What cookbook do you need & can't find the kitchen if missing?
Mine is the 'Cook and See!' four volume series published by Meenakshi Ammal which was given to me by my grandmother. Without these books, I would not be even able to figure out how to make rice or even a nice spicy chutney or serve up jalebis and gulab jamuns or make a traditional curry and sambhar south indian dinner every night!
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14 Comments:
I must have close to 75 cookbooks, but honestly, if I had to choose one that was my go-to for the basics, it would be "Joy of Cooking". No question about it. It was a wedding gift 24 years ago; its front cover's gone and it looks worse for the wear, but I cherish and refer to it still.
(Sort of like my husband, but that's another topic!)
moibec at 10:26PM on 12/12/07
I vote for the Joy of Cooking as well but the old edition not the new one from a few years back. What I love about it is the fact that I can find recipes for things which people now assume you have to buy and the substitutions page is my bible. Another ancient cookbook which is a huge resource is the Settlement Cookbook. My edition was given to me by my husband's grandmother--it was her bible in the 1920's. Again, when faced with a food or topic which doesn't really exist anymore--like cooking with goose grease--that's where I head.
smallblondemom at 11:22PM on 12/12/07
I'll third Joy of Cooking... I have many, many others, all of which I do use fairly regularly. But that's the one that sits open in my book holder on my countertop 24/7. To understand the significance of that statement, you need to know that I absolutely HATE clutter, and tend to keep nearly everything stowed away in cabinets and drawers.
But there sits my copy of Joy, along with the only other things I use several times per day, every day -- knives, coffeemaker, dish of kosher salt, pepper mill, butcher block (too heavy to move daily), and a towel. I use it every day, if only to get an idea for tomorrow's dinner, or to second guess my challenged memory!
LoCo at 11:51PM on 12/12/07
I have 2 that I use as reference guides Joy of cooking the one I bought 17 years ago. A copy of Amy Vanderbuilt's Complete Cookbook (1961) t is invaluable. My mother was gven a copy when she got married and between her and I we mangled it. I bought another copy a few years ago. If you can find it get it. It usually sells for 4 bucks. It taught me how to entertain.
JerzeeTomato at 3:29AM on 12/13/07
While I was growing up my mom always referenced the 1947 printing of the Woman's Home Companion Cook Book. We've found other copies of this book (all graded as being in condition C), so one of my sisters and I each have a copy now as well.
LunaPierCook at 4:59AM on 12/13/07
Yep, Joy of Cooking all the way. I have my godmother's 1963 edition and I treasure it above any other cookbook in my collection. It's full of useful recipes and information, but I also love reading about how to clean an octopus or how to make a wedding cake. Things I may never do, but it's comforting that the knowledge is at my fingertips.
Tellicherry at 6:54AM on 12/13/07
I have 300ish cookbooks at this point (even after a purge!). They range from highly technical tomes about cake decorating, regional cooking, and the books I used in cooking school. Hands down, the one I "go to" most consistently is The Joy Of Cooking. I'm not talking about the newfangled, revised, revamped Joy, I'm talking about the one from many years ago. What's so wrong with muskrat recipes? I'm not rushing to prepare them but I like to know they're there.
At the other end of the spectrum, the type of cookbook I like the least is the single ingredient cookbook like The Garlic Cookbook.
chiff0nade at 9:38AM on 12/13/07
I like the Fannie Farmer cookbook; it has about every recipe known to man!
fruitpie at 10:54AM on 12/13/07
This is kind of embarassing, but when I was a kid I found the "Sex and the Single Girl" cookbook in my apartment building's stairwell. It taught me SO much (I was 12 and had never cooked a thing). To this day, I still make their potato salad recipe. It also had some recipes so vile, even I, at that tender age, could tell. That said, Joy of Cooking 1973 paperback edition taught me how to cook. I am really stupid in that since it was falling apart, I replaced it with the 2006 edition, and tossed the old one without checking. I'm sure 2006 is fine, but it doesn't have the lemonade recipe, which I can never remember and always have to check.
In terms of the cookbook I use the most, it's Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.
chisai at 12:11PM on 12/13/07
Chisal - that's a cute story!
Actually, this thread reminded me to order a copy of the 1975 Joy of Cooking for my daughter for Christmas. It was the first cookbook I ever received and I got it from my mother. I'm sure it will be her first cookbook - hopefully it won't be her last.
chiff0nade at 3:20PM on 12/13/07
I's have to agree with most people here and say the Joy of Cooking. It's incredible. Never leave home without it. Haha.
I recently read a piece by Loraine Newman about her nineteen thirty-something copy. Very funny. You should read it here:
http://www.oneforthetable.com/oftt/articles/the-joy-of-cooking.html
jeremypb at 5:23PM on 12/13/07
All of them -- via the internet.
kjgibson at 5:27PM on 12/13/07
Oh, I have to put in a word for Mark Bittman. How to Cook Everything has played the role in my kitchen life that the Joy of Cooking plays in most other people's!
Robin Bellinger at 6:19PM on 12/13/07
Like most here --an older version of Joy of Cooking -- couldn't live without it. It is my go to book for many of the basics. I love cookbooks and have many that I can't live without -- the first moosewood cookbook, Peg Bracken's-- I hate to cook book (not only is it fun, I have made a number of great things out of it.) -- One of the local cookbooks lot of ethnic specialties our area is known for -- and quite a few others.
lakeloverhh at 12:21PM on 12/17/07