Where can I find a database of cookbook indexes?

October 3, 2009 9:13 AM

Where can I find a database of cookbook indexes?

Is there a website that contains a recipe directory for printed cookbooks?

I own lots of cookbooks. It's annoying to have to look through each individiual index, however, when I'm looking for a recipe for a common dish. Is there a website, or other service, that has a searchable collection of what recipes can be found in what cookbooks? (Note, I'm not looking for the recipes themselves, but instead a collective, searchable index.)

NOTE: I posed this question to the internet two years ago and didn't get any responses. Now, with my recent discovery of the AMAZING Delicious Library media cataloging tool, I'm inspired to find a new solution. Bonus if it can plug-in with my Delicious Library catalog of cookbooks. (Fat chance, I know...)

posted by chefscotticus to Food & Drink (4 answers total)

I just tried typing "fritatta" into a Google Books search and the results one the first page are about 2/3 cookbooks. This might work better on some keywords than others. I'm glad you asked the question because I wouldn't have thought of this otherwise.
posted by Mngo at 10:22 AM on October 3, 2009

Response by poster: Mngo -- Google Books is the answer, thanks for the inspiration! Just figured it out, or at least a first effort -- Here's how:

1. Using Delicious Library, import all your cookbooks into the catalog.

2. Export only the ISBN numbers of those books into a plain text file in Delicious Library. To do this, go to FILE > EXPORT > EXPORT TO ANOTHER APPLICATION, and choose "Delimited Text" with only the "ISBN" field checked.

3. Open Google Books, and go to My Library > Import books.

4. Copy the list of ISBN numbers from the exported text file and paste it into your google books library.

-- Now, Google Books will let you search for anything -- including recipes/ingredients -- and limit results to only those from your library.
posted by chefscotticus at 2:08 PM on October 3, 2009 [3 favorites]

Whoa...I thought I had a good idea, but now I bow before your geekiness. If i'm ever organized enough to follow your process, never will a bunch of yam leaves or an odd cut of hog go unused in my fridge. Seriously, with the number of cookbooks we've got/bought/inherited, this would be an actual breakthrough, and get me out of my annoying rut of consulting Bittman and Berenbaum for everything.
posted by Mngo at 8:15 PM on October 3, 2009

Out of curiosity, if you are still looking at this. What sort of coverage does Google Books have for your cookbooks? I've found that when it comes to cookbooks, Google Books and Amazon are rather limited when letting you look at the contents (including the index).
posted by NormandyJack at 8:28 AM on October 4, 2009