I simply love cook books! I love looking at the pictures, reading about the different types of foods, regions, countries and trying out the recipes, but what I don't like is the price tag that comes with it!! A cheaper substitute for this obsession is using what is available on the internet, and the best thing is that a lot of cooking sites now use videos as well to show you how to do certain techniques. I am not sure how it is for you, but I have had meltdowns in the kitchen trying to figure out what the h... the recipe is trying to tell me to do. Not all people were trained chefs, and certainly not me, hence I use the internet a lot to pick up handy tips on how to do things. I will be forever grateful to the lady who had the foresight to put a video up on YouTube on how to poach eggs, as it saved me from serving a mash of egg whites for breakfast. How did we ever live without the internet????
With that said I also sometimes find the internet a bit of jungle, were patience and some well defined searches are needed to find what you are looking for. And though my hours spent on the internet marveling at others people talents in the kitchen, reading recipes and looking at pictures of food that I would like to taste, I have found a handful of sites and blogs that I visit on a regular basis.
Food Safari:
Jamie Nguyen's Vietnam:
Jamie Oliver:
Poh's Kitchen:
MasterChef:
Taste:
Vaffelhjerte:
http://www.vaffelhjerte.com/
Cinnamon Pig:
http://cinnamonpig.com.au/
Hedonistic Hostess:
http://www.hedonistichostess.com.au/the_hedonistic_hostess/
And if the internet fails to give you good recipes- or you are thinking of getting a cook book that provides education on both food and culture- here is my favorite cookbook:
