Old-School Cooking Whizdom
“A recipe is like a road map,” writes chef Lauren Braun Costello. “A road map shows you where to go and how to get there, but does not teach you how to drive.” (Photo courtesy of RCR Creative Press) This is how Costello and her writing partner Russell Reich kick off their new book, “Notes on Cooking: A Short Guide to an Essential Craft.” And this is why I’m devoting today’s space to an itty-bitty book that can fit inside a purse. A graduate of the French Culinary Institute and a veteran of several high-profile kitchens, Costello abstains from the same ol’ recipe show-and-tell. Instead, she and Reich dish up a stick-to-your-ribs collection of kitchen aphorisms — 217, to be exact — that reveal the hows, whys, whens, whats and heart and soul of cooking. A mix of the pithy (“Preside happily over accidents”) and the practical (“Use wet measures
