What makes the perfect cookbook?

If you’re like most Americans, somewhere in your kitchen, on a shelf in your pantry, or stacked ignobly in a cabinet is a collection of cookbooks, either purchased during various fits of culinary inspiration, given to you as gifts over the years, or simply acquired through some mysterious manifestation. And whether your inventory consists of a scant few, or it could reasonably stock the library of congress, most likely, you have your ultimate favorite. The one resource you invariably turn to when presented with any cooking, baking, or recipe quandary.

Yet, what makes the perfect cookbook? What makes that grease splattered, flour smudged, gravy anointed, some of the pages stuck together book, the one treasured manual that you depend on to provide healthy recipes and cooking solutions? And furthermore, why do we continue to not only use it, but constantly refer to it, and would necessarily be loathe to part with it? Perhaps the answer lies in the fundamental elements of a great cookbook, and the delicious, healthy recipes it contains.

Quality of Information 

The perfect cookbook explains preparation techniques with precision. Even the most scrumptious baked goods or savory healthy recipes can only be created with detailed instructions. For instance, sponge cake ingredients must be blended in an exact sequence, the egg whites folded in delicately, etc. to achieve its distinct texture. If the cookbook fails to adequately explain the process, your result can end up as doggie treats.

Cookbooks that offer a glossary of technique definitions easily become a staple for the quality of information they offer. Essentially, you know if you encounter some foreign cooking method in any of its healthy recipes, you have the immediate means of unraveling the mystery.

Majority of Ingredients

The perfect cookbook also contains recipes that feature a majority of ingredients that you most likely already have in your refrigerator or pantry. Maybe you keep on hand a wide range of fresh vegetables, herbs, and dried grains, or perhaps you stock an exotic blend of gourmet items like truffle oil, fresh seafood, or rare cheeses, whatever your specific tastes and everyday ingredients, the cookbook that utilizes your favorite foods in its healthy recipes will be the one that you constantly reach for to transform your staples into delicious fare.

Quantity of Usable, Healthy Recipes

It isn’t necessary for the perfect cookbook to contain thousands upon thousands of recipes, although it certainly may. In fact, even relatively exclusive ones that are limited in their number can become a must have, simply because it’s important that no matter how large or small, the quantity of usable, mouth-watering, healthy recipes must exceed the ones that you would never attempt.

The 360 Cookbook is an excellent example of a cookbook that meets all three requirements. Its detailed instructions on vapor cooking, along with a wide variety of versatile, healthy recipes that can be created with the ready ingredients you have available, makes it a coveted addition to any chef’s library, and its delectable, inspired recipes will have you expanding your own dinner repertoire.

All that being said, what makes the perfect cookbook really depends on the chef who owns it. If it contains healthy recipes that incorporate the ingredients you use most, from cover to cover, while expressly detailing the preparation techniques needed to achieve cooking or baking success, you will naturally consider it the perfect kitchen resource, and refer to it again and again. How about your own aging, yet treasured cookbook? Is it a favorite because it offers these qualities, or for other, more sentimental reasons? Let us know.