The Joy of Cooking, revisited
March 5, 2008
Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
Growing up with Betty Crocker, I’ve always had only one cookbook in the house. A couple of months ago, I walked by the 641s and it seemed The Joy of Cooking was calling out my name. I needed a good recipe for crab dip, as I had never made it before and wanted to have it for our Super Bowl party.
I was surprised and delighted to discover that The Joy of Cooking is like an encyclopedia of cooking. Like the World Book Encyclopedia, this book starts with the most basic information and builds from there. It is not spiral-bound for a reason: it literally has every basic recipe you can think of, but it is meant to be a reference book. Or at least, that’s how I look at it. I’m going to buy a copy of this book to keep on hand at home.
So now I have three manuals for cooking: Betty Crocker, The Joy of Cooking, and (most importantly) my mom.
Melissa, IT Librarian and cook
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1.
Carly | March 6, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Great review! May I also suggest The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters as a general purpose, never-fail cookbook?
2.
Linda | March 6, 2008 at 7:52 pm
The Joy of Cooking has been around since 1931, when Irma self-published it for the exorbitant sum of $3000. It became a family enterprise. Try to find either the 1975 or the 2006 75th anniversary edition if you can. These were done by Marion Rombauer Becker, Irma’s daughter, who is generally credited with revising Joy into the classic work we know. After 1975, Marion’s son Ethan took over, and this wonderful cookbook lost its way for a time. Our library owns a biography of the Rombauer women called Stand Facing the Stove, by Anne Mendelson.
3.
Jen | March 19, 2008 at 1:00 pm
My all-purpose never-fail cookbook that got me through my first years of cooking and still pleases me endlessly is my Mark Bittman How To Cook Everything. I have some others by him as well, but I give this one at every bridal shower. It’s a classic. Simple and well-done. Brilliant.