Content
The books follow a format roughly similar to the magazines, with each recipe introduced by a fairly lengthy commentary on how the editors developed the recipe and various issues of kitchen science involved in perfecting it. Sidebars include equipment and ingredient evaluations, as well as illustrations of specific techniques; most volumes also contain a series of color plates illustrating finished dishes. The original The Best Recipe also contained a short section of miscellaneous recipes as well as a description of recipes tied into the first season of the America's Test Kitchen television show; these features do not appear in later books.
Unlike series such as Foods of the World with a more encyclopedic format, the Best Recipe series is published as self-contained books providing broad coverage of a specific subject. As a result, recipes are often duplicated between books (for example, identical recipes for American-style cornbread appear in at least three different volumes, and chicken tikka masala in at least two), a controversial approach that has led many reviewers to complain of editorial laziness or reduced value.
Read more about this topic: The Best Recipe
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