Ratio
Michael Ruhlman · first published 2009 · ISBN 9781416571728
Ruhlman discovered that cooking is built on simple proportions. Bread is 5:3 (five parts flour to three parts water). Biscuits are 3:1:2 (flour, fat, liquid). Once you know the ratio, you understand not just one recipe but a thousand variations. Ruhlman walks through ratios for batters, doughs, custards, stocks, and sauces, then shows how to improvise from the foundation.
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This book frees you from recipes. Once you understand that pasta dough is a ratio (flour to eggs), you can adjust for humidity and make it work every time, rather than blindly trusting a single recipe.