Book Review: The Food Substitution Bible

Reviewing books is a passion of mine; reviewing cookbooks and books about food are a particular obsession. This is in large part, because I like to read, write and cook, so three of my favorite activities come together in a delicious synergy.

Though, I have to admit, that generally, I like to read cookbooks or food books that have “stories” to them; you know, the kind of narrative-heavy cookbooks that tell the history and story behind each recipe, and which pour gems of cultural knowledge and wisdom over the reader like a rain of rosewater on a hot summer’s day. And while it is true that I love a good narrative, I am also the child who thought reading the dictionary or encyclopedia was the best fun to have of an afternoon, so it should come as no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed reading David Joachim’s The Food Substitutions Bible.

It first came to my attention via an email from a very nice public relations person, who wrote to inform me that the book had won an IACP (The International Association of Culinary Professionals) award in the Food Reference Category. When an offered a review copy, I jumped at it, and waited eagerly to set my hands on it.

When it arrived, I was very happy to find that while it contained no stories, it did contain a wealth of worthy information that was well-laid out, sensibly listed, and comprehensive in scope. Substitutions are listed for over 5,000 ingredients, pieces of equipment and cooking techniques in alphabetical form in the main text of the book, while at separate, smaller, but intensely useful section lists ingredient guides and weight and measurement equivalents.

While the main encyclopedic entries were amazingly detailed and interesting on their own, my favorite part was the ingredient guide and measurement equivalents sections at the back of the book. (In the ingredient guide, Joachim focuses special attention on varieties of apples, mushrooms, chiles (fresh and dried), dried beans, lentils, cooking oils, dressing and flavoring oils, flours, and Asian noodles. He gives descriptions of flavors, textures, cooking properties, colors, smoking points and other important characteristics with each entry, and then lists possible substitutions for them. The cooking oils list with the smoking points (the temperature at which the oil will burn) alone is invaluable; but my favorite of all was his list of 29 different varieties of potatoes, grouped by starch content, with descriptions of skin and flesh colors, flavors and textures.

For this Germanic lass who grew up on a steady diet of Irish Cobblers, Kennebec, and Red Bliss among family members who would sit and discuss the finer points of each type as we gobbled them down mashed, boiled and buttered, fried or baked, it was as if I found a kindred spirit in this author who would obsessively list 29 different commercially available types of potatoes in a reference work.

The measurement equivalent tables, or as we called them in culinary school when we had to memorize them–“weights and measures,” is for all the people in the world who cannot convert cups to quarts and quarts to pecks and bushels in their heads as I can. (I was always good at weights and measures in culinary school; this is most likely due to the fact that I was among one of the last generations where such conversions were taught in elementary school. That, and my Grandpa used to quiz me on them mercilessly, because he thought that it was necessary knowledge for anyone who farmed, cooked or preserved food.) They also feature the “weights and measures” problems I -cannot- do in my head: conversions from Imperial measurements (ounces and pounds, like we use in the US) to metric. I was among the first generation to be taught metric measures–and I never remembered the conversions quite right, and I suspect that there are a lot of other folks out there like me, wondering how many grams are in an ounce, and how many litres in a quart.

There are problems with the book. I disagree with some of his substitutions, particularly for Asian ingredients. For example, he suggests substituting fermented black beans, one of my favorite Cantonese flavorings, with black bean sauce, which is sensible, since it is made with fermented black beans. But then,he also suggests substituting them with cooked soybeans flavored with soy sauce. This would absolutely not do at all–the flavor would be nowhere near the same, nor would the texture. Even the level of salt is nowhere equivalent between the two suggestions.

That sent warning bells off in my head, especially when I looked at the amounts he was talking about: the entry for fermented black beans talks about substituting 1/2 cup of them with 1/2 cup of cooked soybeans and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.

This caused me to blink in surprise, as -no- Chinese recipe that I can think of uses that many fermented black beans! They are a very strong flavoring ingredient, and most recipes use them in amounts ranging from teaspoons to tablespoons–never in increments of a cup!

His primary suggestion for substituting fish sauce is a concoction he calls “Homemade Fish Sauce Substitute,” which consists of soy sauce, anchovy paste or whole anchovy filets, garlic and brown sugar, simmered for ten minutes and then strained. Personally, it sounds simpler to me to just make sure you have fish sauce on hand, and since its availability is widening to even grocery stores in Southeastern Ohio these days, that isn’t as difficult as it once was.

All in all, however, these are minor quibbles with what is essentially a very useful reference work that deserves to be in every serious cook’s kitchen. Joachim may not be absolutely right in every one of his suggestions, but most of the information is both useful and accurate enough to warrant making space for it on your cookbook shelf.

And–at the price of $19.95–it’s a bargain!

6 Comments

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1. Barbara, you are making me itch to go and take a look at the book, if I can find it here. Aiyoh! [If I can be colloquially Chinese :)] There’s no way fermented bean paste can be substituted with cooked soybean with soy sauce. Do editors take feedback? Oh, from young until now, one of my favourite past times is to read maps and atlases.

   Comment by Shirley Lim — April 6, 2006 #

2. Sounds like a nice alternative to the online Cook’s Thesaurus that we regularly use. Thanks for the review!

   Comment by sprite — April 7, 2006 #

3. Shirley, I have no idea if the editors would take feedback, but it is worth trying. I caught quite a few oddities in his suggestions on Asian ingredient substitutions, though not as many as one might expect. The author seems quite well knowledgable on some aspects of Asian food, and questionable on others.

   Sprite–I am glad to have helped!

   Comment by Barbara — April 7, 2006 #

4. That looks like something I MUST have! 🙂

   Comment by Kim — April 7, 2006 #

5. Thanks for this. With a partner with numerous food allergies, we’re always on the lookout for decent books on substitutions. We’ll have to investigate getting it over here in Australia.

   Comment by Jennifer — April 8, 2006 #

6. My son is allergic to most of the foods children are commonly have allergies to and cooking for him is difficult for me. Does this book list substitutions for milk, eggs, peanuts, etc. You know the simple items.

   Comment by Debby — December 11, 2006 #

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