5.14.2009

to read.

i am a fan of cookbooks. new ones, yes, but especially old, quirky ones. dated. full of weird recipes that one cannot imagine anyone ever used. i have cookbooks for ice cream, pickling and canning, dedicated to cold dishes, and even corn. it's hard to use many of them on a regular basis. the big, comprehensive ones are best for that purpose.

this year, the james beard cookbook award went to fat: an appreciation of a misunderstood ingredient, by jennifer mclagan. i have perused this book more than once, oddly obsessed, but fully understanding that, as a vegetarian, i will never use the majority of the recipes. i love that there are sections on duck fat, pork fat, marrow.

but i digress.

i just read an article about the popularity of cookbooks and the winners of cookbook awards. the best-sellers are rarely cookbook genius, it claims. i don't necessarily even see why this article exists. we have different cookbooks for different purposes. why a person would only have one is beyond me. and if that were the case, i would choose the joy of cooking. it's so perfect; it has everything you ever wanted, and weird things, too.

but, in case you were wondering, here is my ultimate favorite:
but, i also love:
of course i have mastering the art of french cooking, by julia child. and the art of simple food, by alice waters. and one of the fanny farmer books. and a variety of others.

but usability wins. the fat cookbook might be spectacular, but i still LOVE the ones that i can easily understand, get messy in the kitchen, and use all of the time. and those are probably the reasons why i haven't bought the alinea book yet.

2 comments:

cmanuel said...

I know i am completely missing the point of your entry, but i did not know there was an Aliena cook book. I MUST get it before I leave Chicago, and i will share :).

Lindsey said...

I've heard that duck fat or goose fat french fries are the best french fries. Maybe we could split an order somewhere?

LinkWithin



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...