Your Starter Kitchen

by Lisa Chernick

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Your Starter Kitchen is an accessible, clear, and fairly comprehensive guide to getting comfortable with cooking and setting up a kitchen. Due out 2nd Sept 2020 from Simon & Schuster on their Tiller Press imprint, it's 224 pages (paperback) and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
I didn't grow up in a family with any sort of culinary tradition. The facility with cooking and the recipes I've acquired over time have come unevenly and unexpectedly. I definitely would've benefited from a book like this one. It's a basic guide to equipping and using a kitchen. The layout is logical and understandable.

The three main sections have different focus. They are: 1) For a small or first time kitchen, 2) For a more grown up kitchen, and 3) For a large and/or forever home kitchen. The sections are self explanatory and suit the focus quite well. They build on one another, with the first covering the most essential and basic equipment and pantry staples, moving to more comprehensive items and finally to the most comprehensive list of gear with additional info about involving kids in the kitchen process, arranging the kitchen efficiently and other tips. All three of the sections include techniques and primers, recipes, and checklists.

Ingredient measurements are supplied in American measurements only. There's no included conversion chart for metric measures. Descriptions are contained in the header for each recipe. The nutritional information is not included. Extra tips or recipe alternatives are listed in sidebars with the recipes. The recipes themselves are fairly straightforward and are made with easily sourced ingredients. Many are very simple, none of them are overly complex. The book contains almost no graphics, illustrations, or photography. For a book on basic kitchen setup and cooking, this could be an important consideration for some readers.

Four stars. Worthwhile (general) information to be gleaned here.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.