281495 Mon Dec 05 16:49:07 -0800 2005 36 31 Home Cooking 0 1497878 What is the must have cookbook for every foodie? Want to add to my cookbook library and need some suggestions. Thanks. Mon Dec 05 16:49:07 -0800 2005 0 ssssssandy 1 1497880 This past year the 2 most talked about cookbooks were the Zuni Cookbook and Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Mon Dec 05 16:58:08 -0800 2005 1497878 0 brooklynmasala 1 1497886 Fall is the big publishing season for cookbooks, for obvious reasons, with the most common hardcover pricepoint being $35.... The fall of 2004 was a blockbuster season (the Gourmet cookbook being the biggest fish of those, even with the color/tinting error for the captions in the first printing -- it's a great book that seemed to highlight how uneven the magazine has now become); the fall of 2005 has been much quieter. I would venture that the biggest splash this season has been the advent of the English-language version of The Silver Spoon -- think of it as the Joy of Cooking for Italian brides.... My local Costco has it on sale for $22!. Another book of this season (also on sale at my local Costco for a great price) is Barbara Kafka's Vegetable Love. The NY Times annual holiday book review list was yesterday, and they did a review of this year's cookbooks (a slimmer list than last year, and with some omissions that I found surprising). Mon Dec 05 17:27:56 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Karl S 2 1497891 I've seen the Cooking Light 2005 book at my Costco. Is it any good? Mon Dec 05 17:47:14 -0800 2005 1497886 0 Chi-Girl 3 1497902 Don't know. I am not a fan of dietary cookbooks: the only sure way to deal with calories over time is simply to eat smaller portions of delicious food (and to keep track of them in a daily food diary), and I don't find that gaming things the way dietary recipes often do is effective. Mon Dec 05 19:18:44 -0800 2005 1497891 0 Karl S 3 1501203 I purchased my cooking light cook book at Costco - Out of many cook books it's my all time favorite!!! Wed Dec 21 17:14:05 -0800 2005 1497891 0 Anna 1 1497887 If you are talking classic cookbooks, If I had to pick two books to last me the rest of my life, they'd be Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking and Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. If you are looking for new classics, the books I'm most hankering after are The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers and Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin. Mon Dec 05 17:31:38 -0800 2005 1497878 0 DanaB 2 1497903 I second Zuni Cafe and Sunday Suppers. I just bought the latter and can't put it down. Mon Dec 05 19:32:37 -0800 2005 1497887 0 emily 1 1497889 There's no question that the Zuni Cafe Cookbook has inspired me the most this year. I recently got a used version of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (both volumes) and it hasn't inspired me to cook as much, but the recipes are clearly solid, instructional, and so beloved by many. For modern Southern US cooking, Frank Stitt's Southern Table looks great but I don't own it. For the most recent stuff, Leite's Culinaria just came out w/ their top 25 cookbooks of the year, which looks to be a well-rounded collection (see link). Cookbook of the year was Washoku by Elizabeth Andoh and the first Amazon review was by CH's own Yukari Pratt "shochu queen". Besides that, both Sunday Suppers at Lucques and Charcuterie are of interest to me. Link: http://www.leitesculinaria.com/features/best/best_2005.html Mon Dec 05 17:43:27 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Carb Lover 2 1497893 Frank Stitt's Southern Table is my favorite from the past year and is a Beard award winner. I also got the Bourdain Les Halles Cookbook and Keller's Bouchon. I like both but if I had to choose one I'd go with the Bourdain book. They are both French bistro books but the size of the Keller book is unwieldy and you just don't need both. What I am glad I did not get was that newer Gourmet book. I borrowed it from the library last week and found that between having all of the Gourmet Annual cookbooks and Epicurious at had I have all of those recipes. I have had Corinne Trang's Essentials of Asian Cuisine to not only be a great cookbook but a wonderful reference and a good read too. Mon Dec 05 18:06:49 -0800 2005 1497889 0 Candy 3 1497904 I checked out the Gourmet book recently and got bored quickly. My eyes glazed over w/ all the recipes (the typeface didn't help), and it didn't tell a story that could engage me. I own Bourdain's Les Halles book too, and it was a fun initial read but I don't find myself wanting to actually use it in the kitchen much. The last recipe I tried (his roast chicken) didn't really turn out well. His cool guy arrogant tone gets grating when his recipes don't live up to his talk...what recipes do you like from the Bourdain book? Mon Dec 05 19:36:47 -0800 2005 1497893 0 Carb Lover 4 1498098 I have not had any problems with anything I have made out of Les Halles. The Brandade, all of the mussels recipes, the rillettes were one of the first things I made and they were wicked good with one of my DH's marveous baguettes. I have quite a number of French books from classical stuff to casual and his book just filled in some basic recipes that were missing in some others. The Bouchon boook gives me a few more challenges, the pig's feet pate thing I made in early summer took me over 2 days to make but they were killer. They were also so rich that I had to give the half we did not eat to a friend who loved them too. Maybe in January I will get both out again, it is a quiet time for me and get to cooking. Tue Dec 06 15:56:14 -0800 2005 1497904 0 Candy 1 1497897 I agree with the other posters about Zuni and Marcella Hazan. Indispensable great cookbooks. Others that I think are indispensible are: of course the "Joy of Cooking" and the "Good Housekeeping Cookbook" - the most classic and dependable of the old-school American cookbooks. If I only had 2 cookbooks, I'm almost ashamed to admit, it would be these low-brow two. That being said, the following cookbooks mean a lot to me: "Please to the Table" (Russian. Beard Best Book winner) Anya von Bremzen Sophia Loren's Italian cookbooks (not JUST a pretty face!) "One Potato Two Potato" (can you guess what it's about?)Roy Finnamore & Molly Stevens "This Can't be Tofu!" Deborah Madison (of Greens rest. SF) "Greens Cookbook" and "Field of Greens" also by DM. Similarly, the Tassajara cookbooks (SF Zen Center, who own Greens) "All About Braising" Mollie Stevens "The Way to Cook" Julia Child Anything by Elizabeth David (beautiful essays about European cuisines & recipes by the woman who beat Julia Child to the punch, but didn't get the popular credit, except in England). "Cooksmart" Pam Anderson (anything by PA) "Quick and Easy Indian Cooking" Madhur Jaffrey "Ciao Italia" Mary Ann Esposito "Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews" Judith Machlin (any of her cookbooks) "Art of Mexican Cooking" Diana Kennedy "Jewish Food - the World at table" Matthew Goodman Soul Food - "Sylvia's Soul Food" (The premier Harlem restaurant) and "Mama Dip's Kitchen" this lady runs a renowned restaurant in NC - Craig Claiborn told her to write the book). "Vegetarian Epicure" I & II Anna Thomas "Best of the Bake - Off" cookbooks by Pillsbury "Japanese Cooking, A Simple Art" Shizuo Tsujii (Kodansha Press - the highest end publisher of Japanese books for the English reader). For Chinese cooking - Martin Yan (simple) For Cajun cooking - Paul Prudhomme The Chez Panisse Cookbooks (Anything by Paul Bertolli) I'm planning on acquiring the "Minimalist" cookbooks. I forget his name but he writes for the New York Times. Also I really like Nigella Lawson - (English) She also writes for the NYT. And for Italian, I really like Lydia of PBS (forget her last name but want her cookbooks) Mon Dec 05 18:36:26 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Niki Rothman 2 1498058 And for Italian, I really like Lydia of PBS (forget her last name but want her cookbooks) Lidia Bastianich?? Tue Dec 06 13:50:52 -0800 2005 1497897 0 Tom Hall 1 1497901 To me, it depends on what you mean by a "foodie". If you mean someone who is into food, but not necessarily into cooking, then the cocktail table books by Thomas Keller, Alford & Duguid, and Nobu are great, though not very useful for cooking, books. Among the books that I turn to regularly to cook out of are: Mark Bittman, "How to Cook Everything" (very reliable guide to just about all dishes) Mario Batali, "Simple Italian Cooking" (excellent, and practical, Italian) Fuchsia Dunlop, "Sichuan Cookery" (really outstanding Chinese cookbook) Mon Dec 05 19:14:39 -0800 2005 1497878 0 James G 1 1497909 I'm a big fan of Jacques Pepin's cooking and his books. From the classic La Methode released many years ago to the latest one I bought, Fast Food My Way, which has the recipes from his wonderful PBS series of the same name. One of the new books I'd most like to have now is Boulevard: The Cookbook by Nancy Oakes, since the restaurant has been one of my SF favorites for many years. Mon Dec 05 20:04:03 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Lauren J. 1 1497918 This is a tough question, as there is no one definitive cookbook (at least not for me). I think there are two ways you can go: look at cookbooks which are detailed and give technique tips are used like a reference book. I know this is not a classic in the way that Joy or Cooking or Julia Child are, but I quite like How to Eat by Nigella Lawson. It gives advice, recipes, a range of menus, aimed at a nonprofessional home cook. Then there's the other type of indispensable cookbook, which will of course give you great recipes, but is more about philosophy. It should be enjoyable to read, and once you've read it and tried the recipes, it changes how you look at cooking and food. It affects who you are in the kitchen. I quite like to read Jamie Oliver, books like Zuni and all the other eminent chefs others have mentioned in this link. I also would suggest you look at Donna Hay's books: she has a whole range, with simply wonderful pictures. It's simple food, classic food, and I love her 'top and sides' sections at the end of each chapter (in some, not all, her books) which give you ideas that are too short to be considered 'recipes'. My mum is at the moment addicted to Tamasin Day-Lewis' "The Art of the Tart". If you are big tart-baker like my mum, it's worth a look. Mon Dec 05 21:03:16 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Kate 2 1497929 Which Jamie Oliver book is your fave? I skimmed over one yesterday at the library (he was thinner and had a longer, erm, shag haircut). Didn't realize he had worked under Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers at the River Cafe. Mon Dec 05 22:16:43 -0800 2005 1497918 0 petradish 3 1497953 his first cookbook, "Naked Chef" is really good. again, very simple, tasty recipes that actually work. standouts for me are the roasted butternut squash and the desserts. what i really love is that the books make you feel like a great cook without stress. i was able to get a very inexpensive copy of his latest, the italian one. it's got some really impressive recipes, particularly for risottos and desserts. i realize you didn't ask me, but there's my $.02, for what it's worth! Tue Dec 06 05:47:25 -0800 2005 1497929 0 hobokeg 4 1498102 Much appreciated hobokeg, I'll check them out. Tue Dec 06 16:15:49 -0800 2005 1497953 0 petradish 5 1498112 I haven't cooked from all of them, so I cannot reccomend one over the others. I know his one (and second one? not sure) had several 'master' recipes - a basic homemade pasta, basic bread recipe, basic risotto recipe, and he then would give variations for each. I think this as very useful - like a 'teach a man to fish...' recipe. I'd thumb through all of them at your local bookshop and see which one has the most recipes which appeal to YOU. You also probably can get cheap, second-hand copies online. Tue Dec 06 17:15:34 -0800 2005 1498102 0 Kate 2 1497952 i'll second the Nigella book "How to Eat" recommendation. it's a great reference, gives great ideas for anything from a tiny snack to a sunday feast, and the recipes turn out well. and somehow, she makes it all seem so simple. i also like her domestic goddess book for baking. i'm also beginning to think that Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything is a necessity. Tue Dec 06 05:38:07 -0800 2005 1497918 0 hobokeg 1 1497926 A book that really inspires me on every level is Nigel Slater's Appetite. There are recipes, but they're extremely flexible, not to mention enticing. The food is approachable. And the whole premise of the text is to get the reader to rely on their senses when it comes to cooking. It's a comforting and evocative book. A confidence builder. Link: http://shecraves.typepad.com Mon Dec 05 21:55:53 -0800 2005 1497878 0 wasabi 2 1498182 Nigel Slater definitely rocks. Wed Dec 07 01:52:56 -0800 2005 1497926 0 heidipie 1 1497931 I second the Mark Bittman "How to Cook Everything" book. It's wonderful for starting cooks as well as us old pros (well, amateur pros). One of its best features is the master recipe and then variations on that theme. I find I use Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian Cookbook a lot. I also love Paula Wolfert (Med. Greens and Grains, Cooking of Southwest France and Slow Med. Cookbook), Jamie Oliver. Funny how tastes vary. I love Zuni Cafe but found the book limited. I actually love Bertoli/Waters' Chez Pannisse Cookbook and use it all the time (magnif carrot soup with puree of red peppers stirred in at the last minute). Oh yeah, and Patrica Wells Bistro and Trattoria cookbooks. Yikes, I seem to have gotten carried away. Bittman is number one! Mon Dec 05 22:40:59 -0800 2005 1497878 0 oakjoan 1 1497941 The books I I keep in my kitchen are: Julia Child's "The Way to Cook" "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook" (Marion Cunningham's), Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" and "The Best Recipe" by Cook's Illustrated. I have a bookcase with about 50 additional cookbooks, and Marcella Hazen's "Classical Italian Cooking" is the one from there that spends qutie a bit of time in the kitchen, too. Tue Dec 06 00:35:40 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Lisa C 2 1498020 You're the only one to mention Fannie Farmer so far... I am just starting out on this cooking thing and looking for some solid basic texts. I use Bittmann's How to Cook Everything a lot, and have dipped into Hazan and the Silver Palate cookbook. Is the latest edition of Fannie Farmer (edited by Cunningham) still a good beginner's go-to? I looked at it and liked the layout more than Joy of Cooking. Tue Dec 06 12:00:55 -0800 2005 1497941 0 pronek 3 1498165 It's a great book for both beginners and seasoned cooks. It gives you the basics on how to cook most things commonly available, and some good recipes for particular preparations (particularly those common to the New-England area). Whenever I pick up an unfamiliar cut of meat or vegetable I turn immediately to Fannie Farmer. I prefer the layout of this book as well. Tue Dec 06 22:58:58 -0800 2005 1498020 0 Liz 1 1497945 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook (1956-1970something editions). Unfashionable, unsophisticated. . . But with clear, concise insturctions that yield foolproof good results. Tue Dec 06 01:25:24 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Pia 1 1497965 Aside from the standards, Betty Crocker and The Joy Of Cooking, every southern cook I know owns a copy of Charleston Receipts. It is the oldest continually published cookbook in the US and a great collection of southern recipes. Tue Dec 06 09:01:32 -0800 2005 1497878 0 BlueHerons 1 1497993 Obviously every cook will have a different answer for you. my experience, though... after going through a ton of cookbooks and getting more comfortable and creative with cooking over the years, I've found I really only need one solid cookbook for each cuisine. The others all gather dust. that is because I only use each of them for reference and inspiration. so, my advice is to find one that you like that offers a close-to-complete overview of the cuisine. Then go with it. Let it be your reference or benchmark on which you can go on to other stuff. So, for French, I have Mastering the art of French Cooking by Julia Childs (there are many others, probably more snazzy, but remember, I use them as references) For mexican, one by diana kennedy (Cuisines, maybe?) For Italian, its one by Marcella Hazan For bbq/smoking its either a Reichlin or Jamison's Smoke & Spice For my catch all of everything else, it's Joy of Cooking... Tue Dec 06 10:44:28 -0800 2005 1497878 0 adamclyde 1 1498010 Time Life did a series (in the 70s I think) called The Good Cook. There is a separate hardcover book for each category ie; Poultry, Candy Making, Lamb, Beef, etc. Each method is accompanied by about 8 pictures--a treasure-trove of practical information. I have picked up 2 entire sets at thrift stores for 98 cents per book! (Great for gifts) Tue Dec 06 11:19:10 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Funwithfood 1 1498023 I haven't seen any mention of James Peterson in these responses. He's a great teacher of "why" and "how," though your initial response may be that the books are too dense. But if you hang in there, you'll learn a lot. Tue Dec 06 12:12:31 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Christine 1 1498036 Depends on the cook. Personally, I like either the Deborah MAdison books, or the Moosewood ones, though I don't like that the latter don't have pics. These are by no means must-haves, but the Australian Women's Weekly publishes a series of magazine-sized themed cookbooks (ie, "Thai", "Mediterranean", etc.) that are really innovative, pretty and inexpensive. I own the veg cooking one, the Thai one, the Italian one, and the Indian one, and I use them all the time because they're really user-friendly. Tue Dec 06 13:06:49 -0800 2005 1497878 0 piccola 1 1498056 The spanking new Charcuterie by Ruhlman and Polcyn. Fabulously interesting and very well written. Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393058298/qid=1133894041/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-3731702-1790413?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Tue Dec 06 13:45:57 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Tom Hall 1 1498196 My first response earlier in the thread was focused on new cookbooks. As for golden oldies not yet mentioned, I cannot recommend The Victory Garden Cookbook more highly. It's still the benchmark for vegetable-focused (but not necessarily vegetarian) cooking; I have many stalwart vegetable cookbooks (Deborah Madison, Chez Panisse, Moosewood, the latest Barbara Kafka (a good find, though), and many more), and The Victory Garden is still the best. One of my most used and stained cookbooks. It's how more cookbooks should be written: it's actually rather sophisticated, but you won't notice because of how simple it seems, which alone vaults into the Cookbook Hall of Fame. Wed Dec 07 09:07:40 -0800 2005 1497878 0 Karl S 1 1498483 The ones I use most: Italian Regional Cooking, Ada Boni Making of a Cook, Madeleine Kamman The Complete Asian Cookbook, Charmaine Solomon The Complete Middle East Cookbook, Tess Mallos Also, as someone else replied, anything by Elizabeth David. Thu Dec 08 10:23:54 -0800 2005 1497878 0 cap