The Illustrated Cook's Book of Ingredients: 2,500 of the World's Best with Classic Recipes Paperback – September 16, 2013

The digital world is nice and convenient, but if you are a serious cook or are learning about cooking.. YOU MUST GET THIS BOOK while you can. It is chock full of knowledge about ingredients of all kinds. Have you ever been in the grocery store and said "I wonder what that is? Have you ever been doing a recipe and did not know what a certain ingredient was? THIS BOOK will tell you quickly and show you a photo AND explain in detail the differences between types of say onions, apples etc. I bring it with me to the store!So glad I found this book and I have sent it to all my loved ones who are learning to cook. Kindle is fine, but it will never replace a great book! It is so easy to find what you are looking for as the table of contents is laid out so cleverly. Fast and easy!

Absolutely floored with the extensive, intensive information and the photography! Beautiful book. You will never need another book concerning every type of meat, vegetable, herb, spice, cheeses, etc except this one! You can throw out all the other "cookbooks". Incredible!As an aside, this is the quality and attention to the tiniest of details that I expect from DK Publishing, and was sorely disappointed when I ordered a DK Publishing book on Buttons....the book I received looked like someone ripped out one chapter on someone's personal collection of buttons and bound it and sold it to me! I feel cheated with the Button book. DK Pub, if anyone there is listening, please publish a "proper" DK book on Buttons!I'm just saying!

This book is a great reference book. Sometimes, when I'm in the grocery store, I'll see vegetables or cuts of meat that I just have no idea what they are or what to do with them. Or other times, I'm looking at a recipe that calls for a strange ingredient that I am clueless about. This book is good for looking them up and getting a brief idea about what family their from, storage and preparation. It's much easier than getting the computer out. I love it. Plus the pictures are all in color and the paper is so thick and glossy, I love flipping through the book. It's also helped us plan our garden a bit for next year.

I work in a fancy grocery store. My coworker has this book and we use it often at work whenever we get in products that we aren't familiar with. It's been so useful, I ordered one for myself. I am not a serious cook, but I like to try new foods. This book is such an easy reference, and very concisely tells you pretty much everything you need to know to choose and try a new ingredient, or just make you more familiar with common ingredients.

In a matter of only a few weeks now, this book has been used so many times. It has given me the confidence to buy somewhat exotic ingredients at the market and use them. For example, earlier this year, I bought a jicama and then never used it as I didn't know what to do with it. Recently I bought one again (I love them in restaurants), and the book gave me several different ways to prepare it. The same goes for various other ingredients.But also I find it great for basic techniques and cooking times. It has become my go to source for meat cooking times - it's just such a handy one stop guide but at the same time stunningly illustrated.

Great book - must have in any house! Just 1 thing: Costco sells it in hard cover for 9.99$, therefore I give 4 stars for this soft cover version taking into account the price it will cost you on Amazon + delivery.

How many times have you not bought something because you don't know how to cook it or how to buy it? This is the book for you! I have a pretty large collection of cookbooks in my home. This is by far the most interesting one. It explains how to buy, store and eat/cook a large number of different ingredients.The book is divided into fish, meat, vegetables, herbs, nuts & seeds, spices, dairy & eggs, fruits, grains/rice/pasta/noodles and oils/vinegars/flavorings. If you do not want to know where your meat comes from, I suggest you skip the meat chapter.All in all, an excellent reference book for anyone who is serious about cooking!

I had received this book as a gift some time ago and it was so helpful that I bought another copy to give to someone else. I used to receive a subscription produce box from a local vendor and I'd never know what to expect - or how to store it. This book was a lifesaver in making sure that I extended the life of my fresh produce as long as possible. The pictures are great too. I also reference the cooking charts frequently for a variety of meats.Can't recommend this enough for anyone who likes to cook.