Cookbook Musings

So as I have been going through my massive cookbook collection, trying to decide which ones are worthy of keeping and which are not, I have come to learn something about my preferences … and perhaps something about myself.

I was surprised to discover, and wondered why, I have so many cookbooks from the various Williams-Sonoma collections. These books have not been written by, nor are they associated with, any well-known chef or restaurant. So why am I drawn to them? Well, they all have one thing in common that I love … photographs. I have discovered that I definitely tend to buy and use cookbooks that include pictures of the food. The more pictures the better; and the Williams-Sonoma books provide a picture with every recipe.

To me, it is important to see the dish I’m about to spend time to prepare. After all, who wants to waste time and money on an unattractive dish … I know I don’t. As they say, you eat with your eyes, and my eyes demand to see what I’ll be serving to my friends and loved ones.

Recently I came across an old recommended list of popular cookbooks that I had tucked away. As I perused a few of the titles among the racks at my local library, this love of and need for photos was confirmed to me.

As good and comprehensive as The Essential New York Times Cookbook may be, there isn’t a photograph in sight. How boring is that? Page after page of text without so much as one little splash of color to break it up. Dull and uninspiring as far as I’m concerned.

I have an older version of The New York Times Cook Book by Craig Claiborne, which is also void of color and photos. It may be a good reference if I know I want to make Mushroom-Wine Sauce and am in need a recipe, but I certainly would never be inspired to browse through it to decide what to make for dinner tonight.

No, instead I may turn to another book that was on the recommended list – Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. This book could be considered a “coffee table” book, it is so lovely and interesting. Not every recipe has an accompanying photo, but there are many and it is rich with color and information. For instance, I learned that there is a correct way to serve oneself from a cheese platter, who knew? I will now not embarrass myself, or offend the French, the next time I’m offered cheese at a chic soirée in Paris. Not that I was overly concerned about this, but I never like to be impolite or make a faux pas!

According to her bio, Ms. Greenspan is a columnist for The New York Times Magazine. She has written over a dozen cookbooks, including this one ... in short, she is a very successful foodie!

Around My French Table confirms that where food is concerned, the world, even France, is one big melting pot. In addition to béchamel sauce, gougères, and niçoise specialties; her French table includes b’stilla chicken, guacamole, hummus, shrimp in cellophane noodles and couscous. Not what one would consider typical of French food.

I have included most of these dishes when I taught various International cooking classes awhile back, but I can’t say they would have appeared in my French cooking class. It is good to know that the French have embraced so many worldly dishes, I have always thought of them as purists.

I looked through some of the other books on the list and have a few more on reserve at the library. So far I haven’t really been wowed by many of them. For instance, I found Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz to be pretty much a clone of his earlier book, Room for Dessert.

Can’t say I’ve made anything yet from this list of popular cookbooks, but I have some recipes in mind. Ironically we went for dinner at a friend’s house and, low and behold, he made most of the meal from Ms. Greenspan’s book, which had been given to him as a present. Everything was very good, and it was fun to compare impressions of the book. I was mortified, however, to find my friend already knew the proper way to serve himself cheese, and I did not … oh the shame of it all ...