Louis Eguaras

This entry of the 101 Things series is for the cook, from novice to expert, and is applicable whether you're at home or work in the food service industry.

A few of my favorite entries include, "Five Knives do 95 percent of the work," "Fresh fish smells like the water it came from, old fish smells like fish," "Boil, shock, drain (pertaining to cooking vegetables)," and "Don't hesitate to recommend a beer pairing (i.e. pairing isn't just for wines)."

Some useful and interesting tips on the basics and not-so-basics of cooking combined with fun quotes and intriguing black and white drawings. I was especially excited about the easy-to-skim explanations on cheeses and potatoes and their different uses.

I am not sure what I expected of this book, but I enjoyed it. It was a quick, fun read that included tips for everything from buying cookware to how to cook certain food items to how the hierarchy in a restaurant works. Having worked in a restaurant years ago, parts of it made me laugh to hear the slang again. I would recommend this to anyone that that is a foodie or not, I think everyone will enjoy it.