This new book is not a book of recipes, but contains the information you sometimes wish recipes had.
"Whenever we cook from a recipe, we have to interpret and adapt it for our kitchen, our ingredients, our experience. And the process of interpretation and adaptation is just as important to success as the recipe itself. A good recipe can be badly made," he writes in the introduction.
Most cooking problems involve texture, not flavour, he says.
If you've ended up with lumpy food that should be smooth, something watery that should be thick and velvety, or dry and tough meat, leathery bread or hard, unrisen cakes, you'll be able to find the reason in this book and correct it next time.
There's scary information too, about bugs that can make you sick - crushed or sliced garlic in oil can lead to botulism, yeast grows on cured olive skins so keep them in their brine, and rice cooked and left at room temperature can harbour nasty bacteria unless it's acidified as sushi rice is, which suppresses bacterial growth.
He also offers interesting information on ways to tweak food, such as how to make sweet potatoes especially sweet by baking slowly in a low oven to allow sugar-producing enzymes to work, or how to minimise the sweetness by heating quickly by microwaving, pressure-cooking, boiling or steaming.
You'll find the ins and outs of various grains and their different forms, from groats to quinoa and buckwheat as well as grits and masa, noodles, pasta, dumplings or gnocchi, and how to take advantage of the science behind the ancient art of bread-making to turn out the type of crumb, texture and crust you want.
Virtually all the advice you need to improve or to understand the background to your cooking is to be found in this essential cook's companion.
