Food Lover's Companion

Food Lover’s Companion

Fourth Edition cover
Author Sharon Tyler Herbst
and Ron Herbst
Country United States
Series Barron's Cooking Guide
Publisher Barron's Educational Series
Publication date
1990 – 2007 (4th)
Media type trade paperback
Pages 830 (4th)
ISBN 0-7641-3577-5 (4th)

The New Food Lover’s Companion—currently in its Fourth Edition—is a seminal work in the culinary field. The book defines over 6,700 culinary terms in its 830 pages, along with numerous conversion tables. Each edition is a significant expansion on the previous edition in number of entries and the coverage of the various appendices.

The main section of the work is an A-to-Z list of defined culinary terminology, followed by a series of appendices.

Edition details
Edition Published ISBN Pages Entries
First January 1990 0-8120-4156-9 582 Over 3,000
Second January 1995 0-8120-1520-7 600 Over 4,000
Third March 2001 0-7641-1258-9 792 Nearly 6,000
Fourth August 2007 0-7641-3577-5 830 Over 6,700
Third Edition cover

The Second Edition is a searchable source text at Epicurious, and the Third Edition is a searchable source text at Answers.com.

Sharon Tyler Herbst—the primary author—wrote 16 food and beverage related books before her death on January 26, 2007. Her husband Ron—who writes about wine and cheese—finished editing the Fourth Edition after her death and is credited as the coauthor.

Reception

Bon Appetit hailed the book as “one of the best reference books we’ve seen, a must for every cook’s library”, and the New York Times described it “As thick and as satisfying as a well-stuffed sandwich”.[1]

Famous chef Emeril Lagasse called it his favorite book,[2] and it is required reading at the New England Culinary Institute.

Fourth edition appendices

Notes

  1. Back cover of the Third and Fourth Editions.
  2. Konrad, Rachel (January 29, 2007). "Cookbook author and foodie favorite Sharon Tyler Herbst dies". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-02-17.

External links