Novice cooks often claim the reason they don't try new recipes is that ingredients aren't readily available. Or they don't have the correct size pan.

They won't have those excuses if they have David Joachim's "The Food Substitutions Bible" (Robert Rose, $19.95). The book has more than 5,000 substitutions for almost every type of food and includes exact proportions and directions for making reliable replacements.

"When it comes to cooking, I truly believe that there 'ain't nothing like the real thing,' " Joachim says in his introduction. "But I am also a realist. I know from experience that sometimes you just have to get by with a substitute."

Substituting is a matter of tailoring your cooking to meet your immediate needs. Those who like the taste of deep-fried food might not care for the extra calories, so they turn to oven-frying. Some cooks improvise in a pinch by using what they have on hand: vinegar for lemon juice, oil for butter, and hot sauce for ground red chile peppers.

Entries in the book are arranged alphabetically and cross-referenced like an index. Here are examples from the book.

BISCUIT MIX

Boxed mixture of flour and leavening that requires only the addition of milk to make a biscuit dough. With eggs added, the mix can be used to prepare pancakes, waffles and other quick breads.

If you don't have it: For 1 cup of biscuit mix, substitute 1 cup homemade biscuit mix. To make, whisk together 3 cups cake or pastry flour, 1/3 cup powdered buttermilk or whole milk, 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt. When ready to bake, cut in 1/2 cup cold butter or vegetable shortening. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 months (without butter.) Makes about 3 1/3 cups (without butter).

BUTTERMILK

Traditionally, buttermilk was liquid left after butter was churned. Commercial buttermilk is a tart, thick product created by adding special bacteria to nonfat or low-fat milk.

If you don't have it: Substitute 1 cup buttermilk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to equal 1 cup (for baking, let stand 5 to 10 minutes before using); 1 cup water plus 1/4 cup powdered buttermilk; 1/2 cup plain yogurt plus 1/2 cup milk; 1 cup plain yogurt (thicker); 1 cup sour cream, or 1 cup milk plus 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar (for baking).

SHERRY

This fortified wine, developed in the southern Spanish city of Jerez, is imitated internationally, with varying success.

If you don't have it: Replace 2 tablespoons sherry with 2 tablespoons dry vermouth, 2 tablespoons sake, 2 tablespoons madeira or 2 tablespoons dry white wine plus pinch of sugar.

DARK-BROWN SUGAR

Use dark-brown sugar instead of light-brown sugar for a deeper molasses flavor in cooking, baking, spice rubs and marinades. To measure accurately, always pack the sugar firmly into a measuring cup.

If you don't have it: Substitute 1 packed cup dark-brown sugar with 1 packed cup light-brown sugar plus 1 tablespoon molasses; 1 cup granulated sugar plus 2 to 3 tablespoons molasses; 1 cup turbinado sugar; or 1 cup chopped jaggery (dark coarse sugar extract from palm trees).

TOMATO PASTE

If you typically use only small amounts of tomato paste to thicken a sauce, look for it packed in a squeezable tube. Because the tube is airtight, the paste can be refrigerated for months without spoiling.

If you don't have it: For 1 tablespoon tomato paste, substitute 2 to 3 tablespoons tomato puree or tomato sauce (reduce liquid in recipe by 2 to 3 tablespoons); or boil tomato puree or sauce until reduced to 1 tablespoon.