A Kitchen Primer

by Melissa Clark

A complete, beginner's guide to the kitchen and the art of cookery furnishes practical information on kitchen equipment and tools, ingredients, cooking techniques, terms, equivalents and substitutions, recipes, and healthy, economical eating. Original.

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Melissa Clark is an American food writer and cookbook author. Since 2007, she has been a food columnist for The New York Times. She has written more than 40 cookbooks and in 2018 won a James Beard Award.

Reviews

[Devorah Firestone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is like Julia Child's Kitchen Wisdom only much shorter. The bulk of the information is within the first 100 pages. It gives you the knowledge you need to have a strong foundation for ingredients, tools, and techniques.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not gonna lie, I thought A Kitchen Primer was going to be preachy, and it kind of is, but it's also right more often than I wanted. Clark, Melissa argues that we're lonelier because we've made everything convenient, and the chapter on the disappearing neighborhood hangout made me text three friends to make actual plans. The tone gets a little lecture-y near the end. You won't agree with all of it, but it definitely forces you to rethink how much effort friendship takes.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Straight up, A Kitchen Primer is a book you argue with in the shower three days later. Melissa Clark leaves just enough room for you to disagree, and that's what makes it stick. Good for people who like to chew on a question, bad for anyone who wants a neat answer.