The Food Substitutions Bible: 8,000 Substitutions for Ingredients, Equipment and Techniques

This is an extremely complete book, listing substitutions for any food you've ever heard of and many you have not. Rather pricey. For a less expensive version, ty Joachim;s The Food Substitutions Bible, which is nowhere near as compete but still very useful.

Other reviewers have covered how good this good reference book is. On-line queries do not cover the range of substitutions nor do they always rank the substitutes like this book does. Here is how that logical ranking works: Know that while the ingredient/items are found alphabetically, the actual substitutions listed are presented in a logical order (e.g. best substitutes to less desirable substitutes). Moreover, if there is a clear substitution, as for 'self rising flour', it also tells you how to make it (e.g. flour + rising agent, etc). Less popular, but still viable substitutions follow. Lastly, if there is something you can do that is not exactly a perfect substitute (perhaps due to flavor or texture, or some other property), they are placed in a sub group below the more 'perfect' substitutions. If the item is known by 2 or 3 names, all 3 are listed in the book, but the second and third will redirect you to look at the 1st (most common?) name, so no space is wasted repeating information. Know that this is a TOME--it is large and heavy. They have given it a binding that will support it reasonably well--cloth bound by the spine. It is the green cloth that you see in the photos. Hope this helps you.

I recently purchased this book and although I've only made it through the beautiful forward by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and introduction from the author himself, David Joachim. This book has immediately permeated my cooking flow. With no tomato paste I substituted roasted red peppers to process into its own paste for ground beef seasoning. The thrill of discovery! Be inspired, even if it's a small substitution. What a great addition to the my kitchen library! Really excited to continue to dive deeper into this almanac of cooking knowledge. Thank you!! You won't be disappointed!

A huge (almost 700 pages) encyclopedia of ingredients with substitutions. We use this to inform our shopping and when we have a spur-of-the-moment recipe choice that we lack an ingredient, rarely, when there's something we have no access to. Last night (for example) was Marsala, which we didn't have - we ended up using Madeira, which we did, saving us a trip to the store.If you own and use more than ten cookbooks (or peruse the internet for recipes) this will be a valuable addition to your library.

use for reference

I have the previous edition and thought, why do I need the new one? Well, if you think the same thing, you do need it! It sits on my desk, and I refer to it weekly. It is now hard cover which means it will last a long time. The new artwork is excellent; in fact, some pages would make great wallpaper or even an apron. The book was awarded an IACP Cookbook award when it first came out, and now with the expansion and artwork... It will win a lot of awards! David Joachim and Robert Rose Books knocked it out of the ballpark!

My Daughter in Law received it as a gift. She absolutely loves it. You can save a lot of money by substituting.

Love the new suggestions and things I’m learning. I would purchase again.

Ce livre devrait être dans toutes les cuisines. Vraiment bien fait et utile.

Goods exactly as described, excellent packing and swift shipping. Highly recommended.

Clocking in at nearly 700 pages - each one stacked with interesting information - and weighing over 2 kilos, this book is not going to get a comprehensive review from me until I've had it for a year or two. But I'm a home cook with 40 years experience in dozens of cuisines, and probably far too many cookbooks, so I figure I'm qualified to give a useful quick summary of why I value this book so much even though I've only had it a couple of days.The main part of the book is an A-Z of cooking ingredients and equipment. The entries for items of equipment include a description of the function of each and alternative means of achieving the same end. The entries for ingredients are necessarily much more varied, but generally include a description of the ingredient and its uses followed by things that you can substitute for it if you have none available. Each substitution adjusts for differences in the strength of flavour between the ingredient and the suggested substitute by comparing a standard amount of ingredient with the same or adjusted amount of each substitute. Measures are always given in Imperial (or Cup) and CGS units. Additional information such as Varieties and Better Health suggestions are often included. Many substitute entries also include basic recipes for such things as homemade versions of commercial sauces, for example.The book concludes with a section on Ingredient Guides - information in tabular form to help you choose the most appropriate variety of an ingredient for your purpose. The ingredients summarised include apples, dried beans, fresh chillies, dried chillies, clams, coffee, crabs, wheat flours, whole-grain and alternative flours, edible flowers, honey, lentils, mushrooms, Asian noodles, oils, olives, pears, potatoes, rice, roe, salt,tea, vinegar. This section is followed by a comprehensive summary of Measurement Equivalents.In conclusion, this book is aimed at everyone - those who are just starting to learn about cooking, and those with decades of experience as amateurs or professionals. It is inevitable, therefore, that some options will be obvious to the latter group. I can only say that, although I consider myself to be a very experienced amateur, I found many entries in this book for ingredients I had never heard of, or knew virtually nothing about. In other words, this book will be of value to anybody who buys it!

If you love to cook from scratch, this is a must have. Makes a great gift as well ;)