[footfootfoot]

I would say "Joy" with the proviso that it is an older edition. I got a copy for Xmas a while back and it was revised and updated. "Great." I thought. some fresh ideas, maybe a section on tofu or something.

It was diabolical. In a pinch, I needed to make mayonaise one night after stores were closed, we were having a cooking party, etc. I open the book and it says something to the effect of
"In today's modern world no one has the time to prepare everything from scratch so things like mayonaise are best bought ahead of time." End of story.

I checked for a few other basic things which I consider simple building blocks in the kitchen and they too had be expurgated. It's not like a I expected detailed instructions on how to make my own rice wine vinegar from raw rice, these were standard recipe basics.

I threw the book in the woodstove, what a piece of crap. Marion Rombauer Becker must have been turning over inher grave when that epicurean slur was foisted on the world.

Pierre Franey, Craig Clayborne, I have Julia's The way to cook and it is great, though I find her turkey times to be too long by an hour.

I just got "on food and cooking" the science and lore of the kitchen, by Harold McGee. I've jsut started it but his approach is purely scientific and goes into great depths about the whys of cooking. Not so much in terms of recipes, but fantastic if you are of an analytical mind and want to know how things work. For example, he has a section on meat with a chart showing the effect of heat on meat over a range of temperatures.

But all that said, an early copy of JOY would be my 1st choice/