655500 Mon Sep 28 09:35:01 -0700 2009 24 33 Food Media and News 0 5063993 what to do... I am very much a visual person esp when it comes to picking cookbooks. I want to look at the contents, the pictures, etc to see if the recipe style appeals to me. however, I currently want a caribbean cookbook, after a delicious trip to St. Lucia. We kept asking ourselves why we never cook like that at home. simple answer, no recipes! So. How do you go about picking out a cookbook online? I didn't find anything in my local book store, so I'm looking at betterworldbooks.com. Not looking for high-brow, just simple, traditional food. Do you go by the reviews? For example this one: http://www.betterworldbooks.com/The-Book-of-Carribbean-Cooking-Book-of-id-1557883289.aspx has a great review... This one has no reviews: http://www.betterworldbooks.com/Caribbean-Central-South-America-Illustrated-Food-Cooking-of-id-0754819779.aspx any recommendations - either on how to pick or your favorite? Mon Sep 28 09:35:01 -0700 2009 65780 jujuthomas 1 5064057 These days I only buy books on line, new or used. If I want to delve into a cuisine I'm not familiar with I'll do a lot of research via Google, but my best resource is right here on the Home Cooking board. I want to buy only the best of the genre and the home cooks on Chowhound know which is The Best....I have every confidence. I then go to the 3 on-line bookstore I buy from and check their prices, availability, and whether or not it's a hardcover ( my preference. ) Namely: Amazon, both the new and used sections; Jessica's Biscuit; and Abe Books. There are other book sellers out there but I've never been disappointed with these.. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=&x=21&y=19 http://www.ecookbooks.com/ http://www.abebooks.com/ Mon Sep 28 09:55:56 -0700 2009 5063993 75332 Gio 2 5064355 x2. I never choose a cookbook in a bookstore, assuming that the best ones sell the quickest, leaving the dregs. And you never know where an Amazon, etc. reviewer is coming from in terms of knowledge, expertise, or ulterior motives. But the Chowhound consensus (or, when there are numerous strong contenders, lack of consensus) has never let me down. You've got the best resource on the web right here. Search the boards, and if there isn't a reasonably current thread on the topic, start one. Mon Sep 28 11:33:48 -0700 2009 5064057 58743 alanbarnes 3 5064590 Thank you Gio and AB for your responses. They were very helpful to me. I did do a search on Caribbean cuisine on this board and didn't find any recent cookbook recommendations, so I'll start a new post asking for ideas. I've been Googling recipes for individual dishes, but I want more. :) I'm hoping a trend in Caribbean cooking will get us buying more fresh fish to cook... we had such great fish dishes there! Mon Sep 28 12:52:34 -0700 2009 5064355 65780 jujuthomas 4 5065331 Regarding Caribbean cuisine, I urge you to investigate the books of Jessica B. Harris. She's a food historian and particularly expert in the cuisines of Africa and the Caribbean. Here's a link to her bio: http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=852&category=educationMakers Here's a link to Amazon's listing for her book, "Sky Juice and Flying Fish: Traditional Caribbean Cooking." http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Juice-Flying-Fish-Traditional/dp/0671681656/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254184440&sr=1-5 Mon Sep 28 17:39:49 -0700 2009 5064590 75332 Gio 5 5073191 Oh, yes, this book is GREAT! And so is her Iron Pots and Wooden Spoons, which goes into Caribbean and Cajun & Creole cooking. Anything by JBH is bound to be good! Thu Oct 01 15:45:08 -0700 2009 5065331 1099762 CookieWeasel 1 5064470 i don't mean to sound arrogant but i think there are better ways to good food than cookbooks and we've heard the greatest chefs keep telling us aspiring cooks: go to farmers markets and meet growers and producers. actually get to feel the best of what's regional and in season and to think up you will cook as you see the freshest ingredients currently available. to talk to the growers and get ideas on the best preparation methods for what they've lovingly produced. you just can't get that from a supermarket or the mall. i feel embarassed having to post this because it's already become a cliche and yet so many don't realize how rewarding the whole exercise can be. in agreement with alanbarnes, the internet and message boards is probably the second best way to improving food knowledge. the information is almost limitless and as in the case of the better forums like this one, the response is often instantaneous. Mon Sep 28 12:08:03 -0700 2009 5063993 1106176 epabella 2 5064594 well... let's see. the nice people at my local farm can certainly tell me how to cook food the ways they know, but since I live in PA, not St. Lucia, I REALLY don't think your suggestion will work for me. but thanks. Mon Sep 28 12:53:34 -0700 2009 5064470 65780 jujuthomas 2 5065911 So the farmer's going to teach you technique? How to cook? How does this help the OP who wants to broaden her horizons and explore a new cuisine? How do you learn of historical, cultural and social context for what you eat outside of one grower's perspective? Why do you assume that the OP doesn't already frequent farmer markets and talk with people? Why do assume the OP's food life centers on the mall and supermarket - especially after an evocative post about the flavours of St. Lucia. Why so reluctant to add books to your arsenal of food info? Cliches are one thing; superciliousness and condescension another - yes you should be "embarrassed" about posting this - and no you didn't "HAVE" to post this." We're all aware of the value of farmers markets. Mon Sep 28 22:40:56 -0700 2009 5064470 1093156 cinnamon girl 3 5065953 I dunno. The old Hmong ladies at my local farmer's market have always been an invaluable source of information regarding traditional Moghul cuisine. Who needs a cookbook? They're all from Asia, right? Mon Sep 28 23:22:43 -0700 2009 5065911 58743 alanbarnes 4 5067043 lol ... very funny. And I'd never deny that I never find out useful tips from the farmers at the market but, it's still one perspective. Nicer to have an abundance of choice when it comes to ideas. I might have been too hard on epabella tho' . . . sorry - E . . . Everyone's entitled to her opinion! Tue Sep 29 10:45:08 -0700 2009 5065953 1093156 cinnamon girl 2 5065937 Oh my goodness! I can't tell you how many times "growers and producers" have asked ME what I'm going to do with something that I'm buying from them! They're growing this stuff because it sells to the yuppies at the market but they don't eat it themselves. Most of them have never been outside the US, have never eaten at upscale restaurants, or even like to eat anything other than the plain foods they grew up with. After cooking for more than 40 years, I already know "what's regional and in season." Mon Sep 28 23:07:42 -0700 2009 5064470 32444 MakingSense 3 5067032 That's a good point MS ... now that you mention it, I've been asked several times how I'm going to cook something. Tue Sep 29 10:41:26 -0700 2009 5065937 1093156 cinnamon girl 1 5065052 I usually buy at a local used book warehouse, unless I'm very sure of the author's style (in which case I buy online). I want to know that the style fits my style and you can't tell that from an online review. Sometimes, however, you just have to take a punt for used books online. I recently bought one that sounded interesting in a specific aspect (breakfasts). It wasnt. Not only was it tedious to read but the few recipes that were included generally didnt interest me. No doubt it'll find its way onto ebay in due course. Mon Sep 28 15:32:54 -0700 2009 5063993 154102 Harters 1 5070586 Do you have the Time-Life Series "The Cooking of the Caribbean Islands?" It's long out of print but a great place to start. That entire series is excellent because it explains the relationships among the food, culture, and history of the locales that each book targets. The late Michael Field was the guiding light behind the series and Julia Child worked on some of them, as well as many leading food authorities. They were published in the 1970s. I buy few cookbooks any longer. What I buy is largely out of print volumes that are mostly used for reference. I get them through Amazon which has links to used book sellers. I've never had any problems with those purchases and most come within few days from the day I buy them online. I generally know to search for them by name or author however. Searching by style of cooking is rarely successful, yielding only modern cookbooks that rarely have what I want or need. I find out about these older volumes by reading, reading, reading, and sometimes by checking the footnotes or bibliographies in books and articles. Sometimes there will be a passing mention that someone wrote a cookbook. That person may not even be known for cooking, but their cookbook was a valuable record of the cuisine of their homeland or family. Old recipes show up in odd, non-cookbook places as well. Sometimes churches or women's clubs published them. That may be true in the Caribbean because of the British Colonial influence. You might also contact the cultural attaches at the Embassies in Washington of the various Caribbean countries. They may have recipes available or be able to provide the names of cookbooks that you can hunt down. Local cookbooks, and in fact all books, in the developing world are not as common as they are in the US. Publishing is expensive. I have a few from when we lived in S. America but there were few available. I bought what I could find but most of my good recipes are hand-written, given to me by friends. Cooks often take their local traditional food for granted, and never see the necessity of writing down something that "everyone knows how to cook." The printed versions of these were often terrible, so I had to take matters into my own hands and learn from the cooks themselves. Wed Sep 30 15:52:40 -0700 2009 5063993 32444 MakingSense 2 5070935 MS, I had not heard of the time life series before your post. I'll keep an eye out for them. I do own a small cookbook from St. Lucia, but it just isn't doing it for me... I will continue my research and see what I can find! thanks. :) Wed Sep 30 18:28:28 -0700 2009 5070586 65780 jujuthomas 3 5071194 The food of most of the islands tends to be similar because they share common history and heritage. There is an English-speaking and a Spanish-speaking Caribbean as well as islands with French and Dutch influence. But you'll find a lot of the same foods - different names, but pretty similar. The Time Life series is hard to find now, especially with the companion recipe guides.. 40 years old. Grab them when you can. Try Amazon and eBay. I run into them every now and then at estate and church rummage sales. Even found some once on a curb that somebody had put out on trash day. I'm not proud so I picked through the box of books and got several that day. Wed Sep 30 20:59:21 -0700 2009 5070935 32444 MakingSense 3 5073309 Agree with MS that the Time Life Series is a great place to start. You have to really scout them out though. I didn't realize there was a Caribbean offering, but of course there would be! They really did go all out to get the best people for this series. A number of self-taught chefs (e.g. Charlie Trotter for one), credits this series for its usefulness. For example, Richard Olney contributed to the French one(s?) along w the people MS mentions. I only ever see individual books here and there in 2nd hand shops. Friends have collected series and the upper perimeter of their kitchen is lined w them. Sigh. They're too high to take one down and casually leaf thru' while pretending to be engaged in the conversation . . . lol Thu Oct 01 16:44:38 -0700 2009 5070935 1093156 cinnamon girl 4 5075807 I'm thirding you try and find the Time-Life series of books. As a few others have noted, there are 2 books for each volume, the main book and the supplemental cookbook, spiral-bound. I still get a rush when I happen across one on a used bookstore (very rare) and if I don't have it, I buy it. If you want it ASAP, give http://www.cookbookjj.com/ a try. She's got multiple copies of all the books and has the smaller spiral bounds as well. Fri Oct 02 21:11:02 -0700 2009 5073309 23858 Honeychan 3 5074792 If you start collecting this Time-Life series, be aware that each topic had two books. There was the over-sized hardback which is fairly available. There was also a smaller, spiral bound recipe book. These are harder to find - probably due to the smaller ones being kept during the downsizing of homes by many of the original subscribers. While the larger books do have recipes, I seem to recall that the spiral bound books have many additional recipes. The entire set has 27 book sets. Fri Oct 02 10:44:48 -0700 2009 5070935 111267 meatn3 4 5075781 Thank you for this. I've only seen the hardcovers and didn't realize it would be 27 x 2 (given I'd ever find any of the spiral-bound books). Fri Oct 02 20:44:35 -0700 2009 5074792 1093156 cinnamon girl 5 5075831 If you are looking for specific ones, e-mail me (see profile). My library has an amazing yearly sale coming up and there are always some of the spiral books... I'll be happy to keep an eye out! Fri Oct 02 21:37:01 -0700 2009 5075781 111267 meatn3 6 5077344 Thank you so much, Meatn3! Very kind of you. Sat Oct 03 20:08:27 -0700 2009 5075831 1093156 cinnamon girl 4 5076758 Here is a link that lists all of the titles: http://www.cookbkjj.com/college/time_life.htm Sat Oct 03 13:05:46 -0700 2009 5074792 111267 meatn3 2 5074844 I love the Time-Life series - it was my introduction to world cuisines - and am replacing volumes I failed to move when we were moving around the country (what can I say, young and stupid). I know a small bookseller who has a good number of them on hand including the Caribbean volume (and I believe including the recipe book - they do include more recipes than the hardbound volumes. Feel free to email me for the contact information which I don't think is kosher to post here. Fri Oct 02 11:08:34 -0700 2009 5070586 13709 buttertart