Cause I like to buy books.
Printable View
Cause I like to buy books.
I don't like cookbooks. I did buy Odd Bits. It is a gorgeous book. But like most cookbooks the recipes use too many precious ingredients and have too many complicated steps.
Rather than cookbooks, I just learn how to cook the basic outline and then get inventive with interchangeable options. The Los Angeles Times had a good article last Saturday about that. [url=http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-calcook-main-20130112,0,470266.story]The California Cook: Basic dishes a couple can build on - latimes.com[/url] This is the sort of instruction I would much rather have than what a typical cookbook offers.
I don't need to know the steps to make some fancy, pretty dish. What I really need are basic processes and what they work for. What's the temperature for the oven to do what I want to do? Is this cut of meat best with low temp/long cooking time or high temp/short cooking time? Is there a good sauce I can put on top of whatever I'm making and what's the simplest way to make this sauce? What the heck can I do with salt pork that doesn't take a lot of ingredients or steps? That sort of thing. For that reason I never buy books because they're never laid out that way. Maybe Betty Crocker from 1950 is laid out that way. I should look for an old one of those.
[QUOTE=sbhikes;1064793]Maybe Betty Crocker from 1950 is laid out that way. I should look for an old one of those.[/QUOTE]
haha - this reminds me that my mother-in-law has an old cookbook with recipes for bologna cups. Yes, that's right, you take slices of bologna and heat them up in the oven, and like magic the rind shrinks and creates a nice little cup to put various appetizer type fillings in to serve to your guests. What a laugh.
those are the kinds of cook books i like most, vintage freak shows
I turn to the internet when I have an ingredient, need ideas what to do with it, and my existing cookbooks aren't helping.
I buy cookbooks because I like browsing them. I see things I would never think to cook otherwise and stuff that maybe I don't want to cook as is, but can tailor to my own tastes. I'm also one of those people who digs books.
I remember the Betty Crocker book my mom had contained recipes for how to make a roast, how to cut up a whole chicken into parts and useful stuff like that. Sure, how to make a pie crust was in there too. But it wasn't a freak show. It was actual How To Cook instructions.
[QUOTE=sbhikes;1064793]I don't like cookbooks. I did buy Odd Bits. It is a gorgeous book. But like most cookbooks the recipes use too many precious ingredients and have too many complicated steps.
Rather than cookbooks, I just learn how to cook the basic outline and then get inventive with interchangeable options. The Los Angeles Times had a good article last Saturday about that. [url=http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-calcook-main-20130112,0,470266.story]The California Cook: Basic dishes a couple can build on - latimes.com[/url] This is the sort of instruction I would much rather have than what a typical cookbook offers.
I don't need to know the steps to make some fancy, pretty dish. What I really need are basic processes and what they work for. What's the temperature for the oven to do what I want to do? Is this cut of meat best with low temp/long cooking time or high temp/short cooking time? Is there a good sauce I can put on top of whatever I'm making and what's the simplest way to make this sauce? What the heck can I do with salt pork that doesn't take a lot of ingredients or steps? That sort of thing. For that reason I never buy books because they're never laid out that way. Maybe Betty Crocker from 1950 is laid out that way. I should look for an old one of those.[/QUOTE]
Try "Martha Stewarts Cooking School". It is organized into sections by cooking method like steaming, frying, braising, etc, complete with a simple recipe that clearly demonstrates the technique, followed by just a few variations. My Second wants to be a chef, so I am forever on the lookout for books of this sort. Not everything is Primal, of course, but overwhelmingly Primal-friendly.
[QUOTE=Crabbcakes;1064916]Try "Martha Stewarts Cooking School". It is organized into sections by cooking method like steaming, frying, braising, etc, complete with a simple recipe that clearly demonstrates the technique, followed by just a few variations. My Second wants to be a chef, so I am forever on the lookout for books of this sort. Not everything is Primal, of course, but overwhelmingly Primal-friendly.[/QUOTE]if they're interested in chefing, they should definitely read the Escoffier Cookbook, bearing in mind it's more of a textbook than anything else
To answer the OP, books are one of the few old-school mediums I still cling to. E.g. I like Chomsky's catalogue, A People's History, and various psych and books on hand so I can look something up if I need to, rather than looking for a potentially dubious internet source. Cookbooks are the same way. I rarely ever use recipes unless I'm trying something new, but it's nice to have references on hand to exactly what goes into a proper vindaloo, or a chimayo mexican chorizo, or something. Blogs tend to really fuck that up if the author doesn't have access to certain ingredients or just omits them due to cheapness. And recipes that are designed specifically to conform to someone's concept of "healthy" tend to just be baaaad, no matter what diet you're talking about.
That said, I also don't see much of a point in paleo cookbooks. You're better off stocking your shelves with traditional french cookbooks, julia child, and various regional cuisines like indian, mediterranean, peruvian, etc. and just tweak them to suit your dietary needs. Mark's recipes tend to be really good, but I wouldn't bother with any others.
Cookbooks give me ideas. If I look online, its because I have something in mind. I'd never try random things like Spice Market Kale or Morrocan Meatballs. (Well Fed) or any of the other awesome recipes.
I also like books because if they are by known authors they are reliable. A Dorie Greenspan recipe will work. And be good. She won't lead me astray on cooking $15 worth of duck.
I buy cookbooks in book form, on my Kindle, and search online. I love to plan and look at recipes.