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It might seem ironic that with my current signature evangalizing the Meat book i would want to solicit the feedback on any interesting vegetarian ones. But it fact, the Meat book was one of the reasons for me to seriously reconsider my diet, in terms of meat sources and other related issues. Now, i still want to make delicious and interesting dishes, so here is my current list of books that live up to the idea: A Passion for Vegetables by Paul Gayler, a gem. Cafe Paradiso Seasons, delight to read: have yet to cook from it but recipes sound so good. The Gate Vegetarian Cookbook: Where Asia Meets the Mediterranean: i expected more from it considering a very favorable review in UK Telegraph, but i need more time to make sure. Vegetables by Guy Martin: breathtaking photography by Isabelle Rozenbaum, she worked on several book with Martin - i wish they were published in english, and in french they're damn expensive. Of course, Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is always used as a source for ideas. Honorary mention - Schneider's Vegetables Amaranth to Zucchini.

I'm thinking of buying my mother a cookbook stand/holder for her birthday and was wondering if anyone had recommendations or warnings. There are a number of choices and prices on Amazon, but I'm tempted to just buy the one from Williams Sonoma. I live overseas and won't be able to see any of these products in person, so any input on sturdiness, durability, and clean-ability would be appreciated. Thanks very much!

Forget about which Food TV personality you are! This, I think, takes the (colored with saffron and stuffed with honey and dried figs) cake for cooking-related quizzes. I give you: Which Medieval or Renaissance Cookbook Are You? Me, I'm Platina's De Honesta Voluptate. Well, at least it's in Latin...

The Uglesich's Cookbook. Butter and Garlic not included. As soon as I type this I will be running to the bookstore for a copy. This book is filled with stuff that I like to eat. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of being smashed into the miniscule dining room amid the mismatched tables and the Barq's, Dixie, and Abita cases, this book will afford you the opportunity to see just what Yugoslav/Creole is all about. I have not even seen the book, but I feel safe in highly reccomending it. I love the place. Frankly I loved it even more before all of the tourists made it a lunchtime mecca, but such is the cost of being good. Uggie can't find anybody he trusts to run the place, so this may be your only chance to try some of the simple yet delicious food that has been prepared in the tiny kitchen with all of that beat up cookware. Uglesich's has become another New Orleans institution, but unlike Galitoire's, Antoines, Tujagues, and Commander's Palace, this one is a one man band and the band has probably played it's last tune. Don't miss a chance to meet these wonderful peope if you get the chance. I am trying to reach the publisher for a tour schedule and as soon as I do I will post it here.

I not only love drinking sweet/late harvest wines, I use them for cooking as well and am constantly on the lookout for new ideas. BTW: I also serve the same wines with the dishes too. 2 favorites of mine are: 1. Doing split lobster tails in butter & almond oil and L.H. Riesling , then finishing the sauce off with cream and slivered almonds. -- I usually do this as an apetizer though for entree as well once in awhile. 2. Chicken breats scallopini style briefly sauteed with butter & shallot, then adding (not available right now) Rosenblum Muscat de Glacier. After removing the chicken breasts adding cream and reducing the sauce, then garnishing with orange slices. I'd really be interested on feedback of what savory dishes others make with Late Harvest wines. I feel these wines are undrused in this regard.

I have no idea how many cookbooks I have, but they currently fill one floor-to-ceiling bookshelf in the kitchen and most of one in the living room. I like to collect cookbooks from places that I visit, those of historical interest, and just plain odd ones. My sons find my collection very humorous for I never actually cook from my cookbooks. I have a slight anti-authoritarian quirk that does not allow me to follow directions, and I generally just make stuff up after comparing similar recipes from various sources. To Marmish: I'd really be interested in knowing where that bookstore in Forest Park is. I hang out at the Frugal Muse in Darien (75th and Lemont) now and then -- nice collection of used cookbooks there, too. [Moderator note: The original Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 2)]

I have found an American-based thread, but was hoping for a UK version. I recently purchased Keep it Simple by Alastair Little, and Canteen Cuisine by Marco Pierre White and love em both. I would appreciate recommendations. Whats your favourite cookbook?

Hello all, Does anyone have any recommendations for a good German cookbook devoted to bread and pastries? I have so many classic French books but can find very little devoted to the German baking tradition. I have seen the Dr. Oetker German Baking Today but know nothing of it. Joe Ortiz has a few breads in his book and they are very good but I'm looking for a more complete treatment. Thanks

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: Stategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking.

just joined the forum and have a question on indian cookbooks and non-indian cooks that i have been mulling over for years.... has anyone else had the following experiences? i have had several white friends over the years who are home cooks, i.e. have not taken professional cooking courses and don't seem to any idea of the techniques of indian cooking.... they seem to like indian cookbooks that i find totally bad...once i went to an american friend's house for an indian dinner he cooked and i could not recognize the dishes at all, which were channa daal, rotis, and some vegetable....it was very embarrassing for me... i have noticed this trend on amazon reviews too. it has gotten to the point where i now try to figure out if the poster is s. asian or not and if not, then i disregard the review and in fact not buy the book at all if recommended by a non-s. asian. and, sometimes it doesn't seem to matter even if the non-indian poster claims that he/she has been cooking indian food for years, i''m quite amazed at the cookbooks he/she seems to find good because typically i will own the cookbook and know that the recipes were not tested enough etc. sp

I received a bookstore gift card and decided to buy an Indian cookbook (to fill in a noticeable gap in my cookbook collection). If you could own only one Indian cookbook, what would it be?

Hey Everyone! I'm kinda new to all this, so excuse any violation of mores. Searching google for anything on Mr. Steingarten on the web led me to this forum. It appears te me that most of you are food professionals or nearly that, while i'm just a 21-yr old student who likes to cook. I own both Jeffries books, and i've started putting together a list of all the books he sort of recommends in his writing. Thus came an idea for this forum, wouldn't it be fun to concoct a list of say 50 cookbooks from the world over? I everybody, and hopefully mr Steingarten along with them, would contribute his or hers favourote books, this could be very interesting. Due to my limited library on the subject (most cookbooks i've read are mom's) i shall begin by contributing my current favourite. I shall put it in last place, because i'm sure a lot of you will have thing to say on the subject. so: 50. La cucina essentiale - Stefano Cavallini I hope a lot of suggestions will follow! Yours Truly, Rik (Host's Note: Thanks to eG member marmish, who has compiled a list of everything mentioned as of the end of July 2009: it can be found here. -CH)

Anyone remember seeing Mary Sia's Chinese Cookbook (1956) in its spiral binding and yellow cover published by the University of Hawaii Press? Jackie Newman who has the largest collection of English-language cookbooks in world once told me that this was one of the best. Now in the latest issue of her journal on Chinese food, Flavor and Fortune, there's an article by her son, Calvin Sia. it's the story of how his mother, born in Hawaii to parents who were both physicians, took a degree in Home Economics at UH, married and lived with her husband in Beijing for fifteen years, then returned to Hawaii in the late 1930s when conditions there became dangerous, and taught Chinese cooking at the YWCA, and to the military, university and many local people, as well as offering tours of Chinatown. Calvin Sia is Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Hawaii. And I never knew when I was there. But the more I learn about food in Hawaii (thanks Wesza and all the rest of you) the more fascinating it is, Rachel

I am sure there are a lot of favorites out there. Please share yours. While the current focus of my attention is Robb Walsh's fine new book of essays, Are You Really Going To Eat That?, another of my favorite Texas food books is a one that's not only about Texas. Gulf Coast Cooking: Seafood From The Florida Keys To The Yucatan Penninsula has been around for a while (Fredricksburg: Shearer Publishing, 1991) and has great staying power, not only due to the recipes by Virginia Elverson (founder of the Houston Culinary Guild) and photography by Bob Parvin, David Crossley and Bill Pogue, but also because of the wonderful series of accompanying essays by John Graves, one of the finest writers Texas has ever produced. So I guess this thread could include food-related books by Texas authors or books about Texas foods and cooking by whomever. Please jump in and let us know what you have found interesting or helpful.

I love old cookbooks. They’re sort of like the next best thing to a time machine. There are some really interesting cultural clues in the old ones. The recipes from, say, the WWII era and the post-WWII era help those of us who weren’t around to understand what a lot of life was about. And the more adventurous old cookbooks are so cute. Despite our ideas of our americanized forebears being strictly meat-and-potatoes folk, some of the most interesting cookbooks encourage housewives to try new foods. My favorite old cookbooks (at least of those in my possession) are **Meatless Meals, 1943, geared at helping housewives deal with meat rationing. Its recipes include Sauerkraut Fritters, Succotash and Mushroom Thermidor, and Spaghetti Rarebit. **50 Dishes from Overseas, 1944. This one has dishes organized by country and by ingredient. Chapters include “Gooseberry Novelties from Brittany,” “New Zealand Beetroot Dishes,” “South African Ways with Steak,” and “Tennis Sundaes from Africa.” Every third recipe begins some sort of appeal to take the recipe seriously, like “veal tongue prepared in the Viennese way needs trying to be appreciated. It will be liked once tried.” **And the piece d’ resistance, The Housekeeper Cook Book, published in 1894 by the New England Furniture and Carpet Co. This large and decrepit book has many dozen pie recipes, at least 10 recipes for homemade root beer, a whole chapter on ginger breads, and detailed instructions for how to a) boil coffee and b) care for an invalid. It also has a three-meal menu for every day of the year. If you’re curious about what today’s menu would have been 109 years ago, here it is: Breakfast: Pancakes, maple syrup, fried potatoes, venison steak, celery. Dinner: Whitesoup [sic], baked trout, baked potatoes, stewed tomatoes, corn, blueberry pie, apples. Supper: Butter toast, dried beef, hot biscuit, honey. (Can’t wait until the 15th – breakfast is something called “California breakfast food”!) What is it about these old gems that’s so fascinating? Do you have a favorite cookbook, or recipe from an old cookbook? (edited for editing)

the india trip is over--the orgy of eating has come to an end. i didn't just eat on this trip though; i also bought some cookbooks. among them are two from penguin's regional cookbook series: "the essential kerala cookbook" and "the essential north-east cookbook". i obviously haven't tried anything from them yet but i have browsed them and they look pretty good. both have nice introductions which provide both a sociological context for the food, detailed ingredient, tools and methods breakdowns, and, of course, recipes themselves. what they don't have is pictures--which is not a problem for me with the kerala book since i know what most of those dishes look like, but may be with the north-eastern book. the recipes seem clear, consistent and well-organized. we've had some discussion on this forum of food from kerala, and a brief mention of everyone's lack of knowledge of north-eastern cuisines. the latter cookbook should go a long way to dispelling at least my ignorance--i've already learned a lot by just skimming the intro. as for the kerala book, i think it may start me on finally cooking some of my favorite malyali dishes at home, instead of pining for years between trips to india. anyway: has anyone else come across these books or others in this series? have you cooked from them? if so, and if not, what do you think of them? others: they're all available on indiaclub. i'd wanted to get the "recipes of the spice coast" book as well when in delhi but it wasn't available. i hesitate to buy it online now because of the hideous mark-up. ah well.

Perusing the international cookbooks at my local Barnes & Noble today and what did I spy but the new cookbook by our own Suvir Saran, "Indian Home Cooking"! So of course I picked up a copy. It appears to be chock full of excellent and very approachable recipes, as well as Suvir's terrific notes and comments regarding his remembrances of each dish. Although I couldn't resist bringing it home from the B&N, I did check to see if it's available on Amazon through the eGullet link. It is, of course, and ten bucks cheaper. Congratulations, Suvir. Well done. I know you're proud and you should be.

I have searched but I couldn't find a book entirely devoted to crackers and savory cookies recipes. Could you help me ?

Monica, Any suggestions on how I should work with your book? What do you think is best way of reading it, cooking with it? Do you have favorite recipes?

Supposedly, sadly, Marcella Hazan's last book. I just got my copy yesterday and haven't had time to sit down and read it cover to cover yet. Anybody out there made anything from it yet? I glanced at a butternut squash & parmesan thing that looked really good.

It seems to me the entire australia cookbook market is devoted to rather inspid collections of recipes accompanied with gorgeous pictures. Where can I get some of the classic books that delve more into the fundamentals of cooking. Things like: Joy of Cooking Mastering the Art of French Cooking Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques Larousse Gastronomique On Food & Cooking

Slate article Marvelous article on the history leading up to today and describing some of the ways in which Gourmet Magazine has evolved. What a great read! And the cookbook is something I will definitely look at with an eye toward purchasing!

I'm one of those cooks who doesn't do much baking, but I woud like to change that. I've dabbled in bread making (need some work) and I am quite skilled with cheesecakes. Done cookies and brownies here and there, and have done a few pastries and cakes. On the whole, though, I am pretty new. Can you recommend, a good baking/pastry book(s) that could help me get started? TIA!

I love your writing (re-reading Soul for the 4th time right now) and can't wait for the projects you are currently working on. You may not want to reveal everything about the Bouchon cookbook, but will be similar in style to the FL Cookbook and Return to Cooking? Will it be more of a book about Bouchon and Jeffrey Cerciello or Thomas Keller's ideas of french comfort food? I think either way it will be outstanding, just curious what you can share... Do you plan to write more narratives in the future, or will cookbooks remain the focus. Lastly, when was the last time you made brown sauce? Thanks for your time!

I have been thinking that one of these days I would like to try my hand at making one of my very favorite Portuguese dishes, galinha de cabidela. This is basically a stew of chicken and rice, with the chicken having first been stewed in its giblets, and the whole thing is finished with chicken blood. I was talking about this with Sam Kinsey, who mentioned there was a live market in Harlem that had live chickens. When I asked him if he thought they would kill (and hopefully pluck!) the chicken for me and give me the blood along with it so I could make this dish, he raised a very good question: "Wouldn't the blood coagulate if it sits around a while?" Would it? I have no idea, since I've never cooked with blood and don't know anyone who has. If so, how long does one have before it does? And while I'm at it, does anyone know any other sources for chickens+blood in NYC? I'd like to know what all the options are!