Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 5)

[GlorifiedRice]

DiggingDog?

Thats completely badass

[judiu]

Jaymes, At it? Cookbook collecting. Really like the Southern Cooking Bible, but there are a few kinda things that strike me as a little, er, gross, like some of her hot salads. It might just be a matter of terminology, though. Like if she called a hot macaroni salad a casserole... Being she IS Paula Deen, there are some great sweets, also sweet & salty combos, which I personally LOVE. If you can find it at the library, do so, read, then decide. Personally, I like it, and her pimento cheese, too! Oh, yeah, good dips...

[SylviaLovegren]

Judiu, you didn't like Clementine Paddleford? Is it the big American volume where she talks about the people who give her the recipes? That's much more interesting than the condensed version that just has the recipes, which may -- then -- just strike you as old-fashioned. Context is enriching.

I'm trying to learn about Canadian cooking. Just picked up a 1939 Purity Flour cookbook, which is fun. And a book about the Amish in Ontario from the 50s -- it has recipes, so it counts, I think! So add my two more.

[judiu]

Sylvia, yeah, it's the big book, but her writing and syntax are hard to plow through, and it concentrates on NY, CA, TX and mostly sweets. Hmm, maybe I'm just being a grump... YMMV

I agree with the context idea, it could have better edited, though!

ETA:her editing.

Edited December 6, 2013 by judiu (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

Sylvia, yeah, it's the big book, but her writing and syntax are hard to plow through, and it concentrates on NY, CA, TX and mostly sweets. Hmm, maybe I'm just being a grump... YMMV

I agree with the context idea, it could have better edited, though!

ETA:her editing.

That's interesting that you find her writing and syntax difficult. Maybe it's an age thing -- are you young? I'm old enough to have known many folks of Paddleford's generation and both heard and read a lot of them, too. Her writing always reminds me of the Roz Russell character in the movie "His Gal Friday," which I adore.

[judiu]

No, Sylvia, not young age-wise, but a firm believer that "even though I'm getting older, I refuse to grow up"! Maybe if I were listening to her speak, rather than reading the words, she would be fascinating, but filtered thru several editors, the recipes don't excite me much. The snippets about the people, yes! Sorry if I popped your balloon... %)

[Alex]

Two new ones: one bought, one a present

50 Great Curries of India, by Camellia Panjabi

Southern Cocktails, by Denise Gee

Edited January 5, 2014 by Alex (log)

[ahpadt]

A few weeks before Christmas I got Martin Picard - Sugar Shack Au Pied de Cochon. I like it a lot. Delicious sounding recipies and really cool photography (included the half-naked girls covered in maple syrup - lol). The mille-feuille in it looks outrageous.

For Christmas I got:

Lucky Peach #3 - #9

Tom Kerridge - Proper Pub Food

Daniel Patterson - Coi: Stories and Recipes

Philip Howard - The Square: Sweet

Magnus Nilsson - Fäviken

Pascal Barbot - Astrance: A Cook's Book

Rene Redzepi - A Work In Progress

Alex Atala - D.O.M.

Harold McGee - McGee on Food and Cooking: An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture

I'm still very new with collecting cookery books. I have 20-30 in total now, but I'm only in my mid 20's so space is an issue. Michel Bras - Essential Cuisine is on it's way.

Edited January 5, 2014 by ahpadt (log)

[Robenco15]

Got Daniel: My French Cuisine, Manresa, Le Pigeon, and 4 Seasons at Table no. 5. Really loved adding Daniel and 4 Seasons at Table No. 5 to my French rep. which already included Bras' Essential Cuisine, Astrance, The French Laundry, Les Halles, Ma Gastronomie, and Julia's Mastering the Art of..But perhaps my favorite surprise of christmas was Le Pigeon. Really enjoying it. And Manresa reminds me of The French Laundry Cookbook in its story and excellence of recipes. Really fantastic. But being inteoduced to Alleno's food and planning on cooking it and sourcing it all is incredible. I've decided I've reached a point where I don't need anymore more equipment or books and want to start spending money on the actual haute cuisine products available to me.

[ahpadt]

Michel Bras - Essential Cuisine is on it's way.

It has now arrived. To be honest I am a little disappointed. It's poorly translated and the layout isn't very inspiring. Just pages and pages of recipes with little text. Maybe I am too used to the high quality of books that are released these days?

Don't get me wrong, the ethos of the book is great, but it feels like it was made on a shoe string budget. I can however now see where Rene Redzepi got a lot of his inspiration from.

[Robenco15]

Michel Bras - Essential Cuisine is on it's way.

It has now arrived. To be honest I am a little disappointed. It's poorly translated and the layout isn't very inspiring. Just pages and pages of recipes with little text. Maybe I am too used to the high quality of books that are released these days?

Don't get me wrong, the ethos of the book is great, but it feels like it was made on a shoe string budget. I can however now see where Rene Redzepi got a lot of his inspiration from.

Yeah it is from 2000? 2001? I can't believe how ahead of everything he was, not that I'm an expert of what cuisine was in the early 2000's late 1990's, but still. Pretty incredible and I don't mind the book too much. Haven't done anything yet from it but planning on a couple things. Not terribly difficult recipes.

[Darienne]

Cookbooks now at 185.

First cookbook purchased, 2nd hand or new since December 2012. And a winner: Power Hungry: The Ultimate Energy Bar Cookbook. Camilla V. Saulsbury. Have now made about 6 or 7 of her recipes with delicious success and have committed myself to making all the recipes in the book. To that end I have started a eG thread also: "Power Hungry": making the bars from recipe #1.

[Alex]

Two, bought at the going-out-of-business sale of one branch of a local bookseller (lousy location; the others are thriving):

The Breath of a Wok -- Grace Young and Alan Richardson

The Best New Recipe, Revised -- Editors of Cooks Illustrated

[FrogPrincesse]

A souvenir from Australia. Eau de Vie is a bar in Darlinghurst (Sydney).

 

 

 

 

[ahpadt]

Recently bought 'In the Kitchen with Alain Passard'. Didn't know what to expect but it looked somewhat interesting when flicking through it in the bookshop.

 

I have to say that after reading through the whole thing in about 2 hours last night, I think it's great. Unusual, but it really taps into how Mr. Passard thinks.

 

I think that a cartoony book like this could really take off if more chefs were portraited for them.

[CatPoet]

I dont have many cook books, only 340.  My father has about 700, I envy him.   I do as he did when I was little, read cook books for my daughter before bedtime.   Her favorite at the moment is 101 ways with potatoes.

[Alex]

Two more:

Jerusalem: A Cookbook (eGullet thread here)

Silk Road Vegetarian  (I first borrowed it from the library -- it looks great!)

[Darienne]

What?  No one has purchased any more cook books since June 2014?  Amazing.

 

While I was at Laser Therapy yesterday, my DH went to a local second hand store and bought me the coffee table cookbook to end all coffee table cookbooks.  It weighs 7 pounds and is huge.  Can't sit in bed and look at it...too big and too heavy.

 

But it looks fascinating:  Italy: Pasta, Pesto, Passion put out by Culinaria.  2000, English edition.  Lots of recipes, but also lots of photos, stories, features, history, geography, etc.  I'll have to keep it in the living room.  (And we don't eat Italian food very often.) 

 

I have no idea why he bought it.  :wub:

[Darienne]

Either eGer's are not buying cookbooks anymore...or we are not reporting them for the official count.

 

Latest two cookbooks (from an avowed non-purchaser now):

 

- quick & easy thai: 70 everyday recipes by Nancie McDermott.  A wonderful gift from a fellow eGer.

 

- The Joy of Ginger: A Winning Selection of Taste-Tingling Recipes by Margaret Conrad & Heather MacDonald.  A second-hand store purchase.  I've never seen a cookbook before devoted to ginger...which I adore.  Written by two Canadians from Nova Scotia who grew up after WWII in a province which gives importance to ginger in its history and cooking. 

[Alex]

Thanks for resurrecting this forum, Darienne. I think that without Maggie chiming in every so often with an updated count, it was easy for the forum to slip into the nether regions of the eG servers.

 

In the past year, without having to breathe too hard, I accumulated seven more--mostly second-hand:

Osteria, by Rick Tramonto with Mary Goodbody

Heston Blumenthal at home

Maximum Flavor: Recipers That Will Change the Way You Cook, by Aki Kamozawa & H. Alexander Talbot (of the "Ideas in Food" blog)

The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson

Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly: Recipes from Southern Appalachia, by Joan E. Aller (a terrific find, with a little story about each recipe)

Food & Wine Magazine's Quick from Scratch Pasta Cookbook

Rose Water & Orange Blossoms: Fresh & Classic Recipes from My Lebanese Kitchen, by Maureen Abood (a Michigander!)

[Darienne]

OK.  So it seems apparent that this topic is no longer functioning.  Where are all the cookbook purchasers?  I know that eGers out there have bought or received cookbooks.  Alex and I are not the only ones.

I picked up a funny book in St. V de P recently: Pam Anderson.  Perfect Recipes for Having People Over (as opposed to "entertaining").  That's one more.

And I think I'll buy from Amazon Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express: 404 Inspired Seasonal Dishes You Can Make in 20 Minutes or Less, not because of the 20 minute thing, but because it functions as an idea generator for taking on new dishes. 

[IowaDee]

Just got Tacopedia by Deborah Holtz and Jaun Carolo Mena.    As it states on the cover, contains the secrets and origins of popular Mexican foods.  The illustrations remind me of those in Lucky Peach  Also lots of great photos.  Going to be a fun book to have.

[Darienne]

Hard to believe.  Just this afternoon, I followed DH into St. V de P...he was looking for some guy thing.  Naturally I gravitated to the cookbooks and came home with two more: Suneeta Vaswani.  Complete Book of Indian Cooking: 350 Recipes from the Regions of India and Tess Mallos.  The Food of Morocco: A Journey for Food Lovers.  Lots of gorgeous photos in the Moroccan book...I can be bought by photos sometimes...

[liamsaunt]

I can't remember if I replied to this thread years ago (I joined egullet back in 2003 but then left for many years, can't remember why now).  At the moment I have about 400 cookbooks.  Here they are:

 

 

 

I moved to my current house almost two years ago, and at that time I probably purged about 300 others.  I have a bad tendency to collect books of all types haha.  My two most recent acquisitions could not be more different from each other: Nopi and The Vermont Country Store Cookbook.  

 

The bookcases in the picture are ones that my husband and I lugged home from an unfinished furniture store and painted ourselves right after getting married a very long time ago.  The walls they are on go up another 10 feet and out about four feet.  I am towards the end of a project to upgrade all the bookcases in my house, and am planning on having custom bookshelves made that go all the way up to the ceiling and to the edges of the walls, with library ladders.  Room for lots more cookbooks :-)

[Alex]

I can't remember if I replied to this thread years ago (I joined egullet back in 2003 but then left for many years, can't remember why now).  At the moment I have about 400 cookbooks.  Here they are:

 

left side.jpg

 

right side.jpg

 

I moved to my current house almost two years ago, and at that time I probably purged about 300 others.  I have a bad tendency to collect books of all types haha.  My two most recent acquisitions could not be more different from each other: Nopi and The Vermont Country Store Cookbook.  

 

The bookcases in the picture are ones that my husband and I lugged home from an unfinished furniture store and painted ourselves right after getting married a very long time ago.  The walls they are on go up another 10 feet and out about four feet.  I am towards the end of a project to upgrade all the bookcases in my house, and am planning on having custom bookshelves made that go all the way up to the ceiling and to the edges of the walls, with library ladders.  Room for lots more cookbooks :-)

 

Welcome back, liamsaunt!

 

I love pictures of other people's shelves. Thanks for including those. It's great to see that lovingly (I assume) shopworn copy of Joy of Cooking. And that someone other than I has every hardbound annual edition of CI.

 

Could you post more pictures after your project is done? A library ladder in one's house: It doesn't get much better than that!