Dave Smith wrote:
>
> John Kane wrote:
>
> > A step above this, in some ways is "The Joy of Cooking" if you are
> > interested in North American cooking (and English language cooking
> > more generally). It is an excellent reference text and guide once you
> > know how to do the basics. In my opinion it is not a beginner's
> > text.
>
> IMO if you only have one cookbook Joy of Cooking is the one to have.

Despite having a large collection of books on food,
only two of them can be considered cookbooks. One of
them is a World War II era U.S. Army manual which
actually is a really excellent book. It has lots
of information beyond basic cooking, like how to build
your own incinerator out of mud and an empty cheese
barrel. Of course, most of the recipes serve 50 or so.

I've never had much interest in cookbooks. However,
my mom has a manila folder of recipes she's collected
since she got married, and I'll have to be sure to get
that when the time comes. It's not that the recipes
are great, it's that a lot of food I had as a kid will
be described in there. I'm sure it will bring back
lots of memories as I go through that folder. I'm
sure I'll make some of them, but I think by the age
of 10 I had eaten enough hot dogs for an entire
lifetime.