FOUND: We are the owners of OldCookbooks.com. Nearly every day we receive cookbooks from our scouts around the world. This blog is a place to examine some of the more interesting or charming old cookbooks that come our way in more depth. Whenever possible, we also post corresponding recipes and other relevant links to definitions or other related cookbooks.
LOST: Click here to go to the Lost Cookbook Forum, where you can post your lost cookbook and read our found cookbook success stories.
IRISH COUNTRYHOUSE COOKING
Rosie Tinne
1974
Approximately 160 recipe contributions from Irish Countryhouses* with additional contributions by author Rose Tinne proprietress of the popular but defunct 1970s Snaffles Restaurant in Dublin. Irish Country Houses like bed and breakfasts, offer vacation accommodations and meals characterized by the use of fresh, seasonal and local ingredients. With delicacies like freshly gathered blueberries or chanterelle mushrooms, just harvested mussels or eels and local wild duck, true Country House cooking rivals that served in the best restaurants.
Recipes in this out-of-print treasure include:
Gaelic Steak made with Irish Whiskey from Whitechurch Lodge, Dublin;
Stuffed Shoulder of Connemara Lamb from Glendalough Lodge, Galway;
Gingerbread (May A. Carroll's Recipe) from Woodlawn House, Galway.
A few attractive engravings of houses scattered throughout. Each recipe signed by contributor and presented on the houses' letterhead.
*Countryhouses or Country Houses are Irish estates, manor houses or castles. Read more here: [What is a Country House?]
"TIME-LIFE FOODS OF THE WORLD"
1970s, Multiple Authors
Thanksgiving, it seems to me, is the most American of American holidays. And celebrating a change of seasons, the bountiful land and life in peace with all our neighbors, seems especially poignant to me these days. So, this week I chose the 1970s encyclopedic work by Time-Life -- "Foods of the World". This massive set includes the best recipes from regional America and around the world; a ground-breaking work in 27 volumes. Recipe booklets were coupled with a
coffee-table style photographic essay with captivating narrative by the
likes of M.F.K Fisher, James Beard, Craig Claiborne and Julia Child.
The wire-bound recipe booklets are most sought after and still not too
difficult to find.
The entire set includes the following:
American Cooking
American Cooking: Creole & Acadian
American Cooking: The Eastern Heartland
American Cooking: The Great West
American Cooking: The Melting Pot
American Cooking: New England
American Cooking: The Northwest
American Cooking: Southern Style
The Cooking of the British Isles
The Cooking of the Caribbean Islands
The Cooking of China
The Cooking of Germany
The Cooking of India
The Cooking of Italy
The Cooking of Japan
The Cooking of Provincial France
The Cooking of Scandinavia
The Cooking of Spain & Portugal
The Cooking of Vienna's Empire
African Cooking
Classic French Cooking
Russian Cooking
Latin American Cooking
Middle Eastern Cooking
Pacific & Southeast Asian Cooking
A Quintet of Cuisines
Wines and Spirits
I will eventually post one recipe from each booklet. Meanwhile here's a Thanksgiving alternate to Pumpkin Pie from the American Cooking: Southern Style booklet.
IS IT A YAM OR A SWEET POTATO?
(or trivia to entertain your Thanksgiving guests)...
Likely, you have never even tasted a yam unless you are celebrating
Thanksgiving in Africa, the yam's true home. Botanically, yams are not
closely related to sweet potatoes, though they look a bit alike. Truly
misnamed, the Garnet Yam, considered the sweetest of the varieties, is
actually a sweet potato.
Peace.
"DINNER AT OMAR KHAYYAM'S"
Chef George Mardikian, 1944
The previous post made me think about a growing genre of cookbook collecting -- restaurant cookbooks. A number of chefs of famous restaurants haven given up some of their best recipes in recipe collections and cookbooks.
Here I've chosen another San Francisco restaurant, long gone, called Omar Khayyam's; an Armenian restaurant featuring exotic flavors of the Middle East with nods to American cooking and local produce and seafood.
Mardikian writes in an affable style and recounts his story of immigrating to America. His cooking favors the fresh and simple, avoiding heavy sauces and complex recipes; "Broiled Trout and Lemon Dressing with Piaz" (Piaz is a parsley and onion mixture) , a raw spinach salad called "Immigrant's Pack Salad", and "Bean Yahni" (lima bean or soy bean stew") to name a few. Recipes are preceded by informative tips and tales of the recipes origin.
William Saroyan writes in the intro:"...more than just a cookbook. It is the smiling chef himself".
[buy it "Dinner at Omar Khayyam's"at OldCookbooks.com]
"A BASQUE STORY COOK BOOK"
Ann Rogers, 1968
Part Basque history, part memoir and part cookbook, this delightful book will introduce you to both the history of the Basques and their cooking. The author pens the story of the owners of Martin's Espanol -- a San Francisco restaurant and hotel created by Basque immigrants Martin and Angelita Abauerrea, serving a community of sheepherders, laborers, primarily Basques and Spaniards from 1907 through 1966.
Basque cooking has influences of both the French and Spanish but remains a distinct style of its own. Recipes are rich and hearty including traditional stews of lamb and veal, Spanish chorizo and potatoes, lentil soup, salsas and flans. The author describes the life of the couple, as well as the habits of the boarders: " Angelita rose early every day to prepare the traditional Basque breakfast of cafe con leche, slabs of bread and a glass of whisky..." (seemingly a good way to start the day if you are hanging out with wet sheep all day).
"FRENCH COOKING FOR THE HOME" (AKA "French Cooking for Americans")
Louis Diat, 1956
Diat's first cookbook, "Sauces, French and Famous" is a work that is still considered a standard on the subject. A young and inspired chef for the Ritz Carlton in New York from the early 1900's through the 50's, Diat took a scientific approach to cooking, experimenting in his "laboratory" with foods from around the world.
Diat returns to his French roots with this robust personal cookbook "French Cooking for the Home" inspired by his mother's cooking. The Bourbonnais recipes are lavish with milk, cream, butter, cheese, eggs and wine and complemented by lively stories of typical French cookery.
If you are a fan of Top Chef, you know that the most recent challenge was to cook elk for a passel of cowboys and cowgirls. Diat's chapter on "Furred Game" includes Hare and Rabbit, Wild Boar & Venison, and an elaborate two-page recipe for making a Terrine (Pate) of Hare.
This is the British printing of "French Cooking for Americans". Contents are the same, covers are different.
[see Carrot Soup recipe from this cookbook]
"The Pooh Cook Book"
Virginia Ellison, 1965
This little cookbook is as heart warming and smile-making as the original Pooh stories that inspired it. Recipes are spoon-licking, tummy yummy. And while some recipes might require running outside to "catch a bowl of snow", most are simple and designed with a Pooh-like humminess.
Ellison captures the essence of Pooh with her recipes and corresponding Winnie-the-Pooh quotes, making this a magical book for children and an essay on simple comforts for adults. (If you are puddling around the house in a poofy bathrobe and bunny slippers you can whip up a Jelly Omelet or celebrate the day with a Honey Chocolate Pie.)
Adorable.
"COOKING WITH CURRY"
Florence Brobeck, 1952
This little cookbook bills itself as "the first book ever published on curry dishes here or abroad." Indeed, my research shows only one very obscure cookbook that concentrates on curry dishes before this one -- an 1880's British rarity entitled "The Curry Cook's Assistant".
Brobeck allocates the first chapter to a basic history and composition of curry (which is not actually one spice, but a blend of as many as 50 ingredients) and discussing the finer points with several notable restaurant owners and chefs.
A world traveler, Brobeck's many best-selling cookbooks reflect her love of aromatic and ethnic cooking. She wrote a popular weekly column for the New York Times and was a contributing food writer to major publications, including the New Yorker and Good Housekeeping. Her book "Old Time Pickling and Spicing Recipes" is the subject of an earlier post.
Whether you are starting a collection of cookbooks about spices, or trying to capture all of the cookbooks by Brobeck before they are rediscovered, this is one to add to your collection.
"THE NEW ENGLAND YANKEE COOK BOOK"
1939 reprinted 1980?
Imogene Wolcott
Decorations by Edwin Earle and Alanson B. Hewes
It's easy to see why the Cookbook Collector's Library chose to reprint this 1939 treasure. It is full of hard-to-find references to old utensils, recipes and food lore and punctuated with attractive woodcuts and old photographs. Subtitled "An Anthology of Incomparable Recipes from the six New England States and a little something about the People whose Tradition for Good Eating is herein permanently recorded by Imogene Wolcott from the Files of Yankee magazine and from the Time-worn Recipe Books and many Gracious Contributors." Many of the recipes are attributed to their contributors, often including their address.
Chapters are punctuated with "R U A Yankee Cook?" quizzes, featuring questions like "What are the following utensils -- piggin? skeel? losset? keeler? noggin?" and "In what way does the housewife prepare the brick oven for Saturday's baking?" [She burns a couple of bushels of hard wood for about two hours; then rakes out the coals and deposits them in the chamber under the oven , and starts baking.]
Serves as a gracious introduction to the cooking of the New England region as well as a solid reference for old cooking terms. One of those cookbooks that reads like a series of short stories.
[See a sample recipe for Blueberry Slump from this cookbook.]
[Read about "Slumps and Grunts".]
[buy "The New Yankee Cook Book" at OldCookbooks.com]
"THE FIRESIDE COOK BOOK"
1949
Fans and collectors of James Beard cookbooks will be thrilled to add this amiable old cookbook to their collection. It has the added benefit of being masterfully and prolifically illustrated by Alice and Martin Provenson. The Provenson's won many illustration awards making this recipe collection a spot on charmer for collectors of illustrated cookbooks as well.
Billed as a "complete guide to fine cooking for the beginner and expert", it boasts 1217 recipes and 400 color illustrations. Most of the dishes are relatively simple and offer several variations on each recipe.
I was hunting for an interesting barbecue sauce recipe to post and Beard offers an intriguing version called "Devil Sauce". Unfortunately, it calls for Escoffier's Sauce Diable. This was once available as a bottled sauce, but is no longer in production. Making the Escoffier's sauce from scratch requires a PhD in sauceology, and I have posted a refreshing recipe for Cold Stuffed Artichokes instead.
"JUNE PLATT'S NEW ENGLAND COOK BOOK"
1971
Platt consulted over 600 cookbooks to create this personal collection of recipes celebrating the region and foods of New England. The most interesting recipes include some regional lore and discuss the recipe origin. Recipe names like Rinktum Ditty, Cranberry Troll Cream and Humpty Does seem to belong in a fairy tale. And of course there are chowders, baked beans and pumpkin pies along with "Miss Folsom's Land-of-the-Sky Pudding" and a Cape Cod dish known as "Scootin'-'Long-the-Shore". Yep.
Since August is blueberry month and the latest research shows that blueberries can fend off a variety of age related diseases, I have posted the recipe for "Blueberry Buckle". The 12 blueberry recipes presented by Platt include this "buckle" as well as blueberry crisps, tarts, jams, sauces and "Blueberry Slump". Yep.
[buy "June Platt's New England Cook Book" at OldCookbooks.com]
