I am home cook who really loves appetizers. So this book was really exactly what I was looking for! Very detailed guidelines starting from the basics and all over to decorating and finishing. High quality photos, including step-by -step ones, as well as a great variety of recipes. There are dedicated chapters for each type of cold food, such as salads, sandwiches, terrines/pates/galantines, cheese, cold soups, condiments etc. There is also a really inclusive chapter fro charcuterie, as well as a section for the basics (stocks, sauces etc).As it includes a great number of techniques and cooking tips, i consider this a very good guide for any type of cooking. Moreover, judging from the recipes i 've tried till now i do not see any difficult to ingredients, which is really surprising if you consider that it's actually a professional oriented cookbook.I strongly recommend this to anyone who wants to know what to prepare for a gourmet party and surprise his friends but at the same time deepen his knowledge in cooking !