On Sun, 6 Mar 2011 02:36:23 -0800, "Kent"
wrote:
I use most of them for ideas.
Among others, I have the whole set of the Foods of the World series
(got it by subscription as it was being issued), and almost the whole
series of the Good Cook.
I have almost all, if not all, of Julia's books, and also Jacques
Pepin, including his huge volumes, The Art of Cooking. Same with
Marcella Hazan, and Lidia Bastianich.
After collecting all these years, and collecting to use them to cook,
not just for collection purposes, I know which authors are good and
are reliably good cooks. Some of the authors I have (and these are by
no means all) are Madjur Jaffrey, Julie Sahni, Barbara Kafka, James
Beard, James Villas, Dorie Greenspan, Paul Bertoli, Alice Waters,
David Tanis, Rick Bayless, Diana Kennedy, Ina Garten, Richard Olney,
Madeline Kamman, Damon Lee Fowler, Paul Prudhomme, and a whole host of
others. Some are names that were big cooking teachers back in the
70s...but aren't well known now. I have a lot of vegetarian
cookbooks...
I can't begin to list all the books I have, or the authors. Sometimes
I would see a book, and like a few recipes in it, and get it. I
might make one or two things from that book, and it may be a not so
well known author.
One of the authors I like is Lee Bailey, as he was/is a good southern
cook, and he taught me a lot about simplicity.
When I want to fix something I start skimming through books. I may
have a concept in mind, and I go seeing what my various books have to
say. I don't use them all to cook, but I do get ideas.
I have been lucky over the years: I seem to have a good idea of what
is good, and who are good cooks/authors. They may not all be well
known, and many are traditionalists, but they helped me establish a
foundation.
The books in my collection that are more curiosity are those that have
been given to me, for the most part. I have friends who say"Oh, you
like to cook and like cookbooks: here's a cookbook I bought for you".
Well...many of the folks are noncooks or just saw the book at a
souvenir shop, or some other place, and thought I would like it. On
rare occasions, they pick a good one, but most of the time, it is not
one I would pick for myself. However, I accept it, cause the friend
meant well, and maybe some year, I can get an idea from it.
I cannot begin to remember all the authors I have. In about a week or
so, I will be back in NM, and can take pictures of the books. Maybe I
will post what I have... I am picking up a box or two of books from
my PODS in the bay area at the end of this week, and taking them back
to NM. Some of the books in those boxes are from Williams Sonoma. I
find some of their little cookbooks to have really good recipes in
them. And they have good authors writing for them.
Hope this gives you an idea of how and why I collect. Nowadays, it
has to be a book that I will use. The last book I bought was the
book by Eric Ripert: Avec Eric. I have already fixed one thing from
that, and will probably cook a lot more from it, as his recipes are
good. I won't buy a book that is mostly a coffee table book now,
unless it is an author I trust, and it is something I will use on a
regular basis.
Christine
--
http://nightstirrings.blogspot.com