Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.814
EAN num: 9780471292753
ISBN number: 0471292753
Label: Wiley
Manufacturer: Wiley
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 624
Printing Date: January 27, 1998
Publishing house: Wiley
Sale Popularity Level: 81696
Studio: Wiley
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Product Description:
'Here is yet another cookbook that can stand among the best reference works. I suspect it's a harbinger of kindred books to come as publishers begin to respond to a growing audience of cook-readers who hunger for connected, nuanced, reliably researched information..' --Gourmet Magazine 'James Peterson has done for sauces that which Escoffier did for the cuisine of La Belle Epoque.. Sauces is a manual for the professional cook and, as such, it will quickly become a classic and indispensable reference..' --Richard Olney, From the Foreword 'It's the single contemporary reference on the subject that is both comprehensive and comprehensible. I love Jim's recipes (and there are gems all over the place here), but what's special about Sauces is the text: It reads so well that this is the kind of book you can take to bed.' --Mark Bittman, From the Foreword 'This is a book I wish I had written myself.. Every few decades a book is written that says all there is to say on a subject, or has all the information and passion that sets the standard for professional and amateurs alike. Sauces is one of the best culinary books of this century in English..' --Jeremiah Tower, Stars Restaurant 'The art of sauce making is the cornerstone of serious cooking. This book is a must for the new generation of creative cooks who wish to build on the classical French foundation with contemporary, delicious variations.' --Daniel Boulud, Daniel 'It is a special reference book--comprehensive and inspiring..' --Alice Waters, Chez Panisse
Amazon.com Review:
Back in 1991, when the very first edition of Sauces was published, it's as though James Peterson said, 'Okay, this is what we know so far. Where do you want to go from here?' The 'what we know so far' part started with the Greeks and Romans, moved through the Middle Ages, into the Renaissance, through the 17th and 18th centuries, and right on into time as we know it, time that can be tasted in the sauce.
The 'where do you want to go' part continues to evolve, as it always will, but remains just as evident in the way we sauce our creations, both elegant and fundamental. In the second edition of Sauces, released seven years after the first, the 'we' has expanded beyond Frenchmen and their disciples, and now includes the broader range of flavors experienced by Italians as pasta sauces, as well as New World cooks and their counterparts in the Middle East and throughout greater Asia. The solid base from which all this grows, however, remains the lessons learned in the French kitchen--and a better kitchen for such lessons has never been developed.
To cook is one thing, to sauce another. The right sauce lifts the right dish to a wholly different plateau of dining than would be the case if the cook didn't bother. This can be a humble pasta sauce created as a perfect balance of ingredients on hand, or a carefully considered sauce the ingredients of which have been developed at the stove under days, not mere hours.
In the sauce can be seen the reflection of the cook. There is no room to hide. In the well-crafted sauce can be found the ultimate expression of simplicity, which leaves even less room to hide. It is James Peterson's great talent that he can draw the home cook and professional cook into his dialogue on sauces, and teach them both how to stay afloat in such shallow waters.
Peterson gives the reader--in close to 600 pages, mind you--the continuum on which sauces have been based in culinary history. He gives the reader the kitchen science that allows sauces to work. He gives the reader the techniques necessary to follow along where many a cook has already whisked up a splendid creation. But most of all, he gives the reader permission to go ahead and be creative, to cut loose with knowledge and technique in hand and discover for oneself the way an inkling of a flavor idea can find its way to a dish and make the combined ingredients lift off the plate. Or not. Finding out what doesn't work can be just as important.
This is a book that can be taken to bed and savored, page by page, sauce by sauce. It is a book that should be on the shelf in any kitchen, professional or homebody alike. It is not a book to ever gather dust and need dusting. --Schuyler Ingle
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Rated by buyers 
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It's a book, yes, and it does have recipes. But it's not a cookbook. It's an incredible tome of reference material; there's a huge section on various ingredients and cooking implements, right down to what kind of metal is best on which pans for what purpose and the optimum construction of spatulae.
It contains a brief rundown of the evolution of classical French cooking, from which a great deal of contemporary sauces emerged. The in-depth information on various kinds of stocks, how to make them, the best way to alter their consistency, the best cuts to use and how using bones instead of meat will change the character of the broth, ways to cook with meat that's been used to make stock so it doesn't go to waste, is just incredible. I'm excited about STOCK. Even for me that's something.
The greatest thing about this book is the depth in which it covers... basically everything. Techniques for many, many sauces are covered, and almost always contain several subsections detailing the differences in technique between making the sauce with different kinds of fat, different stocks, thickeners, ingredients... the book is nearly 600 pages of tightly-packed information, and the only pictures are on about 20 (unnumbered) glossy sheets near the beginning, detailing several very useful and generic step-by-step examples of different sauces, including blue Thai curry, caramel, beurre blanc, Bernaise and others.
The even deeper value here is the excellent introduction to the general spices and methods used in various cultures as the basis for their cooking. While you might not realize exactly what you're looking at unless you have some previous experience, assuming you've cooked at length in any of the cultures whose sauces are described, you'll realize you can adapt many of the ingredients used in their sauces to gain a better understanding of their cuisines in general.
If you like to cook, you'll like this book. If you LOVE to cook, you NEED this book -- unless it's actually your profession, but even then I do believe it'd still be a useful reference. As an amateur but enthusiastic kitchen-dweller, I adore this, and it will keep me cooking and experimenting with new sauces and dishes for a VERY long time to come.
I paid a good deal more at a brick and mortar retailer, and am fine with that; it was worth every penny. The price you get here makes it an absolutely essential purchase.
Rated by buyers -
The best sauce book ever written. Good for average to above average cooks. May be a little confusing to the beginer.
Rated by buyers -
This book is a great tool for those who are attending a culinary school for it provides an in depth understanding of sauce making. To quote one of my Culinary professors, "...this book is a must for every kitchen's cooking library". If you want to become a good sauce maker, you need to read this book.
Rated by buyers -
Bought the book as a Christmas gift. It looks wonderful and I hope to be the beneficiary of the recipient's learning!
Rated by buyers 
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I should have respected a few other reviewers and not purchase this book. After I got it, with "Cooking" by the same author, I returned it because it was "too much." The "Cooking" book by the same author was okay, but if you add this book with "Cooking," it is overkill. "Cooking" by itself is good unless you are "big" into sauces. I was not impressed, and I am a "good" cook but not with a lot of time that "Sauces" required to get the sauces right.
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