This one is COVID-related. Sorry.
Apr. 3rd, 2020 10:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
camwynFor folks who may be having some difficulty turning up ingredients due to their neighbors buying entire aisles of the market out and leaving only cans of crushed pineapple and bags of weird legumes, may I suggest a book I've found useful a number of times over the years?
The Food Substitutions Bible: More Than 6,500 Substitutions for Ingredients, Equipment and Techniques, by David Joachim
The book is an alphabetical list of ingredients and equipment with notes on what the ingredient is generally used for, along with recommendations for substitutions based on what, specifically, you are trying to do. For example, the entry on whole eggs.
"Substitute one large whole egg (2 oz/60 g) with:
- 2 large egg yolks + 1 tbsp (15 ml) cold water (cooking and baking; makes richer baked goods)
- 2 large egg yolks (for thickening sauces and custards)
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) vegetable oil + 1 tbsp (15 ml) water (for baking)
- 2 to 3 tbsp (30 to 45 ml) mayonnaise (for cakes)
- 1 tsp (5 ml) cornstarch + 3 tbsp (45 ml) additional liquid in recipe (for thickening)
- 3 tbsp water, milk, or other liquid + 3 tbsp flour + 1.5 tbsp shortening + 1/2 tsp baking powder (for baking)
- 1 tsp baking powder + 1 tsp vinegar (if using to replace one additional egg when there is already at least one egg in the recipe)"
And so on. I got my copy off a bargain bin table in a New York City Barnes and Noble years ago and it's been extremely useful since. If you're having trouble finding your usual ingredients, the Food Substitutions Bible may be helpful; if you can't find the book then I suggest visiting the website The Cook's Thesaurus, http://foodsubs.com/ , which is another person's work and less precise but which has the advantage of being available to anyone with an internet connection.
The Food Substitutions Bible: More Than 6,500 Substitutions for Ingredients, Equipment and Techniques, by David Joachim
The book is an alphabetical list of ingredients and equipment with notes on what the ingredient is generally used for, along with recommendations for substitutions based on what, specifically, you are trying to do. For example, the entry on whole eggs.
"Substitute one large whole egg (2 oz/60 g) with:
- 2 large egg yolks + 1 tbsp (15 ml) cold water (cooking and baking; makes richer baked goods)
- 2 large egg yolks (for thickening sauces and custards)
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) vegetable oil + 1 tbsp (15 ml) water (for baking)
- 2 to 3 tbsp (30 to 45 ml) mayonnaise (for cakes)
- 1 tsp (5 ml) cornstarch + 3 tbsp (45 ml) additional liquid in recipe (for thickening)
- 3 tbsp water, milk, or other liquid + 3 tbsp flour + 1.5 tbsp shortening + 1/2 tsp baking powder (for baking)
- 1 tsp baking powder + 1 tsp vinegar (if using to replace one additional egg when there is already at least one egg in the recipe)"
And so on. I got my copy off a bargain bin table in a New York City Barnes and Noble years ago and it's been extremely useful since. If you're having trouble finding your usual ingredients, the Food Substitutions Bible may be helpful; if you can't find the book then I suggest visiting the website The Cook's Thesaurus, http://foodsubs.com/ , which is another person's work and less precise but which has the advantage of being available to anyone with an internet connection.
