80s "cookbook" that taught skills, not recipes

October 23, 2022 10:33 AM

Sometime around 1985, when I was just starting to cook, I had the great good fortune of stumbling across a "cookbook" that was more of a narrative guide to cooking skills. I think it was pretty obscure even then, so this is a long shot, but maybe you remember it? Full description within.

It was definitely written by a man, and kind of had the same crunchy vibe as the Moosewood cookbooks, although it was not hand-lettered. He taught you how to cook using your senses--what things sound and smell like as they cook, how to adjust seasonings by taste (Does it need salt? Acid? If acid, which one would go best--lemon juice, vinegar, etc.?). I remember one passage where he was talking about cooking oatmeal and was like "You know how when you were a kid and your mom would call you for breakfast and it would take you another ten minutes before you finally came to the table and your oatmeal would be nice and creamy? It was those ten minutes of sitting after it was done. If you want creamy oatmeal, let it sit."

The format was more of a novel size, not a big cookbook size. There were no photos and I don't think there were any actual recipes. Pretty sure the color was in the beige-tan range. It was not James Beard's Theory and Practice of Good Cooking. I suppose it could have been written in the 70s but I found it in a university bookstore where the cookbook selection was not deep so it was probably a current release.

posted by HotToddy to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

Was it John Thorne’s Simple Cooking (1987)?
posted by janell at 10:38 AM on October 23, 2022

Response by poster: Thanks, I just read his section on porridge in Google Books and that's not it. The narrative style is close but I don't think this book had recipes.
posted by HotToddy at 10:49 AM on October 23, 2022

Response by poster: Also I think we can safely say this book was published no later than 1987, and more likely no later than 1985.
posted by HotToddy at 10:50 AM on October 23, 2022

Was it all vegetarian? Tassajara Cooking by Edward Espe Brown does have recipes, but it also talks a lot about skills; it starts off with a discussion of knife skills and how to sharpen knives, and discusses basic techniques like sauteing, baking, etc. The original version which came out in the 70s is definitely in the brown/tan range and about the size of a trade paperback novel, rather than a large cookbook.
posted by Daily Alice at 12:08 PM on October 23, 2022 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I can't remember if it was all vegetarian but I don't think it was. It wasn't Tassajara Cooking, though--I had that one and remember it well!
posted by HotToddy at 1:19 PM on October 23, 2022

Is it The Essential Cook?
posted by tafetta, darling! at 2:53 PM on October 23, 2022

could it be McGee's On Food & Cooking? First published 1984.
posted by fingersandtoes at 3:23 PM on October 23, 2022 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Wow, I didn't realize McGee was published so early! I thought that came out in the 90s. But no, it's not a tome like that and not at all scientific--it was much more folksy and closer in style and size to Tassajara.

I can't find an excerpt of the Delmar book but I really don't think that's it.
posted by HotToddy at 3:49 PM on October 23, 2022

Best answer: If it could be as late as 1991, it could possibly be James Barber aka the Urban Peasant. Not sure if he made it to the US at all but he did have a very free style of cooking (and a tv show on CBC).
posted by hydrobatidae at 6:56 PM on October 23, 2022

Best answer: Chiming in to say James Barber as well - Fear of Frying did have line drawings and was hand lettered, but was small, orange and included easy instruction for some basic recipes. Some photos here.
posted by lulu68 at 7:27 PM on October 23, 2022

Response by poster: NO! But that was the clue I needed! It's The Fear of COOKING, by Robert Scher! Thanks everyone! Good job us!!!
posted by HotToddy at 8:44 PM on October 23, 2022 [19 favorites]

Response by poster: Oh and it was published in 1984.
posted by HotToddy at 8:49 PM on October 23, 2022

That was my first cookbook as well!!
posted by wittgenstein at 2:21 PM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is available on the Internet Archive, for one hour checkout. (Without further dark arts.)

It's very fun! Like a more down-to-earth An Everlasting Meal.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:13 AM on December 2, 2022

Response by poster: Oh wow, thanks. I bought what seems to be the last surviving copy and it reeks of mold so I can only read it briefly before I have to walk away. This is much nicer!
posted by HotToddy at 8:39 PM on December 2, 2022