Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
Most books about cooking will walk you through recipes. If you’re lucky, by following the recipes, you will eventually work out something about the practice of actually cooking, and become a better cook.
This book – though it features recipes – is all about how cooking works. How to combine ingredients, and in what ratios to get different types of pastries, sauces, breads, even sausages. Without this book, I would never have had the courage to attempt to make pasta from flour and eggs (it worked).