What's on Chef's Bookshelf?

Last time Chef Matt visited the Klatch, we talked about underappreciated ingredients. Today Chef Matt shares some of his "go to" cook books. Though when cooking at home he tends to use magazines, like Saveur, a couple books made the cut:

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. “This book has a lot of basics that bring me back to my roots of simple cooking that I often overlook.”

Splendid Soups by James Peterson. “I love making soups that last a few days and I can get multiple meals out of. We'll have a bowl of soup, some bread and a big salad and call it a day.”

At the restaurant Chef’s picks are all about ingredients and combining flavors. I suspect any home kitchen would benefit from these:

Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. “A great book for writing menus. It puts together ingredients that work well together and separates ingredients by cuisine and seasonality.”

Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst. “Basically a mini food encyclopedia. I use this every week at work, especially when educating the servers in the restaurant about specific ingredients.”

The River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. “This is sort of an eclectic meat cookbook with cuts of meat and game home cooks don't use a lot. A lot of interesting recipes. I look through it when I'm looking for something different.”

Next time Chef Matt visits the Klatch I will try my hand with one of his recipes.