cover image The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion

The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion

Sharon Tyler Herbst, Ron Herbst, Alexander Spare, . . Barron's, $29.99 (794pp) ISBN 978-0-7641-6241-1

The latest addition to the Companion culinary series is dubbed the “deluxe” volume because of its expanded and restructured content updated by Ron Herbst in memory of his wife, Sharon Tyler Herbst, the original author. The book maintains its reputation as an encyclopedia of literally every dish, ingredient and spice imaginable, each featuring cross-references and a pronunciation guide—especially helpful for those with a fancy palate. This time around, Herbst organizes some of the more popular entries such as apples, beer, cookies and olives into their own glossaries appearing alphabetically throughout the book. Fans of the series will find this an obvious and welcome revision, this one with gold-gilded page edges. Quotes from famous chefs, diagrams of meat cuts and sketches on every page make this a solid companion for home cooks. (Nov.)