THE BASICS
By Filip Verheyden and Tony Le Duc
ISBN 978-1-933633-18-3
$29.95

Praise for THE BASICS:

"A stylish little cookbook . . . a seductive object, beautifully proportioned and designed, but also remarkably comprehensive. After covering basic kitchen skills, The Basics zips through an overview of savory cooking, then switches to baking and desserts. But while most general cookbooks would stop there, The Basics plunges onward into contemporary cuisine."
- Jonathan Hayes, The New York Times Magazine

“Guaranteed to inspire the novice and reinvigorate the expert, this pleasing, award-winning volume serves up an appetizing postmodern twist on The Joy of Cooking.”
- ReadyMade Magazine

“This little gem of a book beautifully illustrates – and explains – cooking techniques and classic recipes, from bouquet garnis to the best mashed potatoes.”
- InStyle Magazine

“If food is your religion, you'll find inspiration in this miniature volume's bright color photos and no-nonsense cooking instruction. Struggling to ensure that your poached eggs stay runny and your hollandaise creamy? The Basics will show you the way.”
- New York Daily News

 “This tiny, yet hefty book delivers on the promise of its title. Simple, one-page entries walk readers through kitchen basics, from how to marinate and stew to the difference between julienne, brunoise and chiffonade (cutting styles). The first part of the book focuses on technique, with the rest dedicated to ingredients and essential recipes (including mashed potatoes, mayonnaise, boiled eggs, jams and jellies, pasta dough, ice cream and a whole series of sauces hot and cold). The best part — each entry is just a few sentences long and is accompanied by a photo. It would be easy to treat a book such as this as a novelty. But it is a great concept. Many kitchen how-to guides get lost in the complexity of the material they try to explain. But so pared down is Verheyden’s effort, that’s not possible here.”
- Associated Press

“This small black book with gilt pages packs a much larger punch than its size infers. The Basics covers all of the culinary bases, including classics and new techniques such as sous vide and foams. The writing and recipes are straightforward and very manageable and the photography is beautifully shot.”
- Coolhunting.com

“It’s perfect for the foodie who needs to be as competent in front of the actual stove as he is at talking up his culinary prowess.”
- Metro New York

“In this age of information overload, it’s both comforting and irrestible to possess a copy of The Basics, an ultracompact new cooking reference with terse text by Filip Verheyden and exquisite photos by Tony Le Duc.” ?\Santé Magazine

“Luckily, a new cookbook, appropriately title The Basics, teaches simple cooking with tips on everything from poaching an egg to preparing the perfect soufflé.”
- Zink Magazine

Every cook or home chef reaches that defining moment when he or she puts away the cookbook and begins to experiment ‘off the page’ with flavors and ingredients. But without a full understanding of the rudiments of cooking, these explorations can be leaps of faith at best, and dishes from the simplest to most complex and ambitious risk failure.

Beginning with a chapter on techniques, THE BASICS explains and illustrates with gorgeous photographs essential cooking techniques, such as how to bard, marinate, poach, caramelize, and lard. Following chapters explain cutting techniques and both savory and sweet recipes for stocks, thickeners, light and hearty soups, potato preparations, rice preparations, cold, hot and sweet sauce preparations, mousses, pastries, spreads, sweet egg dishes and ice creams. And an Ingredients Index makes cross-referencing a snap.

Each page in THE BASICS is like a homily on the principles of great food. Learn the difference between a brunoise, julienne and a chiffonade cut. Follow simple instructions for preparing chicken, white, dark and game stocks. Make more than 30 of your own sauces, including mayonnaise, garlic butter, vinaigrette, pesto, white wine, and hollandaise. Prepare dazzling soups, breads, breakfasts, and desserts, using your own creative imagination and THE BASICS at your fingertips.

THE BASICS also includes innovative preparations and techniques which have only just been developed, but which are starting to claim their place in 21st-century cooking. These include foie gras foam, spinach jelly, pike mouse and light praline.

Filip Verheyden studied cooking at PIVA in Antwerp and has been a freelance food writer since 1998, contributing to many magazines and newspapers.

Tony Le Duc has been a food photographer since 1984, producing images for some twenty books, including The House of Books.