esrosedotblog

JOY TO THE WORLD

We are about to see the new old Joy of Cooking

I won't be buying it. I have the old one and I am sticking with it.

It is well known and admitted by the publisher that the last revision was a travesty.

Slate says that the new one is a near miss.

What Joy is Missing

I have used up a lot of cookbooks in my time. Only Joy (the 1975 revision by the daughter) and The Better Homes New Cookbook looseleaf remain.

I did James Beard American Cookery which is still in print. I enjoyed it but tired with the complexities of it.

And there was Craig Claiborne (tight assed) to say nothing of his protegé whose name I forget who had his recipes on cards—ahhhh—Pierre Franey, the 60 minute gourmet. Some said they were lovers. I hope so.

I had a long run with Franey and I must admit that he helped me learn to cook at a new level of technique and understanding.

I did Julia too but found her a bit too complex and, well, French! Franey did a lot better job in less time.

At one time I even had the La Rouse in my kitchen but rarely used it to look anything up.

There were others but I have never 'collected' cookbooks. I figure that once I have something down that is it.

I do not look around for 'new ideas' either.

We get Sunset magazine which is chock full of 'ideas' and I never, ever am even tempted to try any of them.

Actually, I don't know why we get the magazine at all. I don't travel to its travel places and the gardening stuff is way over my head.

But, I digress.

I want to put in a word for the Better Homes. I have the Tenth Edition.

My mother had this cookbook. My friend Alex put me on it way back (1989) and I got it.

I probably use it as often as the Joy.

It is reliably American. It does not have frills. It has the basics but doesn't turn it into a 'for Idiots' writeup.

The fact is that I do not use the recipe books much. I do everything, even measuring, sort of extemporaneously.

I do need to look up some baked items but I even tweak those recipes.

But still, one cannot fly without an occasional peek at the flight manual.

So,'joy' to you.

See if you can find the original in an old book store. They are almost impossible to find.

No one gives them up. If they do, it is because they are worn out and almost unreadable. Mine, for example, is the second one I have owned.

Alas, there will not be a third.