Books on HOW to cook - the basics?

[natura]

A good friend of mine (mid-30s) has started to really enjoy cooking for the first time ever.

He's jamming about in the kitchen, making things and having a great time doing so, which is obviously a great way to learn. But I've noticed a lot of the 'basics' of how things come together, he's never known.

I call them basics, and perhaps that's unfair, but they're things like starting a sauce or soup with onions and garlic rather than adding them in once the tomato base is already cooking, or browning meat before adding other ingredients, or how to add a 'bassline' to a meal that tastes sharp and bright...

I'd love to get him a friendly, easy-to-read book for Christmas that covers these kinds of things, but everything I've found is either a recipe book or pretty heavy going and scientific.

Any ideas / recommendations? I appreciate it's a pretty specific ask!

Delia Complete Cookery course .. tells you everything you need to know.. all basics covered and the recipes are good.. I still sometimes use my original 1980s versions ...
Her original recipe for spag bol sauce is banging and still my favourite way to cook it ...
She did also publish 'How to boil an egg ' but thats probably too simple for him

Also going to suggest Delia... can't go wrong

Delia, i was given it as a wedding gift years ago and still use it for basics. Also Nigellas first book is good.

Or : Felicity Cloake. A to Z of eating ..
Felicity Cloake is really good and great at explaining the basics .. and in a more modern way than Delia . Her ' Perfect '' series in the Guardian is brilliant...

Is that How to Eat? I was going to suggest that too.

Delia, either the complete cookery course book or the how to cook one (3 or 4 but I think later editions were in one book), both fantastic.

I have this one. It explains the techniques, all with photos, and also has a selection of recipes.

Delia every time

In fact there was controversy about the series because people were mocking those that literally needed to be shown how to boil an egg but how else do you learn if no one shows you

Jamie's ministry of food is great for this.

Delia all the way.

Also cooking for geeks is great. DH got me this and it's fantastic. Explains the reasons for everything rather than just instructions.

That good housekeeping book is great. Delias how to cook. Mary berry complete cookbook. Or Jamie’s ministry of food.

Definitely Jamie’s Ministry of Food

Delia and the good housekeeping books by far and away the best.

You can suggest this https://christmaseverydayclub.com/christmas-recipes

Delia is a bit dated but hasn't been improved on. And all her recipes work and taste great, even if they aren't trendy today.

The Good Housekeeping ones are also great as everything is so detailed.

Mary Berry is OK for cakes but her savoury food is honestly not that good.

Salt fat acid heat is good for the theory of how to put a dish together

I really rate Jamie's Ministry of Food book. It is easily my most used cookbook and has lovely recipes from very basic to more complex stuff. But every recipe uses very accessible, every-day, non-pretentious ingredients.

My mother had the 'I Hate to Cook Book' in the 1960s.

“Some women, it is said, like to cook. This book is not for them. This book is for those of us who want to fold our big dishwater hands around a dry Martini instead of a wet flounder, come the end of a long day.”

Also - love this bit...One of the instructions for “Skid Road Stroganoff” reads, “Brown the garlic, onion, and crumbled beef in the oil. Add the flour, salt, paprika, and mushrooms, stir, and let cook for five minutes while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink.”

You can still buy it - updated and on Amazon.

I was entirely undomesticated until the age of 30. Lived on salad, scrambled eggs and cereal. What to cook and how to cook it by Jane Hornby taught me to cook and I still use it. There’s also another one called Fresh and Easy. I wish she’d do more books.

Another one for Delia how to cook. Everything from how to boil an egg onwards.

I was an ok cook but then I got the Delia How to Cook series and it's an absolute masterpiece. I would also add Jamie Oliver's ministry of food book.

Delia "how to cook"!

Still the best imo

Wow, such consensus on Delia and Jamie!

@Hatty65 that sounds glorious - I'm tempted to hunt it down for myself!

And @Laska2Meryls I'll check out the Felicity Cloake, I always enjoy her in the Guardian too...

That sounds brilliant Hatty! I love books like that. I have been reading Dana K White's books which she describes as cleaning advice for people who hate cleaning and organising. Because most books about cleaning are written by super organised people who get some sense of joy from seeing everything lined up in neat rows, and some of us are natural slobs who could not care less (but still want to live in a functional home) lol