Jacques Pépin's Complete Techniques

Jacques Pépin's Complete Techniques is highly recommended for anyone who cooks western style food. The 830 page volume combines two of Pépin's earlier books, La Technique and La Méthode.

Although many of the techniques are based on French cooking, most of them are good basic skills that will help any cook. The book begins with a a chapter on 70 basic skills. It then covers techniques and recipes for several food categories such as fish and seafood, poultry and pastry.

Being a visual learner, I find the thousands of photos in this book extremely helpful in illustrating the concisely written instructions. The techniques are so clearly explained that I may even attempt a skill I've always wanted to learn--how to debone a chicken!

This book would be a valuable tool for any amateur or professional chef. As Pépin explains, "To be a great chef you first have to be a technician-great cooking favors prepared hands."

Jacques Pépin's Complete Techniques, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishing, Inc., 2001