THE FOOD SUBSTITUTIONS BIBLE; more than 8,000 substitutions for ingredients....

THE FOOD SUBSTITUTIONS BIBLE; more than 8,000 substitutions for ingredients, equipment & techniques. 3rd ed. rev. and exp. (Robert Rose, 2022, 687 pages, ISBN 978-0-7788-0706-3, $59.95 Canadian, hard covers) has been compiled by David Joachim who has authored, edited or collaborated on more than 50 cookbooks. It was originally published in 2005, with 5,000 substitutions and again in 2011 with 6,500. This new 3rd edition has hundreds of new substitutions for existing entries and brand-new entries, e.g. bacon fat, chia, chicken salt, coquito, crab roe, date sugar, fregula, mirepoix, sorghum flour, et al. The continual globalization of ethnic foods and the COVID-19 pandemic have shown how badly home cooks all need substitutions in their cooking. Supply chains be damned! You won't have to visit a lot of specialist grocery stores. You won't have to buy a whole container just for 2 tablespoons of the required ingredient -- just substitute for something comparable, as noted in the "Bible". Joachim also has new ingredient guides and measuring tables in the appendix to cover Asiatic noodles, can and package size equivalents, and alcohol retention in cooking plus new recipes for plant-based sauces and meringues and mayonnaise. It's also physically heavier, with watercolour illustrations by Emily Isabella and heavier paper in a hardbound format meant to last longer. This is a solid reference book emphasizing, through over 1,500 complete entries, more than 8,000 reasonably approximate substitutions – all of it cross-referenced and arranged alphabetically. The ingredients are listed with both avoirdupois and metric measurements. There are more than 188 recipes for larder type items and emergency substitutions for creating vegan or kosher foods such as sauces, stocks, spice mixes, herb blends, syrups, flavoured butters, cheese and vegan cheese, dips, spreads, relishes, and beverages. There are handy reference charts for metric equivalents, high altitude cooking, stages of cooked sugar, pan sizes. There are ingredient tables for edible flowers, types of salts and vinegars, oil substitutions, picking apples and pears, dried beans and lentils, olives, mushrooms, potatoes, chilies, flours, and rice. He has useful website listings and a bibliography. This is an important food resource and reference book. Quality/Price Rating: 94.

Dean Tudor,  Prof Emeritus T'karonto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) School of Journalism

Treasurer of Wine Writers' Circle of Canada http://www.deantudor.com
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