Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking »

Michael Ruhlman is the author of twelve books, including the bestselling The Making of a Chef and The French Laundry Cookbook. He lives in Cleveland with his wife, daughter, and son and is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and Gourmet as well as his highly popular blog at Ruhlman.com.

In Ratio, Michael Ruhlman, recognized as one of the great translators of the chef's craft for both home cooks and culinary professionals, shows how cooking with ratios will unchain you from recipes and set you free. Ratio is the truth of cooking: basic preparations that teach us how the fundamental ingredients of the kitchen-water, flour, butter and oils, milk and cream, and eggs-work. Detailing thirty-three essential ratios and suggesting enticing variations, Ruhlman empowers every cook to make countless doughs, batters, stocks, sauces, meats, and custards without ever again having to locate a recipe.

The New York Times - Christine Muhlke

Ruhlman guides readers through the ratios for a variety of doughs, batters, stocks, sauces, custards and sausages, explaining their chemical and culinary basis in clear, earnest prose and providing tasteful recipes that lay out the technique for each formula.

The Ratios ix

What Is a Ratio and Why Is It Important? xi

The All-Important Scale xvii

Using This Book xix

Introduction: The Truth of Cooking xxi

Part 1 Doughs and Batters 1

Doughs 3

Bread Dough 5

Pasta Dough 15

Pie Dough 23

Biscuit Dough 33

Cookie Dough 37

Pâte à Choux 45

Batters 55

Pound Cake and Sponge Cake 59

Angel Food Cake 65

Quick Cakes 69

Crepe 81

Part 2 Stocks and the Amazing Things They Allow You to Do 87

Stocks 89

Clear Soups and the Consommé 103

Thickening Stock with Starch: Roux, Slurry, Beurre Manié 111

Roux 113

Beurre Manié and Slurry 121

Part 3 Meat: Sausage, Mousseline, and Other Meat-Related Ratios 127

Meat 129

The Noble Sausage 131

Mousseline 143

Brine 153

Part 4 Fat-Based Sauces 163

Fat-Based Sauces 165

Mayonnaise 167

Vinaigrette 177

Hollandaise 185

Part 5 The Custard Continuum 195

Custard 197

Custard, Free-Standing 199

Crème Anglaise-the Amazing All-Purpose Dessert Sauce 209

Chocolate Sauce and Caramel Sauce 219

Epilogue: The Ultimate Meaning and Usefulness of Ratios 227

Acknowledgments 231

Index 233