DURHAM, N.C., Sept. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — When Charles Delmar wanted to learn how to cook, the only books he could find were cookbooks written in what he calls "Recipeze," a language he could not understand. And so he wrote his own book, The Essential Cook, in plain English.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130916/PH79674-a )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130916/PH79674-b )
The Essential Cook received more than 100 enthusiastic reviews, Delmar was a featured speaker at the 1989 International Food Media Conference, and his book received the prestigious Writings award given by the IACP (International Assn. of Culinary Professionals). But times have changed and so has Delmar's book.
"Not only do cooks still need basic cooking knowledge to read recipes and cook intelligently, today's readers seem to want information NOW, and without having to read anything longer than a TWEET," says Delmar. It was to meet both challenges that he revised The Essential Cook, re-named it My Cooking Coach, and published it as a free website, MyCookingCoach.com, as well as softcover and eBook editions. Delmar says he believes this may be the first 500 page book ever to be published as a website.
As a quick reference, a novel Glossary/Index provides information for as many as five elements of basic cooking knowledge: Definitions, Descriptions, Cook's Guides, Cooking Considerations and Master Recipes. More than 5,000 hyperlinks (page references in the book) make each element accessible at the tap of a finger, in the electronic versions, or by turning a few pages in the print edition.
The website or the book can also be read as a textbook. From Part One, First You Steal a Chicken: How to Plan, Select, Store, Prepare, Cook, Flavor and Serve most foods, through Part Three: How to Set a Dining Table and Other Facts of Life, with How Good Cooks Do It: Basic Cooking Methods and Techniques in between, My Cooking Coach uses clear, direct language and more than 400 informative illustrations to explain the basic whats, whys and how-tos of foods, ingredients and cooking.
Probably the most novel element of My Cooking Coach is its unique Master Recipes. (Neither the book or the website has any conventional recipes.) Each Master Recipe provides step-by-step instructions for cooking a basic food by a particular method or technique. How to Fry Poultry, for example, covers all seven of the ways to fry any bird in the poultry family, chickens through wild fowl.
Although all of this cooking knowledge is available free on MyCookingCoach.com, that website also encourages users to buy the book by providing excerpts from a small sample of the scores of positive reviews received by the first edition, The Essential Cook. You can also download a PDF free sample chapter (Eggs) or sample the entire book from the Look Inside feature of Amazon.com.
Contact: Charles Delmar, (919) 308-7795
Reviewers and Bloggers are encouraged to request a free review copy of the electronic PDF edition (with more than 5,000 hyperlinks), or schedule an interview with the author, by contacting Email