http://www.slashfood.com/2011/03/01/...ok-collection/

:-)

Serene
--
http://www.momfoodproject.com

Christine Dabney wrote:
> On Sat, 05 Mar 2011 18:21:38 -0800, Serene Vannoy
> > wrote:
>
>> http://www.slashfood.com/2011/03/01/...ok-collection/
>>
>> :-)
>>
>> Serene
>
> Compared to a lot of folks, I am just a rank amateur. Ginny has a
> ton more than I do (did you see her photos of her collection on FB?)
> and Jean B's collection dwarfs mine as well. I think they each have
> 3-4 times what I do.
>
> Maybe I will give mine to a library when I kick the bucket. Unless
> someone on RFC wants them.
>
> Christine

No, find out a library or libraries that want them.

Jean B.

Serene Vannoy wrote:
> http://www.slashfood.com/2011/03/01/...ok-collection/
>
> :-)
>
> Serene


Not Christine, but OOOOooooooo. I need to pass this on to some
cookbook collector friends. Thanks!

Jean B.

In article >,
Christine Dabney > wrote:

snipped
> After collecting all these years, and collecting to use them to cook,
> not just for collection purposes, I know which authors are good and
> are reliably good cooks. Some of the authors I have (and these are by
> no means all) are Madjur Jaffrey, Julie Sahni, Barbara Kafka, James
> Beard, James Villas, Dorie Greenspan, Paul Bertoli, Alice Waters,
> David Tanis, Rick Bayless, Diana Kennedy, Ina Garten, Richard Olney,
> Madeline Kamman, Damon Lee Fowler, Paul Prudhomme, and a whole host of
> others. Some are names that were big cooking teachers back in the
> 70s...but aren't well known now. I have a lot of vegetarian
> cookbooks...
> I can't begin to list all the books I have, or the authors. Sometimes
> I would see a book, and like a few recipes in it, and get it. I
> might make one or two things from that book, and it may be a not so
> well known author.

As another cookbook collector (>500 books and pamphlets, catalogued on a
FileMaker Pro database), I have a similar philosophy. My collection is
a working library. I have many of Julia Child's, James Beard's, Claudia
Roden's, and Craig Claiborne's cookbooks. With the exception of Alton
Brown, I do not have cookbooks by Food Network stars. My collection is
heavy on baking, vegetarian, and Asian (particularly Vietnamese)
volumes. Since we moved to Seattle 8 years ago, I've amassed several
Pacific NW/seafood books. Periodically I will cull the library of books
that don't meet my needs anymore and donate them to my church's annual
used book sale, which is where I've picked up some real prizes for a
song.

Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

Delete the obvious to email me

"Christine Dabney" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 6 Mar 2011 02:36:23 -0800, "Kent" >
> wrote:
>
>
>>Christine, of all the cookbooks you own, how many are written by people
>>that
>>actually cook seriously and in earnest? And how many do you actually use?
>>I
>>think most write books first and cook second, if they do at all. I know a
>>cookbook author who has his name on 18 cookbooks, all about different
>>cuisines. All have a coauthor.
>
> I use most of them for ideas.
> Among others, I have the whole set of the Foods of the World series
> (got it by subscription as it was being issued), and almost the whole
> series of the Good Cook.
> I have almost all, if not all, of Julia's books, and also Jacques
> Pepin, including his huge volumes, The Art of Cooking. Same with
> Marcella Hazan, and Lidia Bastianich.
>
> After collecting all these years, and collecting to use them to cook,
> not just for collection purposes, I know which authors are good and
> are reliably good cooks. Some of the authors I have (and these are by
> no means all) are Madjur Jaffrey, Julie Sahni, Barbara Kafka, James
> Beard, James Villas, Dorie Greenspan, Paul Bertoli, Alice Waters,
> David Tanis, Rick Bayless, Diana Kennedy, Ina Garten, Richard Olney,
> Madeline Kamman, Damon Lee Fowler, Paul Prudhomme, and a whole host of
> others. Some are names that were big cooking teachers back in the
> 70s...but aren't well known now. I have a lot of vegetarian
> cookbooks...
> I can't begin to list all the books I have, or the authors. Sometimes
> I would see a book, and like a few recipes in it, and get it. I
> might make one or two things from that book, and it may be a not so
> well known author.
> One of the authors I like is Lee Bailey, as he was/is a good southern
> cook, and he taught me a lot about simplicity.
>
>>We have a relatively small collection, about 350 cookbooks. When I want to
>>make something I open "The Joy of Cooking". Next it's Julia Child's "The
>>Way
>>To Cook". Following that is a relatively small number, depending on the
>>dish, probably by 8-10 authors. The remainder of the cookbooks are a
>>curiosity more than a help.
>
> When I want to fix something I start skimming through books. I may
> have a concept in mind, and I go seeing what my various books have to
> say. I don't use them all to cook, but I do get ideas.
> I have been lucky over the years: I seem to have a good idea of what
> is good, and who are good cooks/authors. They may not all be well
> known, and many are traditionalists, but they helped me establish a
> foundation.
> The books in my collection that are more curiosity are those that have
> been given to me, for the most part. I have friends who say"Oh, you
> like to cook and like cookbooks: here's a cookbook I bought for you".
> Well...many of the folks are noncooks or just saw the book at a
> souvenir shop, or some other place, and thought I would like it. On
> rare occasions, they pick a good one, but most of the time, it is not
> one I would pick for myself. However, I accept it, cause the friend
> meant well, and maybe some year, I can get an idea from it.
>
> I cannot begin to remember all the authors I have. In about a week or
> so, I will be back in NM, and can take pictures of the books. Maybe I
> will post what I have... I am picking up a box or two of books from
> my PODS in the bay area at the end of this week, and taking them back
> to NM. Some of the books in those boxes are from Williams Sonoma. I
> find some of their little cookbooks to have really good recipes in
> them. And they have good authors writing for them.
>
> Hope this gives you an idea of how and why I collect. Nowadays, it
> has to be a book that I will use. The last book I bought was the
> book by Eric Ripert: Avec Eric. I have already fixed one thing from
> that, and will probably cook a lot more from it, as his recipes are
> good. I won't buy a book that is mostly a coffee table book now,
> unless it is an author I trust, and it is something I will use on a
> regular basis.
>
> Christine
> --
>
We have cookbooks from almost all of the authors you speak of above. I think
they all fall into the "genuine cook" category I was referring to. I sure
like Julie Sahni. She's the Julia Child of Indian cooking for me. We have
the whole set of the Time-Life Foods of the World series and most all of the
Good Cook series as well and think both are excellent. One doesn't notice,
usually, that Foods of the Word was edited by the great and unfortunately
late Michael Field, and the Good Cook series was edited by Richard Olney,
another excellent author.

Kent

Cindy Fuller wrote:
> In >,
> Christine > wrote:
>
> snipped
>> After collecting all these years, and collecting to use them to cook,
>> not just for collection purposes, I know which authors are good and
>> are reliably good cooks. Some of the authors I have (and these are by
>> no means all) are Madjur Jaffrey, Julie Sahni, Barbara Kafka, James
>> Beard, James Villas, Dorie Greenspan, Paul Bertoli, Alice Waters,
>> David Tanis, Rick Bayless, Diana Kennedy, Ina Garten, Richard Olney,
>> Madeline Kamman, Damon Lee Fowler, Paul Prudhomme, and a whole host of
>> others. Some are names that were big cooking teachers back in the
>> 70s...but aren't well known now. I have a lot of vegetarian
>> cookbooks...
>> I can't begin to list all the books I have, or the authors. Sometimes
>> I would see a book, and like a few recipes in it, and get it. I
>> might make one or two things from that book, and it may be a not so
>> well known author.
>
> As another cookbook collector (>500 books and pamphlets, catalogued on a
> FileMaker Pro database), I have a similar philosophy. My collection is
> a working library. I have many of Julia Child's, James Beard's, Claudia
> Roden's, and Craig Claiborne's cookbooks. With the exception of Alton
> Brown, I do not have cookbooks by Food Network stars. My collection is
> heavy on baking, vegetarian, and Asian (particularly Vietnamese)
> volumes. Since we moved to Seattle 8 years ago, I've amassed several
> Pacific NW/seafood books. Periodically I will cull the library of books
> that don't meet my needs anymore and donate them to my church's annual
> used book sale, which is where I've picked up some real prizes for a
> song.
>
> Cindy
>

I have a lot of Asian cookbooks. I was most surprised to see that
there are several Cambodian cookbooks that I had never heard of.
I looked them up, and they run about $100 each. I suspect that
folks on the West Coast may see more Asian cookbooks than we do

I am curious about your Vietnamese cookbooks. I got one in the
70s and have gotten a few since then. I was going to say that I
have not seen any particularly esoteric books, but last year I did
get a trilingual one published in Vietnam. I also have one in
Vietnamese, which I thought I could somehow translate. Nope.
Maybe I'll do some experiments after I get moved and get my books
organized.

Serene Vannoy wrote:
>
> http://www.slashfood.com/2011/03/01/...ok-collection/

Interesting that they recently acqauired the _Gourmet_
magazine book collection. I suppose now is the last
chance before that franchise disappears completely.

Jean B. > wrote:

> I was most surprised to see that
> there are several Cambodian cookbooks that I had never heard of.
> I looked them up, and they run about $100 each.

Have you ever come across _The Cambodian Cookbook_ by Princess Rasmi
Sobhana (Norodom Sihanouk's sister)?

Victor

In article >, "Jean B." >
wrote:


> I have a lot of Asian cookbooks. I was most surprised to see that
> there are several Cambodian cookbooks that I had never heard of.
> I looked them up, and they run about $100 each. I suspect that
> folks on the West Coast may see more Asian cookbooks than we do
>
Do you have the Elephant Walk Cookbook? I've never made a bum recipe
from it. Its hot and sour catfish soup is to die for.

> I am curious about your Vietnamese cookbooks. I got one in the
> 70s and have gotten a few since then. I was going to say that I
> have not seen any particularly esoteric books, but last year I did
> get a trilingual one published in Vietnam. I also have one in
> Vietnamese, which I thought I could somehow translate. Nope.
> Maybe I'll do some experiments after I get moved and get my books
> organized.

I have The Classic Cuisine of Vietnam by Bach Ngo and Gloria Zimmerman,
which was published in 1979. I also have volumes by Mai Pham, Andrea
Nguyen, and Nicole Routhier. I don't have any written in Vietnamese.
You're more ambitious than I am.

Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

Delete the obvious to email me

Victor Sack wrote:
> Jean B. > wrote:
>
>> I was most surprised to see that
>> there are several Cambodian cookbooks that I had never heard of.
>> I looked them up, and they run about $100 each.
>
> Have you ever come across _The Cambodian Cookbook_ by Princess Rasmi
> Sobhana (Norodom Sihanouk's sister)?
>
> Victor

No. If I had, I would have gotten it. That one looks like it is
even less affordable than the others. Unfortunately, the
unpopularity of these cuisines makes it pretty much impossible to
find such books, and if one is lucky enough to find them, they
would be extremely expensive.

--
Jean B.

Cindy Fuller wrote:
> In article >, "Jean B." >
> wrote:
>
>
>> I have a lot of Asian cookbooks. I was most surprised to see that
>> there are several Cambodian cookbooks that I had never heard of.
>> I looked them up, and they run about $100 each. I suspect that
>> folks on the West Coast may see more Asian cookbooks than we do
>>
> Do you have the Elephant Walk Cookbook? I've never made a bum recipe
> from it. Its hot and sour catfish soup is to die for.
>
>> I am curious about your Vietnamese cookbooks. I got one in the
>> 70s and have gotten a few since then. I was going to say that I
>> have not seen any particularly esoteric books, but last year I did
>> get a trilingual one published in Vietnam. I also have one in
>> Vietnamese, which I thought I could somehow translate. Nope.
>> Maybe I'll do some experiments after I get moved and get my books
>> organized.
>
> I have The Classic Cuisine of Vietnam by Bach Ngo and Gloria Zimmerman,
> which was published in 1979. I also have volumes by Mai Pham, Andrea
> Nguyen, and Nicole Routhier. I don't have any written in Vietnamese.
> You're more ambitious than I am.
>
> Cindy
>

Ambitious? No, more like susceptible to wishful thinking. Last
night I was peering into one of my boxes or unsorted cookbooks and
saw a Vietnamese one that is in French. That is more doable. I
think I tried translating some of my French-language cookbooks
many years ago but had trouble with the names of esoteric spices.
That is probably much easier now because of resources like
Gernot Katzer's spice site.

I have the books you mention. There was an earlier Vietnamese
cookbook that was published in the United States. A spiral-bound
thing. I started collecting Asian cookbooks when I was ca 20
years old (1970). Maybe a bit earlier. Unfortunately some of my
cookbooks are amongst the disappeared. Even more tragic, they
were probably 1st eds, because I was even then prowling the
bookstores for newly released cookbooks.

--
Jean B.