Williams-Sonoma Collection: Sauce

I'm a classically trained chef who loves making sauces. They complete a meal- and sometimes, they even make the meal! This book was everything I'd hoped it would be, and I'm excited by the sauces offered here. Although I already know how to make many of them, this book offers recipes that coincide with each sauce. It's great for people who don't know much about sauces, but would like to and would also like to have some ideas of what to pair with each sauce. Williams Sonoma does a great job of taking the fear out of making a good sauce. It's really as easy as they say. The pictures are nice, the book is good quality and it's become a staple among my large collection of cookbooks.

It surprises me when people seem to not have a problem buying bottled sauces from William Sonoma at premium prices aren't thrilled by this handy book that makes do-it-yourself so easy. It's not as though I haven't made the classics before from a variety of sources but still nice to have them grouped in one handy book. Love the idea that they not only give the recipes but the "fixes" when the sauces break. Ditto my pet peeve in terms of reviews...giving an "meh" rating without ever having tried a single recipe. Had some asparagus "waiting" to be used and so I made the Hollandaise for my lunch as soon as it arrived...perfect! I really think in reading through the little book that between the pictures, how to, etc. it's a great teaching tool and a "must have" for the aspiring cook. Nicely done...if you're iffy about whether you'd like it...check out your local library to look it over or online in the used book section of Amazon. I'm amazed at the quality as well as the price of books I've found available used on Amazon from sellers such as Goodwill who seem to always "under estimate" the condition of their books as well as having incredibly low prices and quick delivery. Since I use my cookbooks to cook with and not as coffee table or decorative items whether a book has a pristine dust jacket doesn't matter to me...If I love the cookbook I'll undoubtedly end up taking the dust jacket off and flicking bits of flour or something on the pages anyway.

This is a great first foray into more serious cooking, it's well explained, the pictures are very tantalizing, and the recipes are carefully planned. I like this book because of it's ease of use, no frustrating techniques or strange terminology, just very thoroughly explained food and recipes with carefully planned and operated methodology. If your just starting to really get into cooking this book offers the mother sauces (well it has hollandaise and it talks about mayo, and emulsion) and will help you understand the basics of continental cooking, as well as a few other things. The recipes are easy to follow and they are quite good, but they are also simple so you can build your own recipes from them. Not for the advanced cook though, I grew out of this book fast and wanted more challenges almost immediately, I usually lend it to my buddies who aren't the greatest chefs but have the heart to learn a thing or two.

I have a friend who is a professional chef, and a good one. One night we were discussing steaks, and he said that anyone can "do" a steak, but it is the exceptional cook who knows how to make the meal memorable with the right sauce. I believed him then and do so now: the right sauce makes a good meal memorable. However, my early explorations led me to recipes that were complex and time consuming, and thus frustrating Then I came upon this little gem while searching the amazon.com roster.The title is a bit misleading, because the book provides suggested entrees (and desserts) for each sauce recipe. For example, the recipe for duxelles sauce has it accompanying veal chops, and the recipe for carmel sauce accompanies the recipe for carmel swirl ice cream. Nontheless, the sauce recipes are clearly written and easy to prepare. The results so far have been exceptional. So, if you want to kick your cooking up a notch, try this book. No disappointments so far.

I love sauces, so l had to purchase this book! I was not disappointed.

I have several of the books in this series, and cannot wait to start selecting recipes from this book. I have had excellent results with Williams-Sonoma recipes. The recipes are relatively easy to follow for someone that has some experience cooking. Interesting margin notes.

Used book. several pages have been torn out, pages have been dog eared and food stains. I was told it would be in excellent condition not well used

This book is so great because not only does it contain lots of terrific sauce recipes, it also tells you how to cook meats. It's very helpful and wonderful!

This book arrived exactly when they said it would. It was in excellent condition. It is a nice little book with uncomplicated recipes. I really like these Williams Sonoma collections. I haven't been disappointed with any of the recipes I've tried.

A+