Worth It: ‘Ratio’ - Michael Ruhlman
In this column I’ll be highlighting various products valuable to the student cook such as utensils and cookbooks, and how to get them for bargain prices.
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking - Michael Ruhlman
In the oft-repeated discussion on whether the internet is killing the printed word the much overlooked category of potential victims is that of the cookbook. Is there any point buying a cookbook when a million recipes are but a quick Google away? How many of us have actually bought a cookbook in the last year? And of the few who have, how many bought one for themselves, rather than as a nice, glossy, impressive-looking present?
As a food-blogger I’m somewhat shoehorned into a side in this debate before anyone’s even asked the question; and, indeed, I do feel that the vast majority of cook books are not worth your money. I love cookbooks, I love looking through them and admiring the expensively shot photos (I think everyone enjoys looking at photos of food) and I also enjoy reading recipes and getting inspiration. But very rarely do I go to a cookbook when trying to think of what to make for dinner; if I can’t improvise something then I’ll always go online to look for inspiration. The internet is perfect for finding recipes because any search will throw up dozens of varieties of each dish. This may sound like an unholy mess of confusing sources but in fact it’s a priceless resource since who has every single ingredient to a particular dish at 7.32pm on a Sunday? By checking several recipes for the same dish, one can ascertain the vital ingredients and, more importantly, what can be left out if not in the cupboard.
So why am I writing a review of a cookbook under the title ‘Worth it’? Because a certain type of cookbook is worth it. A book that will help you rethink your attitude to cooking and give you the skills to rapidly expand your repertoire of recipes is definitely worth it, Ratio is just such a book.
Ruhlman is a classically trained professional chef and he brings an expert’s eye to the task of home cooking. The goal of the book is to help break the reader from reliance on carefully measured recipes strenuously replicated from page to pot, and to encourage the home cook to look to the heart of the dish itself, the ratio of the ingredients to each other and how this effects and produces the final result.
Thinking in ratios instead of recipes not only helps immeasurably when it comes to scaling up or down, but also in recipe retention; the 321 Pie Dough ratio is infinitely easier to remember than 300g flour, 200g butter, 100g water; even if it results in the same thing.
In my personal experience, it turns out I had been following one particular ratio for years without realising before reading this book. The basic Victoria Sponge follows the incredibly simple ratio of 1:1:1:1 (flour, sugar, butter, eggs) and yet every time I made it I would faithfully check the amounts required by my chosen recipe (an Usborne ‘We Can Cook’ children’s cookbook) and measure it out accordingly. Now I simply weigh the eggs (2 for an average sized sponge) and I know exactly what I need.
Ruhlman writes passionately and well, infusing his readers with his own enthusiasm both for cooking and for reverse engineering recipes and questioning the rules behind how we make what we make. The only slight problem for a non-American reader is that all measurements are only provided in their Imperial figure, it slightly beggars belief that a book published in 2009 would not include Metric conversions at least, but a quick Google will help the non-American understand what exactly a quart is or how many grams there are to a pound.
As of writing, ‘Ratio’ is available as a digital download for £7.99 or for under £5 as a second-hand paperback via the following link:
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
