The 10 Most Battered Cookbooks In Food Writer Jonathan Gold's Kitchen

Squid Ink:

Dear Mr. Gold:

Do you always eat out? Do you ever eat at home? Do you have any cookbooks that you use a great deal? Just curious.
−Maggs, Mar Vista

Dear Maggs:
Actually, I cook kind of a lot. A weird amount. I'm the guy who cooks red beans and rice or quail and grapes for 10, and then realizes that he has forgotten to invite anybody to dinner. (My children sometimes have unusual lunchboxes.) Anyway, in case you were wondering, these are the 10 most battered cookbooks in my kitchen:

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Comments

[DavidMG]

03:46 PM on 11/05/2010

Suggest he take a look at "American Wholefoods Cuisine" the "vegetarian Joy of Cooking," in print for 27 years, admired by MFK Fisher. amazon.com readars say they buy two copies in case one wears out!

[kareemachan]

12:24 PM on 11/04/2010

I thought about it, and some of my most used and treasured cookbooks are:

Anything by Julie Sahni (Indian food)
'Soup' by Barbara Kafka
'Practical Japanese Cooking' by Tsuji
Any of the Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks for their photos and uniquely Australian recipes (makes for hours of entertaining reading)
My mother's copies of the old red and white Betty Crocker and Joy of Cooking

[mellene]

11:18 AM on 11/04/2010

Battered cookbooks is a great thing to brag about. Too few people are bothering to cook anymore. Too many Americans rely on opening cans or popping the lid off of frozen foods or what they picked up in the deli section of their market instead. Things that are healthy and good for you are not convenience foods unless you consider simple foods like apples, tomatoes, etc. to be in that group. I mainly have the Paula Wolfert cookbooks of the ones mentioned in his article but recognize that I've cooked recipes from most of the others, too.

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

09:02 PM on 11/03/2010

i was so pleased to see marion cuningham's breakfast book on the list, she is a treasure. for me it's James Beard's American Cooking .

[antaeus]

12:56 AM on 11/04/2010

Am I sufficiently covered for breakfast if I glean from her edition of "Fannie Farmer" (the writing of which I thoroughly enjoy)?

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

10:45 AM on 11/04/2010

Oh a fellow fan ! I also love her "Fannie Farmer", the breakfast book is all her though. Every recipe i have tried in it worked. She's one of those horribly competent ,self-effacing types that effortless produces perfection. I admire that in a cook and in a writer . I also like james Beard, because he's cranky and opinionated.

[kareemachan]

12:18 PM on 11/04/2010

I met her when I worked at a new/used bookstore, and talk about a truly nice, sweet woman. I wanted to adopt her as a grandmother!

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

05:54 PM on 11/04/2010

I am so envious ! I think she is way under-rated . Her recipes work, what more could anyone want from a cookbook writer ? ( lord, do i love cookbooks. )

[jukesgrrl]

07:59 PM on 11/03/2010

That was a charming and informative article. Thanks for linking to it.

[c-tom]

07:12 PM on 11/03/2010

Larousse Gastronomique is really helpful as a starting place for deciding what to cook. It is very good on when and why to use different ingredients but can be brutal as a recipe book.