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Brooks Hamakers' Mama's cookbook has quickly become the stuff of eGullet legend. Finally, Mayhaw Man comes clean with the whole story: Cook with Brooks (and by extension, Mama) . . . +++ Be sure to check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles (most every weekday), hot topics, site announcements, and more.

My copy just landed on my doorstep. I'm wondering whether to keep it. Any recommendations/reviews?

I'm looking for cookbooks containing Punjabi recipes, by Punjabi authors, preferably good ones :)

I just purchased Tante Marie's Cooking School Cookbook by Mary Risley. It is a great read... I think there is much for me to learn as her goal is to teach you the guidelines of cooking and serving food rather than just presenting a bunch of recipes. Though, the example recipes do sound divine and I love that she gives her instructors lush praise and credit for the recipes that they contribute to the text. She obviously has an appreciation not only for the techniques that she presents, but for the context in which they were developed. I love getting a little bit of cultural history with each recipe and lesson. I definitely can see it becoming a reference tool for me. I'm curious, have any of you attended her school? It sounds like quite the institution. Edited for trigger finger, posted before I was quite ready... oops.

Hey all...I'm looking for a suggestion or two on a good introductory book for an aspiring pastry chef...I appreciate all suggestions, 'cause if I don't get outta retail soon, well...I swear, I'm gonna sock someone...! Thanks! Rock. M.

I went to B&N and flipped through a few, but nothing really grabbed me. I know a little bit about Turkish food, but not all that much, so something with culture/history/regional differences would be good. Or what the heck, just something with some tasty recipes...

I guess Suneeta has been working on her cookbook for upwards of 20 years. It is out now. I've done a bunch of recipes from it, and I know many of them from her cooking classes here in Houston. The book is excellent. I love the way the book is laid out, it is designed to make following the recipes fast and easy. There are three columns for each recipe, the left column has the measures listed in English units, the center column lists the ingredients, and the right column has the measures listed in metric units. The cooking instructions are excellent. The headnotes consist of information on the dish and tips for the dish. This is a cookbook by a teacher who knows how to put a recipe together. Here's the beauty of the book, by way of example. How many times have you seen a cookbook recipe that calls for, say, "1 onion chopped"? What size onion would that be, exactly? Here in Texas an onion can be pretty bid. In Europe, they aren't as big. What Suneeta has done is demystify the list of ingredients by using measures of cups, teaspoons, and tablespoons, or, metric weights. This is awesome! It makes the recipes foolproof. And it gives you a baseline for later changing the recipe up to suit personal tastes. I own 5 Indian cookbooks, and I have read quite a few more. But this is the one that I will default to. This book should be in every cook's collection. It is that good. I would recommend starting with the following: Chicken in Cashew Saffron Gravy North Indian Lamb Curry on Bread Whole Baked Masala Cauliflower Bell Peppers with Roasted Chickpea Flour Dhokla (a fast and easy recipe using cream of wheat that produces beautiful results) Split Yellow Peas with Tamarind Chutney Gena's Kababs (flavored with green onions, ginger, cilantro, crisp fried onions)

I have about 1/3 lb. sitting in my fridge. What should I do with it?

I was just nosing around Amazon and noticed that the CIA has come out with a new professional book "Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft". Just published on March 1, 2004 and I haven't seen it in stores yet, so I was just wondering if anyone had heard anything or flipped through it to see what the deal is - Must have reference with best of class recipes, or dated, middle of the road stuff that's covered everywhere else already?

Hi , longtime lurker here. Admittedly inspired by Julie Powell, for awhile now I've been trying to find a book I could cook my way through. Two possibilities were "The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook" by Christopher Kimball and "Get in There and Cook" by the late great Richard Sax. But the recent thread on "culinary nemeses" spurred me towards baking, as pie crust has always been the enemy. I have never even tried to do rolled cookies, and as for layered doughs like Danish or phyllo, fuggedaboutit! Plus: I can bring desserts into work for easy disposal. My retail staff is constantly hungry and not too picky. So....it's time to get over my fears and who better to hold my hand than Cook's Illustrated? I started baking yesterday and I'll give a brief summation of each recipe as I do them. I won't be going in order but will try and do basic recipes early on.

After "seasoning" on the shelf for three months, I finally decided it was time to start baking from this book. Today I made her lemon curd and the master recipe for Pound Cake. Her instructions are very clear. And the book is easy to follow. My one complaint is that uses volume for measurement and doesn't include weights. For those of you not familiar with the book, Yard's concept is that desserts can be broken down into assorted components. By knowing the master recipes and variations, you can then combine them to create your own stunning desserts. Have any of you used the book yet? If so, what have you tried? Were you pleased?

Do any of you have the following Susan Purdy books: "Have Your Cake And Eat it Too," "Let Them Eat Cake," and "Perfect Cake" (used to be "Piece Of Cake.")? I'm thinking of ordering them, but would like your feedback. Thanks.

What would you like to be included in a cookbook you classify as a "good cookbook"? Rushina

I bought this book when I first decided I was going to start improving my cooking skills awhile ago. Then I fell into volunteering as an assistant at a cooking school, learned my basic skills there and never really opened Bittman's book much. I'm in awe of it as a reference work-- it's quite an accomplishment, but I still never open it much (though I still have alot to learn, that's for sure). Had some shrimp that needed to be used the other night, so I dusted off HTCE to see what ideas Bittman had. Ended up using his Shrimp "My Way", which was fine (However, I was a bit surprised to see the instructions telling you to broil the shrimp as close as possible to the heat source for 5-10 minutes! Yikes.) What good recipes am I missing in HTCE? The one I really like is the simple seviche.

hi all, my wife has asked me to ask for recommendations for comprehensive korean cookbooks. she wishes to expand her range, and i am happy to assist her in this. she's a native korean speaker and is already an excellent cook so she doesn't need flashy books with nice pictures or exact directions (in other words it doesn't need to be the kind of thing that most americans would recognize as a "good" cookbook); she's looking for a korean cookbook aimed at koreans, not adapted to american tastes/kitchens. we'll be in los angeles next month, so recommendations for places in l.a where these might be available would be particularly welcomed. thanks in advance! mongo

First a little explanation... I keep all of my recipes in Word files. These are in a plain, utilitarian format. From time to time, I will print them out and put them in a plastic sleeve in a utilitarian 3-ring binder. That is handy, because I can remove the page and pin it with a magnet to some convenient place in the kitchen while I am cooking. Now to my problem... For Christmas, the kids are requesting such a thing for a gift. I really don't want to give them something entirely as bare bones as what I have. They do want a binder with the plastic sleeves. I have said that is probably more practical that I send them a CD from time to time because I update them regularly. Nope. They want a book. I have searched the Microsoft site for templates and find none for recipes. I may have to "upgrade" my Word skills to come up with a classy template, uh... geese with blue bows and grapevines need not apply. But, where do you find attractive binders? I know there is a world out there that is into scrapbooking and maybe that is a source for something interesting. I just don't know about it. Have any of you ever done something like this? Any ideas? Thanks... Frantic Mother

So my copy of Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme, written by Dorie Greenspan, finally arrived. I'd like to work through the book (and maybe throw in some stuff from his other book with Dorie Greenspan). And it would be great to have some eGullet bakers along for the ride. Anybody want to make something this weekend? I'm thinking a cake or tart to start with? Maybe the Apricot & Ginger Chocolate Loaf Cake (p. 3) or the Chocolate & Raspberry Tart (p. 97) (if raspberries don't cost $5.00 a half-pint)? I'm totally open to other ideas. I'm also thinking about making something in the middle of next week to bring to my sister-in-law's house for Thanksgiving, maybe the Moist and Nutty Brownies (p. 61), or the Hazelnut Chocolate Sables (p. 69)?

In an ideal world, I'd be able to sit my nieces down to the eGCI course on cooking with children. Or make my sister-in-law do it. But that's not going to happen – she may be home with the kids all day, but she's not the food person in the family – my brother is. And since he's getting Tony Bourdain's cookbook for this year's present, I thought I might make it a theme year. Six-and-a-half-year-old Jessica takes after her father, and loves to help him in the kitchen. Four-and-a-half-year-old Sydney has a much less adventurous palate but most definitely wants a part of whatever her big sister's doing. We're not considering my dear nephew this year as he's barely eating solid food, let alone cooking it! I've been eyeing all sorts of cookbooks for a while now but my head always ends up swimming. Alice? Emeril? Rachael? Donna? Betty? Ideally, their gifts would hit the middle ground between boring and superficial. Useful but not dry. Fun but not totally devoid of educational content. Has anyone gotten good results from a children's cookbook? Or am I being overidealistic? Thank you very much in advance!

I was enjoyed the Pierre Herme thread so I thought it would be fun to find out what books people regard as indispensible and what books have taken their pastry knowledge to the next level. I have a lot of home/basic pastry books and very few advanced books, when you go to the bookstore (which is one of my favourite places ) the choices are rather limited so I am hoping egullets would have some great ideas.

As a companion to Gifted Gourmet's thread on Food Books you give as holiday gifts, I thought it would be fun to everyone to share the books they want to get receive this holiday season. Let's be honest, it's really more fun to get rather than give. Blovie and I exchange gifts every night of Chanukah. On average he gives me 4 cookbooks. I provide him with a large list to choose from. This year's list includes: McGee II (this is a MUST) JC's Mastering the Art of French Cooking Keller's French Laundry Cookbook Cafe Paradiso Cookbook or Cafe Paradiso Seasons Jack Bishop's A Year in Vegetarian Kitchen Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday cookbook Gil Mark's Olive Trees and Honey (another jewish cookbook) I can't remember what else is on the list.

and where should i store an opened bottle?

I heard the Mr. Wizard of the kitchen is coming out with a new book real soon. Anyone heard about this?

During my recent trip to Kolkata, I picked up two Cookbooks specializing in Bengali cooking: "Bangla Ranna: The Bengal Cookbook" - by Minakshie Dasgupta ISBN 81-7476-205-1 and "The Calcutta Cookbook" - by Jaya Chaliha, Minakshie Dasgupta et al. ISBN 01-4046-972-9 Unfortunately, both the books are currently out of stock at amazon.com I found both the books to be fairly good, but then again, I haven't read that many Bengali cookbooks before. The "Calcutta Cookbook" has lots more than recipes -- it has some stories about culture etc. which some people may or may not like. The Bengal Cookbook is more like a cookbook, and it concentrates on recipes alone. The recipes are very well written and would be useful for people who do not have an intuitive feel for Bengali cuisine. This book also has some great pictures. If you want to get introduced to Bengali cooking, the Bengal Cookbook may work for you. PS: Minakshie Dasgupta is the mother of the owners of Kewpie's Restaurant that I mentioned In this thread about Kolkata restaurants.

I've been following the "how many cookbooks do you own?" thread for some time now, and of my collection of 140 or so, it's kinda shameful how many have never been used... Then again, considering about 20 or so of these are absolute garbage, that's probably for the best... I keep these for comedy value/novelty, or perhaps because selling/giving them away would mean admitting I owned them (hey some of them I even paid for!) So... what's the worst ones you've ever owned. Did you get them as presents/hand-me-downs or do you admit to spending your own money? To get us started, here's my top 5 list of the the biggest loser cookbooks: 5) Cooking from the Cupboard: Okay, there are legitimate resources on pantry cooking. This ain't one of them. A terrifying overreliance on canned fish. And hey, author, you DO realize that spices and seasonings are shelf-stable, right? So why not USE them once in a while? 4) Secrets of Fat-Free Chinese Cooking: A throwback to the height of "fat hysteria" most of these recipes don't even sound appetizing enough to try. There's such a thing as "neccessary fats". Never buy a Chinese cookbook from anyone named Compenstine. 3) Wizard of Oz Cookbook: Okay this was a gift from someone who knew I was a huge Wizard of Oz fan. Basically a tossing together of stereotypical midwestern foods. No keepers. 2) Susan Powter's "Food": Another "Fat is evil, but 8,000 calories a day is fine!" book. Punctuated with lots and lots of idiotic rants. You'd better agree with everything Susan says about the diet industry, or you're a sexist pig trying to keep a hardworking woman down. and the #1 one: 1) The Star Trek Cookbook: Hey, I'm a Trekkie, so you'd think this would be my favorite. Well, as amusing as the text can be, the recipes fall far short of tasting as alien as they look or sound. I'm guessing it's targeted towards Middle America, but I'm thinking the addition of exotic ingredients (or at least less recognizable ones) would improve the taste and perhaps the appearance of the dishes. The book could have benefitted from the addition of more hints on how to reproduce the look of dishes on the show, as well as some primers on unusual techniques and ingredients. Really expand the mind a bit. But nope, this was just a fluff piece marketed towards gullible Trekkies... like me. (Note: there IS one very good recipe from the dozen or so I've tried, from the actors' contributions: Robert Beltran's Turkey Mole. Very traditional (turkey instead of chicken, chocolate in the mole) and one of the best moles I've ever had. (Hmm, it's almost as yummy as Beltran himself....) An entry in the "Should suck, but doesn't" category is one I got as a present from my parents: The IKEA Real Swedish Cookbook. Several wonderful recipes that I've tried so far, and a lot of surprisingly authentic stuff for such a stereotypical store!

Every once in a while I drop into the Brattle Bookshop to browse for used cookbooks. Lo and behold, yesterday they had a HUGE addition of cookbooks. Evidently, they just bought out a big collection. There are still lots of great books left, even after I bought my fill. Where else do you find a good selection of bargain used cookbooks in and around Boston?