Anyone read dated cookbooks?

[pearlyriver]

I came across a public-domain cookbook called "The Cook's Decameron: A Study in Taste, Containing Over Two Hundred Recipes For Italian Dishes" and it seems good. It covers all the building blocks of Italian cuisine and the recipes sound good, although exact measurement of ingredients is not provided. Does anyone read or use out-of-fashion cookbooks?

[LeJazzHot]

My mother's American Woman's Cookbook from the forties still is used by me. Bread is not just recipes, but techniques and science, and a huge host of recipes for vegetables which can be grown locally, although I now shorten many of the cooking times. It was pretty much the only cookbook in my house (a house without a ton of books for a voracious child reader), and where I began my baking @ 10 years old. Still follow to the letter some of the candy recipes.

[LMAshton]

My two favourite Sri Lankan cookbooks (the husband is Sri Lankan, so this is important, you know?) were both published in the late 1960s. Which also means they're completely authentic and not at all westernized, which is important.

It's kinda fun learning how much is a bottle of this or a dessert spoon of that, or what billings is or one of the other odd-to-me ingredients I've come across. Oh, and sweet cumin, which, if I recall correctly, is another name for fennel. And when they say saffron, they're actually referring to turmeric...

I had to have help to figure things out, of course. :)

[hannaone]

For those interested in early cookbooks I found some interesting ones on the Gutenburg site.

The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887)
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13923

Miss Parloa's New Cookbook (18??
)http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6745

[Antilope]

Here's a link to online e-copies you can either read online or download in various formats (for free) at Archive.org.

The story of Crisco (1914).
http://archive.org/details/storyofcrisco00neil

The story of Crisco (1920).
http://archive.org/details/cu31924089587624

The story of Crisco (1921).
http://archive.org/details/storyofcrisco00neilrich

Mazola_Perfect_For_Deep_Frying (1925).
http://archive.org/details/Mazola_Perfect_For_Deep_Frying

Aunt Jenny's Favorite Recipes (Spry shortening) about 1940.
http://archive.org/details/auntjennysfavori00camb

Snowdrift secrets the perfect shortening for all cooking (c1913).
http://archive.org/details/snowdriftsecrets00rorerich

The Calumet cook book (1916).
http://archive.org/details/calumetcookbook00calu

My favorite receipt, Royal Baking Powder Company (1909).
http://archive.org/details/myfavoritereceip00roya

The Royal Baker and Pastry Cook (1895).
http://archive.org/details/royalbakerpastry00roya

The_Fleischmann_Treasurey_Of_Yeast_Baking_ (1962).
http://archive.org/details/The_Fleischmann_Treasurey_Of_Yeast_Baking_

Ryzon baking book, baking powder (1917).
http://archive.org/details/cu31924089597227

60_Prize_Winning_Formulas_Pillsbury_US_Bake_Off_BK850_ (1950).
http://archive.org/details/60_Prize_Winning_Formulas_Pillbury_US_Bake_Off_BK850_

Betty Crocker's Cookbook for boys & girls (1975).
http://archive.org/details/bettycrockerscoo00croc

GOLD MEDAL FLOUR COOK BOOK (1910).
http://archive.org/details/goldmedalflour00washrich

Velveeta Recipe Booklet
http://archive.org/details/VelveetaRecipeBooklet8

Pet Milk Recipe book
http://archive.org/details/PetMilkRecipeBook

Armour and company Recipe leaflet
http://archive.org/details/recipeleafletsco00armo

The World's fair recipe book (1893).
http://archive.org/details/worldsfairrecipe00land

All-Canadian recipe book. (2012).
http://archive.org/details/allcanadianrecip11698cana

Good Housekeeping's Book of Recipes (1920).
http://archive.org/details/goodhousekeep2000good

Prego Spaghetti sauce recipes
http://archive.org/details/PregoSpaghettiSauceRecipes

Vermont_Maid_Syrup_Recipes (1932
)http://archive.org/details/Vermont_Maid_Syrup

Cooking With Dr Pepper
http://archive.org/details/CookingWithDrPepper

Recipes_For_Eatmor_Fresh_Cranberries_ (1953
)http://archive.org/details/Recipes_For_Eatmor_Fresh_Cranberries_

Sunset all-western cook book (1933).
http://archive.org/details/sunsetallwestern00callrich

Meals on wheels; a cook book for trailers and kitchenettes (c1937).
http://archive.org/details/mealsonwheelscoo00willrich

Hershey's Catalog of chocolate and cocoa products (early 1900's?).
http://archive.org/details/catalogofc...

[FrankJBN]

All of my cookbooks are dated (except for the cooking with diabetes, heart disease etc. which are recent gifts from well meaning friends).

Was just in my crumbling copy of "... French Cooking" by Julia Child and was amused as she extolled the health virtues of organ meats. Paraphrasing 'gives you good red blood.'

[Ruthie789]

Although not an old cookbook The Ministry of Food gives history on food consumption and cookery during World War 2 in England. You have food history and recipes link below:
http://transitionculture.org/2010/05/...

[Harters]

Going back to the previous conflict, I've just bought a circa 1916 booklet "Simple Cookery for the People". Food rationing had not yet started then but times were difficult with the men being away in the army and unable to bring in an income - the book focuses on economical dishes.

[Ruthie789]

What is inspiring about these books is how relevant they are to today. The Ministry of Food reminds me of the eat local movement.

[Antilope]

The cook's Decameron : a study in taste, containing over two hundred recipes for Italian dishes (1920).
Here's a link to online e-copies you can either read online or download in various formats (for free) at Archive.org.

http://archive.org/details/cu31924000...

[miriamjo]

13 years ago when we turned our summer cottage into a year-round home, I requested an entire wall in the kitchen be bookshelves for my cookbook collection. The builder thought I was crazy until he came by after we moved in. I'm only sorry that I gave my original Betty Crocker to a daughter, tho I guess I could get a new one. Still have my Fanny 'Farmer and James Beard from the 1950's. I think it is a fairly harmless addiction!

[Will Owen]

Once you're over 500 it's no longer harmless, especially if there's no place left to put bookshelves!

[mamachef]

I have them, I collect them, I love them, I learn a great deal from them, and......
occasionally i even cook from them,

[donnabenson]

I have the original 1896 Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cook Book . It was republished in 1997 by Dover Publications in Mineola, NY. It is a real hoot ! It has unusual recipes Like Apple Water and Brown bread ice cream. It has recepies to be prepared for the ssick and even how you should handle that person! It makes for some very entertaining reading..

[Antilope]

Here are links to online e-copies of various editions of Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking-School Cook Book that you can either read online or download in various formats (for free) at Archive.org:

The Boston Cooking-school Cook Book (1896).
http://archive.org/details/bostoncookingsc00collgoog

The Boston cooking-school cook book (1905).
http://archive.org/details/bostoncookingsc01farmgoog

The Boston cooking-school cook book (1910).
http://archive.org/details/bostoncookingsc00farmgoog

The Boston Cooking-school Cook Book (1911).
http://archive.org/details/bostoncookingsc00farmgoog

The Boston cooking-school cook book (1911, c1906).
http://archive.org/details/bostoncookingsch00farmrich

The Boston cooking-school cook book (1913).
http://archive.org/details/cu31924087257873

The Boston cooking-school cook book ([c1918]).
http://archive.org/details/cookingscholbost00farmrich

The White House cook book; a comprehensive cyclopedia of information for the home .. (1913 [c1887]).
http://archive.org/details/whitehousecookbo00gillrich

Sunset all-western cook book (1933).
http://archive.org/details/sunsetallwestern00callrich

Meals on wheels; a cook book for trailers and kitchenettes ([c1937]).
http://archive.org/details/mealsonwheelscoo00willrich

Good housekeeping's book of recipes and household discoveries (1920).
http://archive.org/details/goodhousekeep2000good

American Cookery - online e-cookbooks at Archive.org
http://archive.org/search.php?query=s...

[Querencia]

1) I use three different editions of The Joy of Cooking because they aren't the same and my favorite recipes are distributed among them all. 2) I collect at yard sales and thrift shops the cookbooks put together by church members and bound on a spiral, sold as fund-raisers, and these are usually 20-40 years "out of date" but are especially good for baking recipes as women then mostly stayed at home and had more time to bake. If the church has an ethnic bent the books are treasures of ethnic recipes. 3) One of my favorite vegetable recipes came from an 1858 book---to cooked carrots add butter, brown sugar, and curry powder.

I can't imagine NOT consulting out-of-fashion cookbooks.

[hill food]

I do like to compare the various editions of 'Joy' just to see how the editors have perceived our tastes to have evolved.

once I had a cookbook from 1918 instructing how to cook healthy under wartime rations. it was actually one of the healthier of the old-school books I've seen.

[sueatmo]

I also have and use three editions of JOC.

[Tara57]

A treasure of historic cookbooks are here:
http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/

and here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Cookery...

[jpr54_1]

I have n old cookbook written in yiddish for American Jewish Women from the turn of the century

[sueatmo]

I had forgotten this. My mother had an old wartime cookbook done by the Culinary Institute. It was falling apart, but I got and read it. I learned a lot, about several things. I do remember that the fat which separates from the stock overnight in a cool room actually protects the stock (for a while) from spoilage. Also, for good hot cocoa, you have to cook the cocoa because it is a starch. I don't make hot cocoa from scratch anymore, but I do allow time out of the pot for the broth and fat to separate before chilling in the fridge.

I think I got a really good pancake recipe out of that old book as well. This would have been in the 'seventies when I was newly married.

[Georgia Strait]

great topic
thank you OP PearlyRiver!

someone above mentioned Helen Corbitt - from NY - went to Texas - the rest you can read here

i still make her famous Neiman Marcus poppy seed dressing - it is a Thxgiving / xmas "must"

http://www.texascooking.com/features/...

i learned from friends in the USA - and it became one of our traditions in our household and extended family in West Canada

=========
and to answer the original post - YES, i am crazy about the graphic design etc in old cookbooks - i am sentimental about others and - as some other posters have pointed out - the pencil notes, the book marks - all that stuff

i like the 50's to 70's (the onset of crock pots and cake mix doctoring
)i like the Stillmeadow cookbox (the dustjacket photo)
Better homes and gardens - the pink-red gingham cover and the chapter divider photos - has to be the circa 1960 edition with the dads barbecuing - and the pie = apple and there is a woman somewhere in there with a blue shirtwaist dress

good old Joy of cooking

i have some 1950's cookbooks for children - that were given to me as hand-me-downs after the older cousins had used them and fingerprinted them etc etc

i have one from a rummage store called "I hate to cook book" - by Peg Bracken - she is on wiki or blogs - really great and some adaptable ideas for modern times (sounds like another book promo doesn't it)

so it pains me to see cookbooks in rummage and i think there are many at this time cuz the elder ladies have moved out of home or died and all their 60's to 1980's treasures are in the rummage

this is the end of an era - what does your average target-shopping / frozen or take-out QMR (quick meal replacement) family have to offer? Not many cookbooks that have pages that stick together.

ps - the only thing - i can't fit the metropolitan life height weight tables - those men and women were SKINNY (and smokers? ; ) ==== i say that cuz i am big fan of vintage movies and so many "elegant" smokers and imbibers - but rarely does one see anyone eat in those movies!

[LeJazzHot]

I love Peg Bracken, every time I clean out my bookshelves, that paperback gets another read!

I can't say that I've ever made a recipe from it, but I found some great entertaining tips there. Two best are set the table and then worry about dusting and such, and to have back to back dinner parties. I love the back to back party idea so much, I've used it for many many years. Especially since I'm a slacker of a housekeeper.

Her I Hate to Housekeep is also a classic.

[buzzardbreath]

I love them! The older generation in my family is delighted to know this because they now have someone to give their "classics" when they clean their bookshelves, much to my husband's dismay.

Two of my very favorite cookbooks are "The Christmas Cookie Book" and "The Holiday Candy Book" by Virginia Pasley, circa 1940's. My grandma's sister gave them to me in the early 70's, when I was in grade school. It's her fault I love old cookbooks! ;-)

[Harters]

We have a couple or so dating to the 1950s but nothing earlier. They were regarded as classics of their time (and for some years after) but they seem horribly old-fashioned now. How tastes have changed

[mudcat]

I frequently browse and use The New Orleans Restaurant Cookbook by Diedre Stanforth (1967). A little dated perhaps and some may consider it out- of -fashion but I view it as historic. It features the recipes of Antoine's, Arnaud's, Brennan's, Galatoires, Corrine Dunbar's, the Cafibbean Room of the Pontchartrain Hotel, Commander's Palace, Maison's Beach House, and the history of those establishments.

[Tehama]

I have a few of my Grandmother's cookbooks that I would say range from 1925 - 1955. The one sposnored by Crisco CRACKS ME UP. Apparently Crisco is a miracle ingredient and makes anything and and everything better and actaully SHOULD go into everything!

There is another one broken down into the servantless house and the home with a servant. You can get extra fancy and have plenty of time for a martini if you have a maid. Aaahhh - the life of having an-home daily maid.

[Antilope]

Here's a link to online e-copies you can either read online or download in various formats (for free) at Archive.org.

The story of Crisco (1914).
http://archive.org/details/storyofcrisco00neil

The story of Crisco (1920).
http://archive.org/details/cu31924089587624

The story of Crisco (1921).
http://archive.org/details/storyofcrisco00neilrich

Mazola_Perfect_For_Deep_Frying (1925).
http://archive.org/details/Mazola_Perfect_For_Deep_Frying

Aunt Jenny's Favorite Recipes (Spry shortening) about 1940.
http://archive.org/details/auntjennys...

[Tehama]

Ohhh - that's fabulous! Thank you so much for sharing that! hahaha!

[Antilope]

Old Cook Books (late 1800's & early 1900's), links to free online e-copies at Archive.org
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/800296

[hill food]

oh wow. thanks. bookmarked.

I love when other people bother to pursue my idle whimsies for me. still gives me a lot to wade through, but it's a start.

[jvanderh]

Oooooh. Thank you.

[hankstramm]

I have an old Bookbinders cookbook (a famous Philadelphia restaurant). I found the cookbook at Green Apple in SF. It has quite dated recipes but ones that I remember family members eating as a child (it was a very special occasion to go there). Snapper soup, crab imperial and many others. Haven't cooked any yet. Maybe someday.

[Bacardi1]

Did you know that Bookbinder still puts out its "Snapper Soup" in cans? Also all of it's other seafood soups. And Pepperpot as well.

[Will Owen]

I snapped up a Bookbinder's cookbook just because I wanted their Pepperpot recipe. And now that I have a freezer (I'm the sole carnivore in the house, except for the cats) and live near a Latino market - for the tripe! - I'll make a batch. Probably better wait until Mrs. O is out of town, because it will smell the place up a bit …

[nokitchen]

For Chowhounds interested in such things, there's a lady around the block from me who runs a bookstore selling nothing but used cookbooks. Classics, lost cookbooks, books from and about all eras and cuisines, whatever. For people who live in NYC or are visiting she's on 10th St. between 7th and Waverly. For others, here's her website: http://bonnieslotnickcookbooks.com/ Give her a call with a title or even just an idea of what you're looking for and she'll be happy to help you out.

After her phone is de-Sandyfied, of course.

[MelMM]

You know, there is a line between "dated" and "historic", and I'm not sure where it is. I have cookbooks from throughout the 20th century, and several from the 19th century and earlier (the older ones being in facsimile). I find the old cookbooks very useful for giving context to certain recipes. Many younger cooks like to assume that we are living in the best of all times, food-wise, but a study of old cookbooks will make you more circumspect. There is a purity to old recipes. Cakes are a good example. As you go back through time, the flour is less refined, and has fewer additives. Go far enough back and there are no chemical leaveners in cakes - that is, no baking soda or baking powder. These cakes are technique-driven. The leavening comes from the cook whipping in air, in the egg whites, and in the butter. There are also more alternative flours used than one would suspect. Flours that later disappeared from our repertoire and are only recently starting to reappear. I guess I would say that reading some older/historic cookbooks, however you want to define that, is an essential part of being a well-educated cook. Many times when I see an old recipe published these days, I'll see comments like, "surely they wouldn't have had {insert ingredient X here} back then". But if you are familiar with these recipes, you will know better.

[chefathome]

This is exactly what was just going through my mind - my post was mainly about historic books that are written by contemporary authors about the foods of ancient Middle East, for example. But many of my books do contain actual recipes re a particular era which I find absolutely fascinating. My books range from ancient food history through the Middle Ages through Medieval England to Victorian London with amazing (and often humorous "recipes").

Some of my cookbooks are dated, such as "Food that Really Schmecks" and the books I received as a very young six-year-old cook which would be 30+ years old now. Those are interesting to flip through ever now and then, too.

[MelMM]

I agree, the "dated" ones can be fun too. I'm not sure where I draw the line. Maybe 1950 or so? I don't know, and the truth is, it probably depends upon the cookbook itself. Heck, there are cookbooks from 5 years ago that would probably qualify as "dated". And while my focus is early American cookbooks, I also have, like you, some European volumes, and some histories that delve into other parts of the world. It's all very fascinating to me and I like to see how the dishes relate to each other.

Truth is, I'm pretty happy to look through just about any cookbook, from any time. They are such fascinating documents our our culture.

[Will Owen]

I've got some late 1800s/early 1900s cookbooks with recipes that were old-fashioned at the time, seemingly written by elderly cooks with time on their hand, very much like some of the church-lady cookbooks you can find now. A lot of the recipes are simply written narratives, telling you what to throw in when and what to do next, and what kind of fire you should do it on or in. Just for grins I did a batch of gingersnaps according to one of those, changing only Crisco for lard because that's what I had, and they were pretty damn good.

Used to be the writers assumed their readers were used to dealing with vessels over fires, wood stoves or coal, and sufficiently familiar with all the usual ingredients that no further explanation was necessary. Escoffier's recipes are like that; Elizabeth David got flak for a somewhat similar lack of hand-holding. Following those to make something edible is good exercise, though I'll admit that after a successful attempt I'll go write it down in the currently standard format!

[sueatmo]

I have a few regional paper bound cookbooks, and recently I could not stop myself from buying a very old book of recipes which had obviously been duplicated on a mimeograph or ditto machine and assembled with brads. Under the circumstances, the organization was very good. I loved the period look of it, but the recipes were so dated nutritionally! I don't think I could find anything I would want to try.

At any rate the book is a treasure, but not of usable recipes. Not for me, at any rate.

A little book I bought early in my marriage in central Illinois must have 15 variations of Chocolate Sheet cake! That must have been the go to dessert there in the 'seventies.

[Will Owen]

I love old church-lady or service-club cookbooks, especially the spiral- or comb-bound ones, and can't help getting just about every one I come across, especially at rural antique malls in Tennessee and Kentucky. At the other end are the Junior League cookbooks, same idea but much fancier presentations.

The ones I will buy no matter what are those with inclusions, especially handwritten ones. My copy of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's "Cross Creek Cookery" is a 1942 first edition that I got cheap because it was "missing its dust-jacket." (What the idiot seller missed is that wartime books didn't have any, in order to save paper!) But the best part to me was a good collection of hand-pencilled recipes, others cut from newspapers, and an interesting if cryptic message on a plain postcard. Real stuff from real people, now long gone.

[tardigrade]

My husband's high school girlfriend works for one of the publishers of these "church lady" books: she does the designs and layouts, then the company adds a bunch of stock pages on measurements, techniques, etc. I have one of them, put together by my mother's church group: it has some great recipes for traditional Polish dishes, like pierogi, and a lot of real dreck (57 variations on Jell-o salads, anyone? With a regional Cool-Whip knockoff?), but as a snapshot of the time and place it's fun to read.

[sueatmo]

What a good idea--looking for notes from the original user. I used to buy the comb bound books as low cost souvenirs in our modest travels. The book I bought in the Smokies had so many recipes for corn bread!

I recently had an opportunity to peruse a company cook book, recently produced. I couldn't use any of the recipes. Too fatty, too carby, to reliant on convenience foods. I could have picked it up and taken it home, but I passed. My former employer's staff association produced a cookbook, which I purchased a number of years ago. I could use only a few of the recipes. The problem is the same.

I suppose the best examples of these are the older ones, which did not rely so much on convenience foods. But my example from about 1960, didn't have any usable recipes either. I have to regard it as an interesting artifact only.

[JJS360]

For you antico-culinaire-bibliophiles out the in Chowtown, have you perused Anne Willan's 'The Cookbook Library'? It documents the history of the cookbook in the Western world over the last four centuries. It is tediously detailed, but thrilling all the same. Like Chaucer meets Escoffier. I saw her speak recently at the Culinary Historians of Southern California.

[hill food]

looks cool, link bookmarked.
http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=...

no I didn't link the obvious commercial links

[chefathome]

Lucky you! I agree that it is absolutely thrilling to read.

[meatn3]

The book is "Making the Most of Your Food Freezer" by Marie Armstrong Essipoff, copyright 1951.

[meatn3]

I'm much more interested in older cookbooks. Each one is a little time capsule and offers a window into a specific time and place. I really enjoy finding a cooks notations marked in the book too. Often the book will tend to open to the page with the past cooks favorite recipe - I always feel that's a good place to start cooking from!

Older books remind us of the awareness past cooks had of the relationship between the kitchen and good health. The sections dealing with recipes to tempt an invalids appetite and directions for making and applying poultices bring that aspect clearly to focus.

I also love cookbooks which instructed how to cook with new fangled inventions. I have several early books on refrigerator dishes and making the most of your freezer. The refrigerator books feature aspics heavily and focus on foods for afternoon bridge parties. One of my freezer books has an odd fixation on whale meat - strangely written by a St. Louis woman.

[hill food]

"a St. Louis woman" - would that be Mrs. Rombauer? I found out last year a friend is related to her somehow.

[janmcbaker]

Writing of 'new fangled inventions' made me think of a cookbook I got once at a thrift store. The recipes all centered on the theme of using 'YOUR ELECTRIC KNIFE.'

[chefathome]

Too funny! It must make for a humorous and unique read. It is amazing what one can learn, even from books like this.

[meatn3]

I haven't run across that one. Was the focus big roasted things or did they teach you how to carve watermelons into baskets or some such thing?

[jill kibler]

Yes, The Settlement Cookbook has a great section on cooking for invalids.The Babka Publishing Company published a "Favorite Recipe" cook book to advertise the publications it really wanted to sell listing antique markets. And I just found Prudence Penny cookbooks-a created cook from the San Francisco Examiner!

Fun!

[Ruthie789]

Absolutely, I seek them out and buy them at tag sales and thrift shops. I collect both English and French cookbooks.

[PotatoHouse]

Around half of my rather extensive cookbook collection are classic cookbooks (1920-1970).

[Bacardi1]

As a cookbook collector, I have hundreds of cookbooks - many of which are early first editions of decade's old volumes. And yes, I do use them occasionally, although almost always do some adapting to conform to current tastes.

[hill food]

LOVE old cookbooks. if no other reason to see how people ate. found my grandma's notes last year. good lord the amount of sugar, eggs and butter...

[tardigrade]

I currently have 5 different editions of the Fanny Farmer cookbook, ranging from c. 1920 to c. 2000. Besides reading them, I do use the older ones for some things, like pies. It's interesting to see the changes!

I have a c. 1950 cookbook called "A Taste of Texas", published by Nieman-Marcus: it contains weird little tidbits, like military officials in Korea were not allowed to eat local foods (!), and tortillas were available in cans. Mexican food was still enough of a novelty among the book's readers that it had to explain some common ingredients. I have a book from the early 60s called "The Complete Book of Oriental Cooking", that suggests beer is an acceptable substitute for miso. OTOH, old cookbooks often have a lot of recipes for "variety" meets; my old Fanny Farmer books have a lot more varieties of salad dressings than even the best-stocked supermarket contains.

I don't think I'm going to store my eggs in water glass any time soon, though.

[greygarious]

The eggs in water makes sense to me. Fresh eggs that have not been washed can be kept at room temp because they have a coating that makes them air-impermiable. Supermarket eggs do not have that natural coating. Submerging them probably prevents them from developing big air pockets, and spoiled eggs float. When refrigeration was not commonplace, this would have been sensible.

[tardigrade]

"water glass" is actually sodium metasilicate: it was used to store eggs for several months. Apparantly (I'm a city gal), hens lay more at certain times of the year. Otherwise, eggs fresh from the hen or market were kept at room temperature (or in as cool a spot as available). One of the unspoken assumptions in my older cookbooks is that the housewife will shop several times a week, which my grandmothers certainly did.

[jen kalb]

I remember my Mom using canned tortillas to make enchiladas in the 60s (she does not remember this herself.), along with canned enchilada sauce, etc.

[Will Owen]

tardigrade, that Nieman-Marcus book is a good collectors' item, partly because (if it's the one I'm thinking of) it was written by their food director at the time, Helen Corbett, who went on to write quite a few more cookbooks, all good. The Mexican recipes got a lot more authentic as people's comfort zones expanded and the tortillas came out of the cans!

[calliope_nh]

I love tardigrades. Cute little things.
I like reading depression era and ration stamps recipe booklets.

[jvanderh]

Where do you find 'em? Is there good stuff, or do you just read for interest?

[ipsedixit]

I read lots and lots of cookbooks, dated or not.

Really enjoy doing it, in fact.

I use them for inspiration, even though I never really follow the recipes.

[mudcat]

I browse old second hand cookbooks at bookstore featuring used books. Many are the products of various clubs, churches and other organizations that put together the book to raise some funds. I also go to used book sales sponsored by local Libraries. Every once in a while I run across a gem (recipe or book) that I add to my collection.

[chefathome]

Yes! I've got some brilliant recipes dating back hundreds of years. Oh, and Escoffier books that call for interesting ingredients such as "cock's combs", swallow tongues, etc. They are a fascinating look into history because, after all, you can really learn a lot about a culture through its food. I am fascinated with ancient recipes!

[pearlyriver]

The cookbook I mentioned features New Century Sauce which is used as a base for fish sauce, sauce piquante, sauce for roast pork, masking cutlets etc. The author noted that this sauce could be purchased in XYZ street. What can the New Century Sauce be?

[Jeri L]

Gosh I love the internet! It seems that Lazenby's was a purveyor of pickles and condiments. Best guess it it was a type of brown sauce. Perhaps this one?

http://www.tablesauce.co.uk/chef-sauce/

[pearlyriver]

Gosh thank you so much. This site is crazy. Must be the brown sauce.

[juliejulez]

I like to read them, and then google what the ingredients are :)

My brother actually gave me a little book that covers cooking in the 1500s... I really like reading those recipes, for things like mutton and bread-type stuff. I forget the name of it, I don't even know where it is (moved recently) but if I find it I'll let you know :)