Show us your latest cookbook acquisitions!

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

I picked this up from the library on Saturday: Dan Pashman's 'Anything's Pastable'.

I'm on the fence with this one. There are some interesting recipes however there are some I would consider pretty bizarre. 

Not a cookbook I would buy.

 

[Smithy]

13 minutes ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

I picked this up from the library on Saturday: Dan Pashman's 'Anything's Pastable'.

I'm on the fence with this one. There are some interesting recipes however there are some I would consider pretty bizarre. 

Not a cookbook I would buy.

 

That's a strange-looking cover photo. Is it really showing bacon draped over a rod, like a pasta drying rod? 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

9 minutes ago, Smithy said:

That's a strange-looking cover photo. Is it really showing bacon draped over a rod, like a pasta drying rod? 

 

That is 'cacio e pepe e chili crisp' made with a pasta I'm unfamiliar with, malfalde, and draped over what I presume to be a chopstick 🤨.

 

[Katie Meadow]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

That's a strange-looking cover photo. Is it really showing bacon draped over a rod, like a pasta drying rod? 

That cover gets an F for design. And the title of the book gets an S for stupid. 

[blue_dolphin]

3 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

I picked this up from the library on Saturday: Dan Pashman's 'Anything's Pastable'.

I'm on the fence with this one. There are some interesting recipes however there are some I would consider pretty bizarre. 

Not a cookbook I would buy.

 

Thanks for the reminder!  I just put it on my “hold” list at the library. I've got plenty of pasta cookbooks and don’t need another one but would like to get a look at it. I’m 18th in line for 10 copies so I should get it in ~ a month.  

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

4 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Thanks for the reminder!  I just put it on my “hold” list at the library. I've got plenty of pasta cookbooks and don’t need another one but would like to get a look at it. I’m 18th in line for 10 copies so I should get it in ~ a month.  

 

Please post your impression/opinions of the book. 

My overall take is that I thought this type of fusion cuisine for the sake of fusion had had its day.

 

 

[Tempest63]

I have OCD over books, especially anything Indian, or similar.
I have a passion for food from the Indian continent and prefer traditional food as opposed to the slop served up in the U.K. high street Indian restaurants.

This arrived yesterday from Penguin India, although I ordered it several weeks ago from Amazon.uk.

I was working from home today and have had only had a quick flick through but it is already inspiring me. On first inspection it seems a cut above my other Nepalese cookbooks.

 

[Tempest63]

The book above was quite pricey in comparison to what I usually buy, but I saw this second hand hardback version of Madhur Jaffrey’s climbing the mango trees (2005). It is signed by the author and cost an unbelievably cheap £3.49, including P&P. I ordered it at the same time as I ordered the book above and it arrived within 3 days from the book seller.

The book was advertised as acceptable so I was unsure what I was to get as second hand booksellers often over estimate the quality. I would say this is in good condition, without any damage even to the dust cover.

I had a digital version of the book in my Dropbox which I accidentally deleted before reading it.

 

Edit: By the way, I have a double OCD over MJ’s book. I recently saw an expensive book that I didn’t own on Amazon.US. Luckily I found it is the same book as a British book carrying a different title before ordering it.

 

Edited August 2 by Tempest63 (log)

[Tempest63]

Another of my very recent acquisitions is Andaza by Summaya Usmani. This is a memoir of her life and the dishes that that go with that “soundtrack”.

Not many recipes but those included all look like they are worth a try.

It was this memoir that prompted me to go looking for the Madhur Jaffrey book, Climbing the Mango Trees, which is her culinary memoir.

These memoir style books would have never really appealed to me until quite recently. Maybe it’s part and parcel of getting on in life?

Edited August 3 by Tempest63 (log)

[Tempest63]

Two new books arrived today from second hand booksellers but ordered via Amazon UK. The first is Brindisa, Spanish cooking written by the Lady who opened the first Brindisa, Spanish deli shop in London in 1988. Her first tapas bar was opened in Borough Market, now she has several restaurants, including one in Spain. I paid £11.33 including delivery for this book whose condition is as new. The cost of a new book is over £26.

 

The second book in equally good condition that arrived today is the Immigrant Cookbook. Stories and recipes from those who have left their homelands, often due to conflict and persecution, and made a new home for themselves in other countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. A varied selection of recipes from many countries. I paid £4.36 including delivery for this hardback which is no longer listed as available as a new publication, though I bought this as a gift for someone in 2018 and paid £13.50 for a new copy then (according to Amazon).

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

I picked up a hard copy of 'The Antipasto Table' at my local  SPCA thrift shop for $1 Cdn. Missing the dust jacket (photo from Amazon) but in near mint condition.

Solid content with a lot of ideas for fresh garden produce without a lot of useless photos.

A keeper.

I'm still on the hunt for that elusive panini press.

 

(

Edited September 3 by Senior Sea Kayaker (log)

[AfroFogey]

Some books I've found and my trips to the thrift stores fairly recently.  I purchased to Soul food book off of betterworldbooks tho. I love it so. 

[Tempest63]

As a big fan of Elizabeth David I was reading an article that mentioned Patience Gray and the similarities in some of their respective recipes. I really knew nothing of Patience Gray but found her cookbook “Plats Du Jour” on a secondhand booksellers web site and bought it for £10. Delved into the first few pages this evening and I’m sure it is a book I can make use of.

[liuzhou]

7 hours ago, Tempest63 said:

I really knew nothing of Patience Gray

 

She was always something of a cult figure is the UK. Somewhere I have a copy of her Honey from a Weed (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). I think in my daughter's house in London. (Couldn't carry many books when I moved to China, almost 30 years ago.)

 

Along, with, Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson they were pivotal.

 

There is a good tribute here from the Guardian on her centenary in 2017.

 

 

Edited December 6 by liuzhou (log)

[Tempest63]

On 12/6/2024 at 2:46 AM, liuzhou said:

There is a good tribute here from the Guardian on her centenary in 2017.

That was one of the articles that prompted me to buy the book. Pity I couldn’t get one with the original cover illustration.

Edited December 8 by Tempest63 (log)

[Dr. Teeth]

On 8/2/2024 at 1:19 PM, Tempest63 said:

The book above was quite pricey in comparison to what I usually buy, but I saw this second hand hardback version of Madhur Jaffrey’s climbing the mango trees (2005). It is signed by the author and cost an unbelievably cheap £3.49, including P&P. I ordered it at the same time as I ordered the book above and it arrived within 3 days from the book seller.

The book was advertised as acceptable so I was unsure what I was to get as second hand booksellers often over estimate the quality. I would say this is in good condition, without any damage even to the dust cover.

I had a digital version of the book in my Dropbox which I accidentally deleted before reading it.

 

Edit: By the way, I have a double OCD over MJ’s book. I recently saw an expensive book that I didn’t own on Amazon.US. Luckily I found it is the same book as a British book carrying a different title before ordering it.

 

Sorry to be a pest.    You have mentioned a large collection of Indian cookbooks.   If you were willing to share maybe your 3-5 favorites along with a general level of familiarity with Indian cooking needed, I would be in your debt.

[weinoo]

[Tempest63]

4 hours ago, Dr. Teeth said:

Sorry to be a pest.    You have mentioned a large collection of Indian cookbooks.   If you were willing to share maybe your 3-5 favorites along with a general level of familiarity with Indian cooking needed, I would be in your debt.

That is quite a three pipe problem and will take some consideration.
 

The first two books would be the Madhur Jaffrey one from her 1970’s BBC programme, the second would likely be Camellia Panjabi’s 50 curries. That is based on the fact that they are the ones I revisit most. The MJ recipes are simple, but a bit more experience is needed with Camellias books as a number of the recipes are incomplete and don’t use all the ingredients listed.
 

In the 40 years or so that I have been cooking Indian food, books have come into favour then fallen out again. The Urban Rajah is one of my current favourites, the recipes are home style dishes, similar to a book I used a lot in the past titled Cooking with my Indian Mother In Law. Julie Sahni’s book on Indian food was first published in the 80’s I believe. and was heavily referenced back in the day and remains a classic. Nowadays anything by Vivek Singh or Anjum Anand whose recipes are easily accessible score high.

 

As for familiarity, I have been cooking traditional, home style Indian food for over 40 years.I know my Achari from my Biriani, and whilst we host a lot of Indian dinner parties (to use an out of favour phrase), we never get an invite to our friends for similar food. People tell us they couldn’t match what is prepared at our house.

 

I’ve picked up a few tips over the years, the most important being to “Cook with your nose”. Smell the garlic, smell the ginger and the masala as they cook, and don’t move on to the next phase until the raw smell has been cooked out. Always have a small jug of water to hand to cool down the pan and stop anything from burning, especially the spices. Take your time browning onions, 20 to 30 minutes. Halve the salt content given in a recipe book and adjust at the end. It’s easy to add salt but difficult to take it away.

 

Saying that India has many many regions and many types of influences. Historically I have focused on North Indian food, Kashmiri, Punjabi and Parsi food, so I am pretty blinkered to the food of the whole sub-continent.

 

I hope that goes someway to answering your question.

Edited December 9 by Tempest63
Typo (log)