so you can seek them out at your local market.If I could only buy one book for aspiring cooks, this would probably be the one.

This is a very special cookbook. From beginning to end it is a visual feast of spectacular food. Naomi Pomeroy leaves behind a legacy reached only by a few.