The Food Lover's Tiptionary
by Sharon Tyler Herbst

Publisher:  Hearst Books
ISBN:  0688121462

Lest you misinterpret the title, the Food Lover's Tiptionary is not a guide to tipping waitstaff, but a collection of over 4,500 tips, secrets, shortcuts and other information all compiled in one handy culinary guide.

Author Sharon Tyler Herbst is a food journalist and historian with many award-winning food and wine books under her belt. Within these pages, she has admirably achieved her goal of presenting information in a user-friendly format, suitable for use by cooks of all levels, from novice to expert.

You'll find entries listed in alphabetical order by subject matter, from abalone to zucchini. More obscure entries have a pronounciation guide. The collection of tips extends beyond standard individual foods to also include kitchen appliances such as breadmachines, blenders, microwave and standard ovens.

Yet other subjects cover such unusual topics as opening jars and bottles, edible flowers, and high altitude cooking. You'll find charts listing food additives and their functions, pasta shapes, and oven temperature terminology. Measuring tips give standard metric conversions, as well as the difference between wet and dry measuring implements and how to be sure your measurements are completely accurate.

Can that curdled hollandaise sauce be saved? Yes! You'll also find information on how to fix your goofs and prevent future kitchen disasters. How can you store leftover frosting and for how long? These questions are answered for many of the individual food entries.

Although some general cookbooks include basic information on a variety of subjects, the Food Lover's Tiptionary fills the gap by gathering all those standard tips, plus many secret hints and shortcuts into well-organized subjects. I predict your copy will become as dog-eared as mine in a very short time.

Peggy Trowbridge, your Guide for Home Cooking