Christopher Kimball's Milk Street 365 is an impressive volume that will easily become the go-to recipe trove in many households, thanks to its ability to cater to a wide range of tastes, skill levels, appetites, and dietary requirements. Kimball (Milk Street: Tuesday Nights) divides the cookbook into 18 sections that contain offerings from cuisines all over the world. While this may seem overwhelming, every section begins with a list of all the recipes included, an organization system that essentially embeds more user-friendly indices throughout the book and makes the large volume of meal options both approachable and navigable. The book's design maximizes space, filling each page while managing to ensure that every recipe is accompanied by a photograph of the dish. Highlighted sections called "Change the Way You Cook" and "Milk Street Basic" outline master techniques such as knife skills and poaching eggs, provide quantity conversions for canned and dry beans, and explain the science behind how shredding root vegetables enhances their flavor. Many recipes include substitutions for hard-to-find ingredients--no one needs a special pantry to navigate this cookbook and get the most out of it.
Fans of enduring kitchen masterworks such as Joy of Cooking or Mastering the Art of French Cooking will welcome Milk Street 365 to their collections. Cooks who are just getting started will appreciate the book's accessible and user-friendly presentation and layering of techniques, recipes, and photos. It's the kind of book that will encourage everyone to get back into the kitchen to expand their horizons. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer