Michael Ruhlman’s groundbreaking New York Times best seller takes us to the very “truth” of cooking: It is not about recipes but rather about basic ratios and fundamental techniques that makes all food come together, simply.

When you know a culinary ratio, it’s not like knowing a single recipe, it’s instantly knowing a thousand.

Why spend time sorting through the millions of cookie recipes available in books, magazines, and on the internet? Isn’t it easier just to remember one-two-three? That’s the ratio of ingredients that always make a basic, delicious cookie dough: one part sugar, two parts fat, and three parts flour. From there, add anything you want - chocolate, lemon and orange zest, nuts, poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, almond extract, or peanut butter, to name a few favorite additions. Replace white sugar with brown for a darker, chewier cookie. Add baking powder and/or eggs for a lighter, airier texture.

Ratios are the starting point from which a thousand variations begin. Ratios are the simple proportions of one ingredient to another. Biscuit dough is 3:1:2 - or three parts flour, one part fat, and two parts liquid. This ratio is the beginning of many variations, and because the biscuit takes sweet and savory flavors with equal grace, you can top it with whipped cream and strawberries or sausage gravy. Vinaigrette is 3:1, or three parts oil to one part vinegar, and is one of the most useful sauces imaginable, giving everything from grilled meats and fish to steamed vegetables or lettuces intense flavor.

Cooking with ratios will unchain you from recipes and set you free. With 33 ratios and suggestions for enticing variations, 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. Change the ratio and bread dough becomes pasta dough, cakes become muffins become popovers become crepes.

Leo Jones

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