How Frugal Is Gourmet?A practical new cookbook

[Gifted Gourmet]

Slate article

Reichl started emphasizing a more contemporary set of culinary criteria: flavor, seasonality, comfort, imagination. Most important for today's food-lovers, it's finally possible to cook from the magazine without having spent six years in a restaurant kitchen. The recipes really do work. Open the Gourmet Cookbook, and it's clear that the driving force isn't class anymore but passion. Read the notes introducing the recipes, and you can almost see the editors circling each dish as it emerges from its test run—gleefully sniffing, prodding, tasting, and arguing.

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!

[alacarte]

The article is written by culinary historian Laura Shapiro, who wrote one of my favorite books, "Perfection Salad."

I'm confused -- is The Gourmet Cookbook a "best-of" collection from its inception in the 40s through now, or recent recipes only?

I've always hoped Gourmet would publish a full retrospective edition of all its magazine volumes, articles, recipes, food-porn photos, advertisements, and all.

[bloviatrix]

Julie Powell of Julia/Julie fame reviews the cookbood in today's NY Times

[Carrot Top]

I saw this book today at the bookstore...it is huge, with a bright yellow cover.

It is a true book of recipes, and I would guess that most are just plain wonderful.

A solid tome. One that people might grab for consultation in future times rather than 'The Joy of Cooking'. That is how complete it seemed to be to me.

[Chris Amirault]

A solid tome. One that people might grab for consultation in future times rather than 'The Joy of Cooking'. That is how complete it seemed to be to me.

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A question: how does the index work? From the NYT review, it seems that it is more inclusive of a particular ingredient (leeks) than the usual book. This is my dream: a cookbook that allows you to look up "tomatoes" or "corn meal" and you find EVERY recipe that has that ingredient in it, instead of ones that feature the ingredient as the key element.

Hye -- this is #100 for me. Passing the century mark!

[Carrot Top]

Congratulations, Chris! Each post a marvel of thought and finely worded expression, too, if I may say so. I enjoy your capacity for a 'global' sort of thinking process.

I didn't focus on the index...children were with me gathering piles of too-many too-expensive books so could not focus...but I would bet it is as you suggest.

This thing weighs six pounds at least.

[mpav]

So, do I get this or not? (I'm betting the Strand will have it for a good price.)

Any chance this will let me finally get rid of decades worth of Gourmet?

[JPW]

BUMP

Listening to NPR at work and Ruth Reichl is supposed to be on "the next" Fresh Air. Went to check on the fresh air web site and they don't have much listed for upcoming schedule.

So take a shot on Tuesday, but don't shoot me if I'm wrong. Please.

[bloviatrix]

Another article about the book in today's NY Times here.

"We wanted a book that people cooked out of, not just looked at," Mr. Willoughby said. "The idea is that you can go to it for anything, from the best hamburger to a beef Wellington."

Additionally, here is an interview with Ruth Reichl about the book from last Thursday's USA Today.

Q: How did you choose the recipes? What were your criteria?

A: It was hard, and we spent a year deciding which ones we would use. We started from the premise that you're in a log cabin and this is the only book you have. We assumed you want lots of practical recipes, quick ones, and also a plan to have a dinner party. My thought was, if this is the only book I have, then we need to have great classics. It's also important to have a good representation of good ethnic recipes — everything from meatloaf to 100 Corner Shrimp. It's basically everything a curious cook would want.

[torakris]

This cookbook was my Christmas present to myself (along with a new vacuum cleaner...)

I have spent hours going through and yesterday I made three recipes from it:

Lime Molasses Vinaigrette -- this was great! I tossed it with a radish and radish greens salad

Parisian Passover Coconut Macaroons -- Incredible!! I love cocnut macaroons and make them quite a bit but this recipe , with an Italian meringue, was over the top.

Moroccan-Style Preserved Lemons -- this will take four more days until I know the results

Has anyone been cooking from this?

What are some of your favorites?

any duds?

[bloviatrix]

I'm waiting for the second printing of the book. I found the yellow ink used for the recipe titles difficult to read. It's my understanding that they'll be changing the color in subsequent print runs.

[torakris]

I'm waiting for the second printing of the book.  I found the yellow ink used for the recipe titles difficult to read.  It's my understanding that they'll be changing the color in subsequent print runs.

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It is really annoying... It actually starts to hurt my eyes after a while and if I don't have really good lighting I can't read it at all...

[kitwilliams]

I received this for Christmas. What a lovely surprise. I must admit that the yellow titles is truly annoying, especially as I sit here at the computer in dim light. But it should be fine once in the brightly lit kitchen.

Haven't had time to pour over it yet as I've been working every day for the past month. Tomorrow is my first day off so I'll be reading Christmas cookbooks!

I just opened it up to "Warm Tapioca with Rhubarb". Oh, sounds heavenly after all the holiday fare.

[jgm]

I'm waiting for the second printing of the book.  I found the yellow ink used for the recipe titles difficult to read.  It's my understanding that they'll be changing the color in subsequent print runs.

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It is really annoying... It actually starts to hurt my eyes after a while and if I don't have really good lighting I can't read it at all...

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Amen, amen, amen. What were they thinking?

[bloviatrix]

I'm waiting for the second printing of the book.  I found the yellow ink used for the recipe titles difficult to read.  It's my understanding that they'll be changing the color in subsequent print runs.

←

It is really annoying... It actually starts to hurt my eyes after a while and if I don't have really good lighting I can't read it at all...

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Amen, amen, amen. What were they thinking?

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That's exactly it. Considering how much time and money they put into that book, you would think they would have realized that shade wasn't a good choice.

[rcarter]

I'm confused -- is The Gourmet Cookbook a "best-of" collection from its inception in the 40s through now, or recent recipes only?

←

The book is a "best-of" collection but all of the classics are updated for today's tastes and available ingredients. In the intro, I think I remember Reichl mentioning that after consideration they decided to leave out the dates when each recipe was originally published. Too bad - I think that would have been interesting.

[tennesseespice]

My mother (bless her!!) gave me the book for Christmas and I can't wait to dig in. My sister-in-law received one also - ooooooh, what a waste....considering that popping frozen waffles into the toaster is her idea of cooking. What was my mother thinking?

Edited December 27, 2004 by tennesseespice (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

My sister-in-law received one also  .... What was my mother thinking?

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Perhaps that this remarkable book might inspire her to at least try out some recipes and become a bit more adventurous ...

Cookbooks sometimes give one a little "push" to experiment ... or maybe she'll just want to try it some years from now when she is more 'ambitious'? (alternate word here? mature! )

[Mabelline]

Come on! We're mature enough here that you could say "OLDER"!!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Come on! We're mature enough here that you could say "OLDER"!!

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Nope, older implies dentures, Depends, a walker, and Viagra ....

I think using the term mature is less devastating ... now decrepit is more my style actually! Thanks for the laugh, Mabelline!

Since I have heard on good authority that "sixty is the new forty", I am feeling positively vibrant and energized ...

[Dan Macdonald]

Great. They've made the recipes useful, now they can do something about the magazine's design. It's the most frustrating publication. Stories interrupted by pages of ads that masquerade as editorial copy. Cutlines meld into pictures to the point that they are unreadable. The magazine is a mess.

[abramer]

I'm waiting for the second printing of the book.  I found the yellow ink used for the recipe titles difficult to read.  It's my understanding that they'll be changing the color in subsequent print runs.

←

It is really annoying... It actually starts to hurt my eyes after a while and if I don't have really good lighting I can't read it at all...

←

Amen, amen, amen. What were they thinking?

←

That's exactly it. Considering how much time and money they put into that book, you would think they would have realized that shade wasn't a good choice.

←

I understand that this "decision" was made at the publishers, not by the folks at Gourmet.

[Music]

Great. They've made the recipes useful, now they can do something about the magazine's design. It's the most frustrating publication. Stories interrupted by pages of ads that masquerade as editorial copy. Cutlines meld into pictures to the point that they are unreadable. The magazine is a mess.

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I quite agree. It helps to go through and rip out all of the advertising pages before attempting to read the magazine.

[dknywbg]

I just got it yesterday (a late birthday gift, yay). In my sun-filled office the yellow doesn't seem so bad, but this doesn't seem to be a first edition so maybe they've fixed it already.

What have you cooked from it? I only see a couple of recipes mentioned here...

[tennesseespice]

My sister-in-law received one also  .... What was my mother thinking?

←

Perhaps that this remarkable book might inspire her to at least try out some recipes and become a bit more adventurous ...

Cookbooks sometimes give one a little "push" to experiment ... or maybe she'll just want to try it some years from now when she is more 'ambitious'? (alternate word here? mature! )

←

While I appreciate your optimism, GG, my meager attempt at humor was actually a cry of woe. I would love to think that my sister-in-law would one day try a little cooking but her frequent exclamation, "I hate food!" leads me to believe that this will never happen. My nephews and niece are growing up with no appreciation of or experience with the enriching value of food and cooking traditions within a family. Not only that, at ages 11, 8 and 2 they are nutritionally deprived, with the bulk of their diet consisting of junk food, processed frozen pap and cold cereal.

So, I joke about the Gourmet cookbook being a wasted gift when I'm truly sad for a mother with such an unhealthy attitude towards food and that this attitude is being cultivated in three precious kids.

Back to the real topic of this thread.....I just baked a batch of oatmeal cookies from TGC and find them to be a little on the dry side - not my favorite recipe.