International standard cookbooks?
December 11, 2009 10:26 AM Subscribe
When a friend online noticed Joy of Cooking referred to as "one of America's standard cookbooks" and wondered about internationally analogous "standard cookbooks," I immediately thought, "What a great question for AskMe!" And here we are.
From the area where I come from -- South India -- specifically Tamilnadu -- definitely Samaithu Par (literally Cook and See). This only covers vegetarian food however and is specific to certain communities, but it was definitely the book I saw being given out when people got married or lived on their own for the first time. Extremely comprehensive.
posted by peacheater at 10:31 AM on December 11, 2009 [5 favorites]
posted by peacheater at 10:31 AM on December 11, 2009 [5 favorites]
A better link about the history of Samaithu Par.
posted by peacheater at 10:32 AM on December 11, 2009
posted by peacheater at 10:32 AM on December 11, 2009
A recent contender for Australia is Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion.
I'm lead to believe the Spanish standard is 1080 Recipes.
posted by zamboni at 10:37 AM on December 11, 2009
I'm lead to believe the Spanish standard is 1080 Recipes.
posted by zamboni at 10:37 AM on December 11, 2009
Flemish Belgium: Ons Kookboek
First published in 1927 and has sold over 2,3 million copies.
posted by eendje at 10:37 AM on December 11, 2009
First published in 1927 and has sold over 2,3 million copies.
posted by eendje at 10:37 AM on December 11, 2009
For Puerto Rico it would have to be Puerto Rican Cookery (original title in Spanish: Cocina Criolla), by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli.
posted by DrGirlfriend at 10:46 AM on December 11, 2009
posted by DrGirlfriend at 10:46 AM on December 11, 2009
In Britain it would probably be Mrs Beeton (full name is Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management). Mind you, that pretty dated now, but it was THE cook book when I grew up in UK in the 1950's.
posted by anadem at 10:47 AM on December 11, 2009
posted by anadem at 10:47 AM on December 11, 2009
The Russian equivalent is Книга о Вкусной и Здоровой Пище (The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food).
posted by nasreddin at 10:49 AM on December 11, 2009
posted by nasreddin at 10:49 AM on December 11, 2009
A few less recent ones for Australia: The CWA Cookery Book, and before that, The Goulburn Cookery Book.
posted by zamboni at 10:52 AM on December 11, 2009
posted by zamboni at 10:52 AM on December 11, 2009
France: I Know How to Cook by Ginette Mathiot, recently reissued.
posted by hydrophonic at 11:08 AM on December 11, 2009
posted by hydrophonic at 11:08 AM on December 11, 2009
I would choose Larousse Gastronomique for French cuisine, or Escoffier's cookbook.
posted by leigh1 at 11:28 AM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by leigh1 at 11:28 AM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
The publisher Phaidon is republishing a series of these - Silver Spoon, 1080 Recipes, I Know How to Cook, etc.
I suspect the Greek title in this de facto series may also be a local classic - Vefa's Kitchen.
posted by zamboni at 11:31 AM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]
I suspect the Greek title in this de facto series may also be a local classic - Vefa's Kitchen.
posted by zamboni at 11:31 AM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]
I'm not sure Larousse Gastronomique fits in with the rest of the suggestions - it's a reference book for professional chefs, right? The other titles are targeted at home cooks.
posted by zamboni at 11:33 AM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by zamboni at 11:33 AM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
In Britain it would probably be Mrs Beeton (full name is Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management). Mind you, that pretty dated now, but it was THE cook book when I grew up in UK in the 1950's.
Remember mum had that, but I think the books she referred to more as a non-foody working class mother trying to feed four kids well on a tight budget were the Four Seasons Cookery Book and the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book in whatever edition was current at the time.
posted by Abiezer at 11:37 AM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
Remember mum had that, but I think the books she referred to more as a non-foody working class mother trying to feed four kids well on a tight budget were the Four Seasons Cookery Book and the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book in whatever edition was current at the time.
posted by Abiezer at 11:37 AM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
Britain - as the other two posts suggest, there is a temporal aspect to this, with the 'standard' changing over time. My standard would be Delia's Complete Cookery Course, as a middle class child of the '80s.
posted by Coobeastie at 12:11 PM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by Coobeastie at 12:11 PM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]
La Technique and La Method by Jacques Pepin
posted by zentrification at 12:22 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by zentrification at 12:22 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
Australia 1968 onwards: Margaret Fulton's Cookbook. So popular she was awarded a OAM.
And what Zamboni said.
posted by Kerasia at 12:25 PM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]
And what Zamboni said.
posted by Kerasia at 12:25 PM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]
In NZ, The Edmond's Cookery Book has been in print for a hundred years and (I believe) is the best-selling book in the country's history. This does not make it good: as H2G2 says, there is a whole section on cooking with Oxo.
posted by Paragon at 12:27 PM on December 11, 2009
posted by Paragon at 12:27 PM on December 11, 2009
The Silver Spoon for Italian food is pretty standard.
posted by jenmess at 1:17 PM on December 11, 2009
posted by jenmess at 1:17 PM on December 11, 2009
Is 1080 Recipes the Tapas standard in addition to being the general Spanish standard? I was just thinking about getting a tapas cookbook.
posted by sully75 at 1:30 PM on December 11, 2009
posted by sully75 at 1:30 PM on December 11, 2009
sully75: Decidedly not. 1080 Recipes is more of a home cook type book - pragmatic, not flashy. Here's a Slate review that sums it up pretty well.
posted by zamboni at 1:39 PM on December 11, 2009
posted by zamboni at 1:39 PM on December 11, 2009
ANother Australian one would be the Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook
In the UK, Delia Smith's How To Cook
posted by girlgenius at 1:45 PM on December 11, 2009
In the UK, Delia Smith's How To Cook
posted by girlgenius at 1:45 PM on December 11, 2009
We joke that people should be given their compulsory Edmonds at the border when they immigrate to NZ. Except that it would be almost pointless since everyone ends up with one anyway. Many of the recipes are excellent, particularly the baking section, although yeah it is pretty standard homely fare.
There are a couple of variations of Alison Holst's cookbook too, again standard home cooking and pretty widely spread. She's possibly New Zealand's equivalent of Delia Smith or Margaret Fulton.
posted by shelleycat at 2:02 PM on December 11, 2009
There are a couple of variations of Alison Holst's cookbook too, again standard home cooking and pretty widely spread. She's possibly New Zealand's equivalent of Delia Smith or Margaret Fulton.
posted by shelleycat at 2:02 PM on December 11, 2009
My thought for Britain was also Delia (pretty much anything by her).
posted by idb at 2:29 PM on December 11, 2009
posted by idb at 2:29 PM on December 11, 2009
For Sweden it would be Vår Kokbok, our cookbook, that the "co-op" has published since 1953. There's a video on the page.
Probably if you asked though, most people would say Rutiga Kokboken, the chequered cookbook, also published by a major grocery chain. It's only been around since 1980, but it's a classic still.
posted by Iteki at 2:51 PM on December 11, 2009
Probably if you asked though, most people would say Rutiga Kokboken, the chequered cookbook, also published by a major grocery chain. It's only been around since 1980, but it's a classic still.
posted by Iteki at 2:51 PM on December 11, 2009
1080 recipes always makes me laugh, because here in New Zealand 1080 is the vernacular way of referring to a very nasty poison used to eradicate possums and rats.
Which may explain why the Silver Spoon was a big success in translation here, but I mostly see 1080 Recipes in the remainder bin.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:32 PM on December 11, 2009
Which may explain why the Silver Spoon was a big success in translation here, but I mostly see 1080 Recipes in the remainder bin.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:32 PM on December 11, 2009
Szakácskönyv (verbatim: "Cookbook") is pretty much the Hungarian analog.
posted by tigrrrlily at 7:01 PM on December 11, 2009
posted by tigrrrlily at 7:01 PM on December 11, 2009
For Bavaria, it would definitely be the Bayerisches Kochbuch, which is by now in it's 56th edition. Apart from a huge amount of "proper" recipes (many of which are very much out of fashion), it contains explanations for the most simple kitchen tasks (cooking potatoes, eggs or rice)...which makes it the perfect gift from mothers to their kids when they're moving out.
posted by The Toad at 10:23 PM on December 11, 2009
posted by The Toad at 10:23 PM on December 11, 2009
Poland's equivalent would be Kuchnia Polska (literally "Polish Cuisine"). About 600 pages thick, printed on paper so thin you could almost see through it.
posted by jedrek at 11:09 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by jedrek at 11:09 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: These answers are great and range widely over the world. Clearly, we're all in the right place (on the same page?) for this! Many thanks!
posted by cgc373 at 12:00 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by cgc373 at 12:00 AM on December 12, 2009
Australia: I've never heard of Margaret Fulton, but my mother's main cookbooks were the CWA and Women's Weekly, and my sister and her friends see Stephanie as the base to a good kitchen bookshelf. I have the extra copy of Stephanie that she was given at her wedding.
posted by jacalata at 1:28 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by jacalata at 1:28 AM on December 12, 2009
Margaret Fulton is a living Australian food legend, but the Women's Weekly cookbooks are the ones my mum referred to most. I have a couple of the huge compendium editions they're issuing now (quite worth-while!), but I'm afraid I don't rate the Stephenie Alexander -- might just be lack of time spent with the book, but the few times I've tried to use it I've found it nigh on impossible to actually _find_ anything I wanted to cook.
posted by coriolisdave at 1:54 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by coriolisdave at 1:54 AM on December 12, 2009
For Slovenia: Slovenska kuharica sestre Felicite Kalinšek.
posted by gakiko at 3:47 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by gakiko at 3:47 AM on December 12, 2009
For middle-class Ireland in the 90s, Simply Delicious was ubiquitous (and lots of the aforementioned Delia Smith and Good Housekeeping too). I think the Ballymaloe Cooking School Cookbook might be the present one, same author, great recipes.
posted by carbide at 10:04 AM on December 12, 2009
posted by carbide at 10:04 AM on December 12, 2009
For Germany I suggest German Cooking Today, the English translation of Schulkochbuch: Das Original. The first edition was published in 1911, and it's been updated regularly. The latest German edition was published in 2008.
posted by amf at 12:32 PM on December 12, 2009
posted by amf at 12:32 PM on December 12, 2009
I will wholeheartedly second Cocina Criolla as THE standard Puerto Rican cookbook. I don't believe I have ever seen a house without it, and the moment I knew I was going to be living in the US for long enough, I bought my own copy.
posted by lizarrd at 1:21 PM on December 12, 2009
posted by lizarrd at 1:21 PM on December 12, 2009
For India: Mridula Baljekar's Complete Indian Cookbook. Out of print and unattractively photographed but with a comprehensive selection of excellent authentic Indian recipes.
Not to be confused with other Complete Indian Cookbooks.
posted by Dr.Pill at 5:59 AM on December 13, 2009
Not to be confused with other Complete Indian Cookbooks.
posted by Dr.Pill at 5:59 AM on December 13, 2009
For Spanish food I turn to Penelope Casas's The Foods and Wines of Spain. It is comprehensive and it tastes "real" to my Spanish husband.
posted by daneflute at 6:59 PM on December 13, 2009
posted by daneflute at 6:59 PM on December 13, 2009
The publisher Phaidon is republishing a series of these - Silver Spoon, 1080 Recipes, I Know How to Cook, etc.
They are also translating them, often for the first time.
posted by smackfu at 7:02 AM on December 17, 2009
They are also translating them, often for the first time.
posted by smackfu at 7:02 AM on December 17, 2009
For Dutch cooking: The Wannee. Has been in print for 100 years.
posted by monospace at 10:23 AM on December 17, 2009
posted by monospace at 10:23 AM on December 17, 2009
Best answer: Further adventures in grep anthologizing.
Australia
The Cook's Companion, Stephanie Alexander zamboni, jacalata
The CWA Cookery Book, CWAA zamboni, jacalata
The Goulburn Cookery Book, zamboni
Margaret Fulton's Cookbook, Kerasia, coriolisdave
Women's Weekly Cookbook, girlgenius, jacalata
Belgium
-Flemish Belgium: Ons Kookboek, eendje
Canada
Purity Cookbook, ODiV
France
I Know How to Cook, needled, hydrophonic
Germany
German Cooking Today / Schulkochbuch: Das Original, amf
Vefa's Kitchen, zamboni
Holland
The Wannee, monospace
Hungary
Szakácskönyv, tigrrrlily
India
The Silver Spoon, jenmess, Perplexity
New Zealand
The Edmond's Cookery Book, Paragon, shelleycat
Poland
Kuchnia Polska, jedrek
Puerto Rico
Cocina Criolla, DrGirlfriend, lizarrd
Russia
Книга о Вкусной и Здоровой Пище, nasreddin
Slovenia
Slovenska kuharica sestre Felicite Kalinšek, gakiko
Spain
1080 Recipes, zamboni, needled
Sweden
Rutiga Kokboken, Iteki
Vår Kokbok, Iteki
UK
Delia's Complete Cookery Course, Delia's How To Cook Coobeastie, girlgenius, idb
Four Seasons Cookery Book, Abiezer
Good Housekeeping Cookery Book, Abiezer
Mrs Beeton, anadem, Abiezer
posted by zamboni at 3:15 PM on January 15, 2010 [13 favorites]
Australia
The Cook's Companion, Stephanie Alexander zamboni, jacalata
The CWA Cookery Book, CWAA zamboni, jacalata
The Goulburn Cookery Book, zamboni
Margaret Fulton's Cookbook, Kerasia, coriolisdave
Women's Weekly Cookbook, girlgenius, jacalata
Belgium
-Flemish Belgium: Ons Kookboek, eendje
Canada
Purity Cookbook, ODiV
France
I Know How to Cook, needled, hydrophonic
Germany
German Cooking Today / Schulkochbuch: Das Original, amf
- Bavaria Bayerisches Kochbuch, The Toad
Vefa's Kitchen, zamboni
Holland
The Wannee, monospace
Hungary
Szakácskönyv, tigrrrlily
India
- South India Samaithu Par, peacheater
The Silver Spoon, jenmess, Perplexity
New Zealand
The Edmond's Cookery Book, Paragon, shelleycat
Poland
Kuchnia Polska, jedrek
Puerto Rico
Cocina Criolla, DrGirlfriend, lizarrd
Russia
Книга о Вкусной и Здоровой Пище, nasreddin
Slovenia
Slovenska kuharica sestre Felicite Kalinšek, gakiko
Spain
1080 Recipes, zamboni, needled
Sweden
Rutiga Kokboken, Iteki
Vår Kokbok, Iteki
UK
Delia's Complete Cookery Course, Delia's How To Cook Coobeastie, girlgenius, idb
Four Seasons Cookery Book, Abiezer
Good Housekeeping Cookery Book, Abiezer
Mrs Beeton, anadem, Abiezer
- Ireland Simply Delicious, carbide the Ballymaloe Cooking School Cookbook, carbide
- Scotland The Scots Kitchen, by F. Marian MacNeill., scruss
posted by zamboni at 3:15 PM on January 15, 2010 [13 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Perplexity at 10:30 AM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]