Cookbook Suggestions Needed
January 14, 2018 6:56 PM Subscribe
I have a friend who is getting interested in cooking, which is wonderful. The book that has gotten him interested, however, appears to be filled with super not good recipes. Help me find him a better book? Details inside.
Mitch is 20 years old, and was given a book called "A General's Diary of Treasured Recipes" - here is a sample page, and this is probably one of the more appetizing entries.
I ask him what he likes about this book, and he said "It's different". I think in part it is the stories intermixed with the recipes. I also think it is that the food is unfamiliar to him - it seems to pique his interest.
In general, the food is too heavy (hard-boiled egg and cabbage pierogies in a very thick dough) or oddly seasoned (canned mushrooms rolled in Old Bay and ground clove anyone?).
Can you help me find him an alternative cookbook? Something a little adventurous, with some stories... recipes that are different & interesting.... with a few specific caveats:
Mitch is 20 years old, and was given a book called "A General's Diary of Treasured Recipes" - here is a sample page, and this is probably one of the more appetizing entries.
I ask him what he likes about this book, and he said "It's different". I think in part it is the stories intermixed with the recipes. I also think it is that the food is unfamiliar to him - it seems to pique his interest.
In general, the food is too heavy (hard-boiled egg and cabbage pierogies in a very thick dough) or oddly seasoned (canned mushrooms rolled in Old Bay and ground clove anyone?).
Can you help me find him an alternative cookbook? Something a little adventurous, with some stories... recipes that are different & interesting.... with a few specific caveats:
- He & his family are very conservative evangelicals, so stories & language need to somewhat mild. Nothing racy - little, if any swearing - you get the idea.
- Strong preference for recipes w/out alcohol - it isn't an ingredient they have on hand (this is one issue with the General - he likes to flavor with a variety of booze).
- I'd love something with a variety of cuisines - I think that is something that appeals to him about his current book. We live in small towns, in rural areas, so we don't have a lot of variety of cuisine in our local restaurants.
The More for Less Cookbook is what I recommend.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:02 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:02 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sounds like he might like The New York Cookbook. Molly O'Neill is the author, but she solicited recipes from New Yorkers, and every recipe has a blurb about the person who submitted it. Take a look at Google Books to see what I mean.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:07 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:07 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm partial to The Kinfolk Table. It's a beautiful book, the recipes are solid, the stories interesting and the photography very nice.
My recollection is that the stories are gentle and should fit your friend's nature. From the description:
My recollection is that the stories are gentle and should fit your friend's nature. From the description:
The Kinfolk Table puts the emphasis back on the relationships that surround eating. One-third cookbook, one-third narrative tale and one-third international adventure, The Kinfolk Table is a collection of 85 delectable recipes spread over 368 pages from creative types around the world including Brooklyn, Copenhagen, Canada and the English countryside.posted by michswiss at 7:14 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
John Thorne might appeal to him--the recipes are often embedded in a chapter tracing the history of the recipe, as well as recounting Thorne's experiences in hunting down the history, trial and error, etc. I feel like Serious Pig might have the most diversity in the recipes, but they're all enjoyable reads.
posted by mishafletch at 7:17 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mishafletch at 7:17 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
If he likes “different,” Bryant Terry’s Afro-Vegan might work. It focuses on flavors from Africa, the Caribbean, and the American south. Terry tells stories based on his own memories as well as the history of food and how it relates to culture. He also suggests music and books to go with the recipes.
posted by FencingGal at 7:33 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by FencingGal at 7:33 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 7:47 PM on January 14, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by easy, lucky, free at 7:47 PM on January 14, 2018 [6 favorites]
The new Smitten Kitchen book might do it. Sweet stories intro each recipe. Family oriented photos throughout and the food is yummy.
posted by songs_about_rainbows at 7:49 PM on January 14, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by songs_about_rainbows at 7:49 PM on January 14, 2018 [7 favorites]
Can you write a little more about your friend's personality and background? Because my first thoughts were that "different" here might mean "manly" and possibly "non-liberal." (Which is to say not that my random impressions are accurate, but that more context might help.)
posted by trig at 8:02 PM on January 14, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by trig at 8:02 PM on January 14, 2018 [7 favorites]
How To Cook A Wolf
posted by bq at 8:16 PM on January 14, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by bq at 8:16 PM on January 14, 2018 [5 favorites]
Seconding Smitten Kitchen (although I’d actually recommend the first one instead of the most recent release). Well-written and great, accessible recipes.
posted by Betelgeuse at 8:38 PM on January 14, 2018
posted by Betelgeuse at 8:38 PM on January 14, 2018
Having been brought up by lefty evangelicals who relied on it, I think More with Less might actually be too, uh, "SJW" for the kind of person I'm inferring from your post he might be. Suggestions that our consumption might be related to third-world poverty? That excessive consumption is poor stewardship of God's creation? What liberal tripe! (*)
Honestly, Joy of Cooking might do the trick, especially if you can get an older edition. It's family-oriented, it does have those anecdotes sprinkled in, and, while it doesn't seem especially diverse by modern city standards, it covers a range of dishes that might offer a little variety for someone who hasn't had a lot of exposure to diverse cuisines while not going overboard.
(*) Note: not actual opinion of praemunire.
posted by praemunire at 8:50 PM on January 14, 2018 [4 favorites]
Honestly, Joy of Cooking might do the trick, especially if you can get an older edition. It's family-oriented, it does have those anecdotes sprinkled in, and, while it doesn't seem especially diverse by modern city standards, it covers a range of dishes that might offer a little variety for someone who hasn't had a lot of exposure to diverse cuisines while not going overboard.
(*) Note: not actual opinion of praemunire.
posted by praemunire at 8:50 PM on January 14, 2018 [4 favorites]
I like the Mark Bittman How to Cook Everything mentioned above. Also Smitten Kitchen - much of which is online in blog format if he wants to test-drive.
However, this is such a very individual decision. I suggest going to the library and going through the cookbook section and borrowing 3-5 of the most interesting books to take home and read more thoroughly (through library books I got rather good at making bread and dumplings). Try a few recipes, taking care not to damage the library book. Select a winner (or two). Return all the books and buy copy/ies of the winner/s.
This could also be done at a bookstore but make sure there's enough time to carefully peruse the book. They all (mostly) have sexy pictures of pretty food.
He should take the time to look at the recipes and make sure there are at least 3-5 that he can imagine making - the ingredients are approachable, the techniques are appropriate to his personality (i.e. - I will not spend 6 hours in the kitchen for anything, but painstaking recipes make some people very happy) and needs (a cookbook that centers around cooking for 12 is great if you regularly host large dinner parties, but not so great for a solo cook unless you love converting measurements).
Some people are "stunt cooks" - they have a small assortment of impressive recipes but don't get much into everyday cooking. Some people are strictly utilitarian and care less about whether the food is delicious or pretty on the plate and more about the practical matter of getting an appropriate amount of nutrition in an edible format. Most people fall somewhere between. It's a terrible cookbook that won't offer at least one recipe of use to most cooks, but he'll have a better chance of finding a satisfactory book if he considers his needs.
posted by bunderful at 8:51 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
However, this is such a very individual decision. I suggest going to the library and going through the cookbook section and borrowing 3-5 of the most interesting books to take home and read more thoroughly (through library books I got rather good at making bread and dumplings). Try a few recipes, taking care not to damage the library book. Select a winner (or two). Return all the books and buy copy/ies of the winner/s.
This could also be done at a bookstore but make sure there's enough time to carefully peruse the book. They all (mostly) have sexy pictures of pretty food.
He should take the time to look at the recipes and make sure there are at least 3-5 that he can imagine making - the ingredients are approachable, the techniques are appropriate to his personality (i.e. - I will not spend 6 hours in the kitchen for anything, but painstaking recipes make some people very happy) and needs (a cookbook that centers around cooking for 12 is great if you regularly host large dinner parties, but not so great for a solo cook unless you love converting measurements).
Some people are "stunt cooks" - they have a small assortment of impressive recipes but don't get much into everyday cooking. Some people are strictly utilitarian and care less about whether the food is delicious or pretty on the plate and more about the practical matter of getting an appropriate amount of nutrition in an edible format. Most people fall somewhere between. It's a terrible cookbook that won't offer at least one recipe of use to most cooks, but he'll have a better chance of finding a satisfactory book if he considers his needs.
posted by bunderful at 8:51 PM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
I love the Smitten Kitchen book but sometimes her recipes leave a little to the imagination. That is fine with me since I usually do whatever I want in the kitchen anyway, but I know people who are confused because she tells them to put a "glug" of oil in the pan and they are used to measuring exactly the two tablespoons the recipe calls for.
IMO she relies on "to your taste" more than is useful for a new cook.
That said either I or my partner has made at least one recipe out of that book every single week since we got it!
posted by Emmy Rae at 9:05 PM on January 14, 2018
IMO she relies on "to your taste" more than is useful for a new cook.
That said either I or my partner has made at least one recipe out of that book every single week since we got it!
posted by Emmy Rae at 9:05 PM on January 14, 2018
He might like Michelle Tam's "Nom Nom Paleo" and "Ready or Not." Don't dismiss them just because they're Paleo. They are delightfully interesting, very visual, and produce delicious results.
posted by Joleta at 9:42 PM on January 14, 2018
posted by Joleta at 9:42 PM on January 14, 2018
I love the new Jamie Oliver 5 ingredient cookbook. I've made about 10 recipes from it so far and they were all incredibly easy and came out tasting delicious. I'm an experienced cook but one who's sick of long lists of ingredients to buy for a single dish. This book has put the fun back into cooking again for me. I can think of one or two recipes that use alcohol but the vast majority, like 98%, do not.
posted by hazyjane at 10:31 PM on January 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by hazyjane at 10:31 PM on January 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
Only you can decide if Len Deighton's Action Cookbook or Len Deighton's French Cookery for Men are appropriate for your friend. Probably too much alcohol and innuendo, but definitely different.
posted by mumkin at 11:26 PM on January 14, 2018
posted by mumkin at 11:26 PM on January 14, 2018
Urban Peasant Quick and Simple Cookbook. Almost every recipe is a winner and actually easy.
posted by benzenedream at 12:34 AM on January 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by benzenedream at 12:34 AM on January 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: There's a couple interesting things about your question...it sounds like the appeal of this book is the "narration" element that goes with it. But you also say the food is kinda stodgy. I think that the stodginess is due to the age; it's a book from the early 1900's, and stodgy was kind how they rolled.
So.
How to Cook a Wolf was where I thought first myself; it's definitely got the narrative element. But it was from the 40s and 50s, so there may be a hint of stodginess there as well. But it's wonderful at describing an entire approach to cooking - and MFK Fisher is a lovely writer.
There is a modern writer whose book An Everlasting Meal has been described as the 21st Century version of 'How To Cook A Wolf'. And the food is definitely un-stodgy.
And then there is Laurie Colwin; she was predominantly a writer, but did enough food writing that she was actually able to compile two books of personal-essays-with-recipes. The emphasis here is very much on the essay, though; your friend may not feel there are enough recipes in there. However, the essay "Alone In The Kitchen With An Eggplant" will be worth his while alone.
I would actually vote against Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything. His writing is more instructional than narrative; you'll find plenty of text before the recipes, but in Bittman's case, it's more exhaustively-technical than it is chatty-informal-with-anecdotes. Still a great book, but I don't think it has quite the narrative feel that I think you're looking for.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:16 AM on January 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
So.
How to Cook a Wolf was where I thought first myself; it's definitely got the narrative element. But it was from the 40s and 50s, so there may be a hint of stodginess there as well. But it's wonderful at describing an entire approach to cooking - and MFK Fisher is a lovely writer.
There is a modern writer whose book An Everlasting Meal has been described as the 21st Century version of 'How To Cook A Wolf'. And the food is definitely un-stodgy.
And then there is Laurie Colwin; she was predominantly a writer, but did enough food writing that she was actually able to compile two books of personal-essays-with-recipes. The emphasis here is very much on the essay, though; your friend may not feel there are enough recipes in there. However, the essay "Alone In The Kitchen With An Eggplant" will be worth his while alone.
I would actually vote against Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything. His writing is more instructional than narrative; you'll find plenty of text before the recipes, but in Bittman's case, it's more exhaustively-technical than it is chatty-informal-with-anecdotes. Still a great book, but I don't think it has quite the narrative feel that I think you're looking for.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:16 AM on January 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
Elizabeth David's first book: A Book of Mediterranean Food. It was written as much for the imagination as for the recipes, for dreaming about the fragrant southern Europe in a time when it seemed very far away. If he likes it there are plenty more by her, with Italian Cooking as my favorite. She does sometimes use wine or spirits, but there are plenty recipes without. The latter was one of my first cook books and it is now tattered and full of grease splatter. For me as a young person it was amazing to discover that Italian food could be so different from what I knew from the local restaurants. The first dish I cooked for my whole family was ratatouille from A Book of Mediterranean Food, I was so proud, not least that I had convinced them that vegetables can be delicious.
The young people in my family, from younger cousins to my own children, have been equally fascinated when I gave them the books.
posted by mumimor at 5:45 AM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
The young people in my family, from younger cousins to my own children, have been equally fascinated when I gave them the books.
posted by mumimor at 5:45 AM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I don't know if the recipes will be much better, but Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices may appeal to him.
posted by thelonius at 6:18 AM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 6:18 AM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
An alternative suggestion: would he enjoy a meal kit service where all the ingredients are delivered to you along with big, beautifully printed recipe cards? They all have good intro deals so he could even try all of them, to switch it up and see which one he likes best.
posted by rada at 7:08 AM on January 15, 2018
posted by rada at 7:08 AM on January 15, 2018
My wife and I are really digging the One Pot of the Day cookbook from Williams-Sonoma that I got for Christmas this year.
Cons (for this post anyway):
many recipes we've tried include wine in some fashion
no stories, just a different dish on each page
pros:
Recipes from all sorts of different traditions. curried chicken, leek & codfish gratin, and cottage pie are all jammed in there together.
The dishes are pretty good. my wife is a little picky so we haven't tried everything in there, but it gets us out of cooking the same thing all the time.
recipes are organized by month, so you are using ingredients in season.
I would actually vote against Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything. His writing is more instructional than narrative; you'll find plenty of text before the recipes, but in Bittman's case, it's more exhaustively-technical than it is chatty-informal-with-anecdotes. Still a great book, but I don't think it has quite the narrative feel that I think you're looking for.
I don't know, I actually liked this when I was first getting into cooking for myself. Yes, not stories, but a little more "why" than "how".
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:39 AM on January 15, 2018
Cons (for this post anyway):
many recipes we've tried include wine in some fashion
no stories, just a different dish on each page
pros:
Recipes from all sorts of different traditions. curried chicken, leek & codfish gratin, and cottage pie are all jammed in there together.
The dishes are pretty good. my wife is a little picky so we haven't tried everything in there, but it gets us out of cooking the same thing all the time.
recipes are organized by month, so you are using ingredients in season.
I would actually vote against Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything. His writing is more instructional than narrative; you'll find plenty of text before the recipes, but in Bittman's case, it's more exhaustively-technical than it is chatty-informal-with-anecdotes. Still a great book, but I don't think it has quite the narrative feel that I think you're looking for.
I don't know, I actually liked this when I was first getting into cooking for myself. Yes, not stories, but a little more "why" than "how".
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:39 AM on January 15, 2018
It sounds like your friend might be interested in the history of cooking as well as cooking itself? If so, you might include a copy of The Delectable Past along with any of the actual here-are-recipes-to-cook-type-cookbooks listed above. It does include plenty of workable recipes from history within its narratives -- and a few are quite good! -- but it's mainly a delightful history of cookbooks and cooking styles throughout history and around the world, from Apicius through the tables of the courts of Europe through to the Colonial period and then Temperance cookbooks in the US. (And it was written in the 1960s, so it is something of a historical document itself, and also not particularly racy.)
posted by halation at 8:48 AM on January 15, 2018
posted by halation at 8:48 AM on January 15, 2018
Oh MAN! Look no further then Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. It's illustrated, an easy read, and the recipes are good. Pair that with a giant volume, like a Bon Appetit 1,000 recipes kinda thing and you're basically set for life.
posted by pazazygeek at 9:09 AM on January 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by pazazygeek at 9:09 AM on January 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
I would recommend Sean Brock's Heritage, which is just a beautiful collection of writing and recipes. The recipes are a mix of comfort food and high-end cooking, so there's quite a range for all skill levels. There is some booze sprinkled in.
Another option is Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes by Ronni Lundy. "Winner of the James Beard Foundation Book of the Year Award and Best Book, American Cooking, Victuals is an exploration of the foodways, people, and places of Appalachia."
posted by slipthought at 9:31 AM on January 15, 2018
Another option is Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes by Ronni Lundy. "Winner of the James Beard Foundation Book of the Year Award and Best Book, American Cooking, Victuals is an exploration of the foodways, people, and places of Appalachia."
posted by slipthought at 9:31 AM on January 15, 2018
Laurie Colwin would be a wonderful choice. A kind of cult has developed around her writing, the food writing, especially. "Home Cooking" and "More Home Cooking" are her two food related volumes, and she entitled "More Home Cooking - A writer returns to the kitchen". It's full of essays on food, each one focusing on a different one; black beans, Lemons and limes, butter, roast chicken, etc. Most chapters contain at least one recipe, but she focuses on technique and the sheer wonderfulness of each product. In Black Beans, for example, she discusses canned vs. dry (with surprising support for the occasional can). I love her observation that "A can of black beans will get a hungry person out of trouble".
She died quite young, so there's also a poignancy to her essays about her small family of Latvian husband and daughter.
posted by citygirl at 9:40 AM on January 15, 2018
She died quite young, so there's also a poignancy to her essays about her small family of Latvian husband and daughter.
posted by citygirl at 9:40 AM on January 15, 2018
Best answer: At the same age, coming from a working class background where every meal came out of a can or the freezer, I was inspired to learn to cook by reading Real Fast Food by Nigel Slater. He has a warm, chatty style (but not overwhelmingly so - you don’t have to wade through pages of guff to get to the recipe) and the recipes are straightforward but varied enough to be interesting. And maybe some of the British ingredients might seem exotic?
posted by cardinalandcrow at 11:24 AM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by cardinalandcrow at 11:24 AM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oh, Elizabeth David is a fantastic idea! She was writing a decade after MFK Fisher, but she sort of lead the charge on un-stodgying things. She also has this endearingly cranky style, I think - at least, that's what came across in the one book of hers I own, which is about Christmas cooking. That may actually contribute to the crankiness - throughout the book, it sounds like she is grumbling the whole time about the super-complicated "traditional British Christmas food" everyone expects but no one actually likes, and it sounds like she is just dying for a much simpler approach "but no one listens to me, because nooooooooo you all want the turkey and the ham and the roast beef and Yorkshire-bloody-pudding, dammit". It was all subtext and I loved it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:55 PM on January 15, 2018
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:55 PM on January 15, 2018
I'm surprised that nobody has suggested that you tread carefully. If your friend likes this particular book and for the first time it's getting him interested in cooking, why not let him simply enjoy his book? You may not like it, but reasonable people can disagree about what to like and dislike.
posted by crazy with stars at 1:22 PM on January 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by crazy with stars at 1:22 PM on January 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: Just to reply to a couple of questions - this family feels very strongly about traditional gender roles, so yes, the fact that the current cookbook is “manly” is definitely a factor.
I think it is lovely that we all have different tastes - but unfortunately eating Christmas dinner was an uphill battle with the contributions from this dreadful book. I’m so happy that Mitch is enjoying cooking and my mom loved all the dinner prep assistance. But if I can help him find another book he enjoys with more palatable recipes, I think the whole holiday dinner group will be relieved.
Thanks for all of the fantastic and thoughtful suggestions. I’ll start taking a look at some of them.
posted by hilaryjade at 6:37 PM on January 15, 2018
I think it is lovely that we all have different tastes - but unfortunately eating Christmas dinner was an uphill battle with the contributions from this dreadful book. I’m so happy that Mitch is enjoying cooking and my mom loved all the dinner prep assistance. But if I can help him find another book he enjoys with more palatable recipes, I think the whole holiday dinner group will be relieved.
Thanks for all of the fantastic and thoughtful suggestions. I’ll start taking a look at some of them.
posted by hilaryjade at 6:37 PM on January 15, 2018
Beat This! or Beat That! by Ann Hodgman would be great. Very accessible recipes with pleasantly chatty introductions.
Also seconding the recommendation for any of the Urban Peasant books.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 7:08 PM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also seconding the recommendation for any of the Urban Peasant books.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 7:08 PM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I came to recommend Beat This!, which is excellent, but since that's taken I'll follow up with any of the Pioneer Woman cookbooks by Ree Drummond. Largely an extension of her blog, she's very family oriented and is cooking for actual cowboys. Also, lots of photos and easy for a new cook to follow. Not manly, but she's cooking for a family of some very manly men.
I also wonder if Roast Chicken and Other Stories might fit the bill. Its very chatty, written by a dude, and full of very good hearty food.
posted by anastasiav at 10:51 PM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I also wonder if Roast Chicken and Other Stories might fit the bill. Its very chatty, written by a dude, and full of very good hearty food.
posted by anastasiav at 10:51 PM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
For "manly" cookbooks that come with a lot of interesting background stories & explanations, two favourites spring to mind:
The River Cottage Meat Book (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
Food DIY (Tim Hayward)
River Cottage is all about knowing your different cuts of meat, different meats, what to do with them, how to select them, and a healthy dose of hipster-style respect for animals that have been ethically raised and nose-to-tail eating. Not that it's hipster in any way at all. Just a bit more wholesome locavore.
Food DIY is a bit more about how to make various stuff yourself, from pickling to smoking, terrines and everything in between. The author comes across as an amiable farmer-type food enthusiast without weird foodie pretensions, all dressed up in wellington boots showing off the smoker he made from a 44 gallon drum in his muddy English country backyard.
Both books aren't just about recipes. They're about techniques, philosophies, how to choose ingredients, and quite a lot about getting right back to the very basics of cooking from first principles. Maybe Food DIY is a bit more "hobbyist" in nature (like hey - let's make our own sauerkraut!) while River Cottage is more about family meals. Both very wholesome for a conservative type IMHO.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:40 PM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
The River Cottage Meat Book (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
Food DIY (Tim Hayward)
River Cottage is all about knowing your different cuts of meat, different meats, what to do with them, how to select them, and a healthy dose of hipster-style respect for animals that have been ethically raised and nose-to-tail eating. Not that it's hipster in any way at all. Just a bit more wholesome locavore.
Food DIY is a bit more about how to make various stuff yourself, from pickling to smoking, terrines and everything in between. The author comes across as an amiable farmer-type food enthusiast without weird foodie pretensions, all dressed up in wellington boots showing off the smoker he made from a 44 gallon drum in his muddy English country backyard.
Both books aren't just about recipes. They're about techniques, philosophies, how to choose ingredients, and quite a lot about getting right back to the very basics of cooking from first principles. Maybe Food DIY is a bit more "hobbyist" in nature (like hey - let's make our own sauerkraut!) while River Cottage is more about family meals. Both very wholesome for a conservative type IMHO.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:40 PM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm surprised that nobody has suggested that you tread carefully. If your friend likes this particular book and for the first time it's getting him interested in cooking, why not let him simply enjoy his book? You may not like it, but reasonable people can disagree about what to like and dislike.
posted by crazy with stars at 7:22 AM on January 16
I would actually be a bit offended if I started getting into cooking and someone insisted on buying me 'better' cook books.
posted by daybeforetheday at 12:06 AM on January 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by crazy with stars at 7:22 AM on January 16
I would actually be a bit offended if I started getting into cooking and someone insisted on buying me 'better' cook books.
posted by daybeforetheday at 12:06 AM on January 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
I came back to recommend both Simon Hopkinson and the River Cottage books for more manliness, but they are taken care of.
I would actually be a bit offended if I started getting into cooking and someone insisted on buying me 'better' cook books.
What?? When I was a young aspiring home cook, cook books and cookware were my favorite gifts, long before I moved out into my own home.
BTW, in my group of friends, apart from me it was mostly the boys who cooked, so it eventually became considered a manly thing to do. They would meet up and cook from the great classics like Escoffier, Ali Bab, The Larousse Gastronomique, and The Silver Spoon. Their parents were delighted. Sometimes I'd be allowed in in spite of being a girl. The reason for this was that their mothers and sisters and girlfriends hated the role of the mother in the kitchen, and while the liberal women just didn't cook, the conservatives protested by mainly serving frozen or canned food, maybe mixed with pasta in casseroles, maybe just as meat and three. My friends wanted the food of their grans, set out to make it themselves and then became more ambitious, to everyones delight (including their future wives).
Some even ended up making a living of food, either as chefs, cookbook authors or television personalities.
posted by mumimor at 3:21 AM on January 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would actually be a bit offended if I started getting into cooking and someone insisted on buying me 'better' cook books.
What?? When I was a young aspiring home cook, cook books and cookware were my favorite gifts, long before I moved out into my own home.
BTW, in my group of friends, apart from me it was mostly the boys who cooked, so it eventually became considered a manly thing to do. They would meet up and cook from the great classics like Escoffier, Ali Bab, The Larousse Gastronomique, and The Silver Spoon. Their parents were delighted. Sometimes I'd be allowed in in spite of being a girl. The reason for this was that their mothers and sisters and girlfriends hated the role of the mother in the kitchen, and while the liberal women just didn't cook, the conservatives protested by mainly serving frozen or canned food, maybe mixed with pasta in casseroles, maybe just as meat and three. My friends wanted the food of their grans, set out to make it themselves and then became more ambitious, to everyones delight (including their future wives).
Some even ended up making a living of food, either as chefs, cookbook authors or television personalities.
posted by mumimor at 3:21 AM on January 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
unfortunately eating Christmas dinner was an uphill battle with the contributions from this dreadful book.
Re-recommending Elizabeth David's Christmas in that case. As I understand it, in terms of British food writing she was trying to lead the charge away from Traditional Stodgy Old Fashioned English Cooking and was trying to promote a more Mediterranean-influenced, fresh-ingredients style of cooking. There's enough "old-fashioned" stuff in there to satisfy the traditionalists, but there's also some lightness and unstodgyness because she traveled a lot and was trying to bring the rest of Britain around.
There's also kind of a funny story about trying to throw a Traditional Christmas Dinner somewhere in Egypt with kitchen assistant who really didn't understand when to serve the flaming plum pudding, and kept trying to re-light it and bring it in after every single course - all five of them.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:44 AM on January 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Re-recommending Elizabeth David's Christmas in that case. As I understand it, in terms of British food writing she was trying to lead the charge away from Traditional Stodgy Old Fashioned English Cooking and was trying to promote a more Mediterranean-influenced, fresh-ingredients style of cooking. There's enough "old-fashioned" stuff in there to satisfy the traditionalists, but there's also some lightness and unstodgyness because she traveled a lot and was trying to bring the rest of Britain around.
There's also kind of a funny story about trying to throw a Traditional Christmas Dinner somewhere in Egypt with kitchen assistant who really didn't understand when to serve the flaming plum pudding, and kept trying to re-light it and bring it in after every single course - all five of them.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:44 AM on January 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I collect old cookbooks. If old, chatty cookbooks "for men" appeal to him, Mitch needs a copy of The Stag Cookbook from 1922 (he can read it there on Google Books). It's a compilation of recipes from well-known men of the day. It's been a while since I read it, but browsing through the table of contents again, the recipes are largely American and adopted-by-America classics. The instructions can be variable or vague, but it seems like breezy narrative is part of what's captured your friend's interest, and learning to interpret such directions might be part of what he's enjoying about learning to cook.
I'd suggest assembling him a collection of vintage cookbooks for men - which do tend to this looser, breezy style - and a few reference books. I bet once he reads and cooks from a few and is more adept in the kitchen, he'll be better able to interpret what's likely to be a recipe people he cooks for will enjoy.
Other books by/for men:
Suppers and Midnight Snacks
The Man's Cookbook
Cooking Bold and Fearless
Trader Vic's Kitchen Kibitzer (might be too boozy)
Esquire Magazine Cookbook
Cook Until Done
The Groom Boils and Stews
Just for fun: Manual for Army Cooks, 1916
The above aren't likely to do much on the "variety of cuisines" front, but older books will have a range of ingredients suitable to a place without a lot of international groceries (although he may run into discontinued package size issues and things like that).
Reference:
Larousse Gastronomique
Institut Paul Bocuse Gastronomique
The Flavor Bible
posted by jocelmeow at 12:44 PM on January 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'd suggest assembling him a collection of vintage cookbooks for men - which do tend to this looser, breezy style - and a few reference books. I bet once he reads and cooks from a few and is more adept in the kitchen, he'll be better able to interpret what's likely to be a recipe people he cooks for will enjoy.
Other books by/for men:
Suppers and Midnight Snacks
The Man's Cookbook
Cooking Bold and Fearless
Trader Vic's Kitchen Kibitzer (might be too boozy)
Esquire Magazine Cookbook
Cook Until Done
The Groom Boils and Stews
Just for fun: Manual for Army Cooks, 1916
The above aren't likely to do much on the "variety of cuisines" front, but older books will have a range of ingredients suitable to a place without a lot of international groceries (although he may run into discontinued package size issues and things like that).
Reference:
Larousse Gastronomique
Institut Paul Bocuse Gastronomique
The Flavor Bible
posted by jocelmeow at 12:44 PM on January 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by deezil at 7:00 PM on January 14, 2018 [3 favorites]