It is easy for a chef to fall into a creative rut, so look to a garlic cookbook directory resource for assistance. Cookbooks are the key to creating diversity in your menu. Whether you are the chef of a restaurant or foodservice institute, it is imperative to your business’s success that you offer variety. Specialty cookbooks allow you to experiment with different recipes, and sometimes add your own twist.

With the Internet, it's easier than ever to search for a garlic cookbook provider. Finding the right cookbook for your needs proves slightly more challenging. Cookbooks give you ideas for recipes, but also open the door to developing your own unique recipes. In many ways, mastering classic recipes is the best foundation to a chef’s training. When searching for garlic cookbook information, remember the following:

1. Chefs of food service institutes should choose from a garlic cookbook list with accommodating yields. Some recipes may not convert well, so make sure the cookbook you choose works for your size establishment.

2. Don’t be afraid of including old fashioned recipes in your menu selection. Many tried and true recipes are favorites when prepared well.

3. The cookbooks that you choose should reflect your skill level, your schedule, and the type of garlic you are interested in.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Pick garlic cookbook recipes that reflect the style of your establishment

With so many wonderful recipes out there, it's tempting to choose all that look appealing. However, make sure the recipes you pick reflect the character of your establishment. Guests have expectations when they select a restaurant, so unless you're confident you can pleasantly surprise them, don't add recipes that challenge your restaurant's concept.

I recommend: The International Garlic Cookbook features recipes from around the globe, including France's chicken with 40 cloves of garlic and Italy's fettuccine al pesto. Garlic, Garlic, Garlic: More than 200 Exceptional Recipes for the World's Most Indispensable Ingredient offers buying, storing, and preparing guidance for garlic, in addition to recipes such as Brandade and Spanish Sopa de Ajo.

Check recipes in each garlic cookbook and make sure the ingredients are easy to find

There's nothing better than a unique recipe with a unique taste. But if producing such a dish requires ingredients that are difficult to get, it may not be worth it. For this reason, you may want to steer away from cookbooks with recipes that require hard-to-find herbs and spices, or certain seasonal or regional produce and food items.

I recommend: The Totally Garlic Cookbook features garlic salsa and garlic seasoning paste in its "Pantry Items and Lifesavers" section. The Garlic Lovers' Cookbook, Volume 2 presents all the recipes from both of The Garlic Lovers' Cookbooks, in addition to prize-winning entries from the Great Garlic Cookoffs.

Continue to update and enhance your garlic cookbook collection

You may assume you have a pretty substantial cookbook collection, but recipes are continuously enhanced and updated. Stay abreast of the newest creations, but don't forget the classics.

I recommend: The Great Garlic Book: A Guide With Recipes offers a chapter on growing garlic, as well as a selection of recipes. The Stinking Rose Restaurant Cookbook features a culmination of the restaurant's famous recipes.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Join an association or club for garlic lovers to help find garlic cookbook recommendations, recipes and other information.