I rely on Joy of Cooking and Fannie Farmer for research, although many of the recipes in both books are very good, and I’m making Fannie’s braised veal roast recipe tonight.
I love How to Cook Without a Book, which explains basic recipes then gives you the tools to substitute all kinds of things. It’s very useful for weeknight meals.
Jacques Pepin’s Short-Cut Cook is another really good book for weeknight meals, full of fast, easy and tasty recipes.
Another excellent book for the basics is Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. We’re not vegetarian; we got it to give us ideas for more veggie sides. It’s a fantastic resource about vegetables, and we’ve made some fabulous recipes, both sides and main courses.
On the ethnic side we like Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking and Julie Sahni’s Classic Indian Cooking, Barbara Tropp’s The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking (which has many very difficult recipes, but is chock full of fascinating information), Taste of Thailand, which is just awesome and beautiful to look at, and a wonderful Mexican-American cookbook, Cocina de la Familia.
Oh, yes, and The Silver Palate Cookbook. We make some great things from that.
No, there have been two newer editions released. One in 1997, and a 75th Anniversary Edition in 2006.
It was the 1997 book that was heavily criticized. It was essentially rewritten by a team of professional chefs, and it dropped the first-person voice that was originally used. The 2006 edition reverted back to the original voice, but with updated recipes and ingredients.
for the record, my copy of **Joy of Cooking ** is 1975. I picked up Bittman’s **How to Cook Everything ** today and have been thumbing through it. I like it so far; it reminds me of a more modern Joy.
Yep–this is really a cookbook that lives up to its name. The recipes are anything but bland, and they’ve all been tested well enough that I’ve never encountered a dud.
Joy of Cooking varies wildly between editions. We’ve got two, and we use different recipes from each. Try their lemon bar recipe with a cup of lemon juice if you think they’re bland–those little suckers will turn your mouth inside out. They’re delightful.
I actually don’t much like Cook’s Illustrated. I’ve made maybe half a dozen recipes from their magazine, and nothing every really impressed me that I made.
My favorite all-time basic cookbook is the **Better Homes & Gardens **cookbook, 1967 edition. I don’t like the more recent editions.
I have several other specialty books that have taught me specific disciplines, such as Rodale’s **Putting Food By **for various preserving methods.
Most of my other cookbooks are the small “Ladies Aid Society” type, put out by churches and civic organizations. I like them because they usually contain old family favorites that are impossible to find anywhere else.
Other than that, the internet is the world’s largest cookbook and I use that a lot.
I grab all the 70s editions I come across in used bookstores, to give to friends. All the most important, most basic recipes that make the JoC that I took with me when I moved out on my own the essential tool that it is are missing from more recent editions. Anything post 1980 sucks.
Only worthwhile vegetarian cookbook out there is Madhur Jaffrey’s Vegetarian World of the East. No watered down faux ethnic stuff, no wierd “healthy” substitutions, nothing like “nut loaf with zuchinni”. Just good and serious recipes.
Anyone who gardens is always looking for more recipies in which to hide zucchini.
I second the recommendations for Raichlen’s BBQ books (I forget which one I have). They’re very helpful for technique, and all the sauce recipies I’ve tried have all been great.
I’ll probably pick up “How to Cook Everything” based on all these raves.
Completely agreed. Although I no longer have a Joy of Cooking lying around the house, the recipes are only as bland and boring as your ingredients are. Use good ingredients and the recipes are fine. If I had to pick exactly one cookbook to keep around the house, that would be the one. It teaches you almost everything you need to know about basic American and European cooking, and if you understand the recipes and techniques in there, it’s easy enough to go on your own and improvise. I used to use Joy of Cooking recipes as a basis for my own ideas all the time.
Besides, what other cookbook teaches you how to skin a squirrel?
For Mexican food, I’ve always been quite fond of Zarela Martinez’s Food From My Heart, although Rick Bayless’s titles, especially Mexican Everyday, are quite good.
If anyone is interested in Hungarian food, Culinaria Hungary is by far the most comprehensive and well thought-out book on the cuisine that I’ve seen (and I lived in Budapest for over five years). It explains all the ingredients, techniques, and regional cuisines, as well as having wonderful illustrative photographs. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for anyone wanting to learn how to cook Hungarian.
For the record, I really like the 1997 edition of JOC (The All New Joy of Cooking, I think it’s called) and find it indispensible in my own kitchen. YMMV, of course.
The other cookbooks I find indispensible are Alton Brown’s I’m Just Here for the Food and Moosewood Low Fat Favorites.
There are some areas I find JoC to be great in:
-Baking (not yeast-baking, but quickbreads, cookies, and pies)
-Breakfast foods (hash browns, steel-cut oats)
-Candy
Now that I think about it, that’s just about the only things I use it for. The breakfast foods are mostly things where I don’t know the techniques (e.g., with hash browns, leave the lid on for the first 20 minutes to let the potatoes cook in their own steam). For things like fish recipes, soups, beans, etc., I generally look in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (sorry, even sven, but you’re totally wrong about the only good vegetarian cookbook!) or one of the Moosewood’s many cookbooks.
There’s one more essential cookbook: www.epicurious.com. WHenever I’m looking for something reasonably fancy, I turn there first, and almost always have luck. The recipe ratings are invaluable, as often people include comments about how they improved on the recipe, and I can draw from these tips to make my own modifications.
I think it’s a better introduction and explanation to Hungarian cuisine than the old Gundel cookbook (and I don’t like the new Gundel cookbook much at all), so, yes, I would say it’s better for someone who might not be intimately acquainted with Hungarian cuisine. I have both the old and new Gundel cookbooks lying around, as well as the Culinaria Hungary, and I always find myself picking up the Culinaria book when I need to refresh my memory on a recipe.
The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein. Even even sven might like this one (no weird nut loafs in sight). I used this cookbook exclusively when I stopped eating meat/eggs/dairy, and I still use it regularly now that I’ve added eggs and dairy back into my diet. I really like her recipe for quick rise focaccia, and many of the pasta dishes are excellent.
Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. This does include some odd subsitute-type dishes, but overall its excellent. My favorite dish is the Gemelli with Artichokes and Yellow Pepper Rouille. Yum.
Great Old-Fashioned American Desserts by Beatrice Ojakangas. Fun concept, delicious cookie recipes. My favorite dessert in here is the Apple Grunt, mainly because of the name.
The Settlement Cookbook: The Way to a Man’s Heart is also quite useful for basic recipes. I’ve not looked at the most recent versions, but my old copy (~1930) contains the recipe for Grandma’s fruitcake, and is also where I learned that cukes should be layered with cherry leaves to maintain their crispness during pickling. If you want old-timey recipes, Settlement is the place to go.
O dear what have they done to Joy Of Cooking?!!! It is the bestest ole cookbook ever written. Mine is the 1973 version as well. What is it have they done in the new version? I used to give it as wedding presents all the time.
“Cookwise” by Shirley O. Corriher is incredible: chemist meets obsessive compulsive meets epicure. The result is painstakingly detailed information on all aspects of cooking science with sensible advice on how to implement it. Great recipes, but the narratives are even better.
Another indispensible favorite, if you like any kind of Asian food, is “The Complete Asian Cookbook” by Charmaine Solomon. Although mysteriously unaware of the efficacy of food processors (well, not so mysteriously – the book was written before they became widespread and its recipes have not been revised in the newer edition), Solomon includes exhaustive details on ingredients and techniques. I lived in Asia for 7 years and can attest to the authenticity of her recipes.
Bert Greene’s cookbooks “Greene on Greens” and “The Grains Cookbook” are wonderful if you like vegetables and grains.
None of the above cookbooks are advisable for people who wish to keep their kitchen adventures down to brief tactical strikes. You have to WANT to be cooking.