Tuesday, December 05, 2006

for the love of cookbooks & a funny coincidence

how many cookbooks do you own? are they just one particular subject or theme? do you have an all-time favourite?

do you know why you collect them? do you actually use them or are they shelf decoration? do you give away the ones you don't use or like?

because of a space "crisis", i was thinking about this the other day and getting very frustrated. i have a lot, and i really do mean A LOT of cookbooks. thing is i wouldn't part with them. and i do use them all [maybe not religiously but i do look at them all here and there].

this small article i just came across, called the art of the cookbook, was an interesting read.

even funnier was this quote from the article [which is the coincidental part from my post title].
Kaledin experienced her own food flashback with the discovery of a Peanuts cookbook from her past. "I had this! I used to make Lucy's Lemon Squares!
why coincidental?? if you haven't been reading my blog, follow my link and you'll understand. and i thought i was the only one who loved lucy and her recipe!

according to this article, expected sales this year will reach 500 MILLION just on cookbooks! then again, when you shell out between 50 to 80 dollars, or even 100 $ plus per book....

i must be a sucker but one book i do covet for its amazing explanations with history and details about absolutely everything is by the innovative & avant garde catalonian ferran adrià of the famous el bulli. the price alone is enough to choke a horse or at least make this month's car payment.

7 comments:

Beenzzz said...

Hey BB,
I think I have about 30-40 cookbooks. They are mostly barbecue and grilling, mediterranean, baking, soup, and Indian cookbooks. So many............
How many do you have??? I need to make a Guyanese meal and take some nice pictures and blog about it, huh?

burekaboy — said...

arrrgh. stupid blogger didn't publish my msg to u!! and now for the second time:

i have um..gulp, probably a few hundred! lol. all sizes. i know others have more than i do!

guyanese meal? do i have to say anything? i'm still waiting. lol. i'm sure others would love to see it, too.

get crackin', beenzzz!

Beenzzz said...

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....what shall I make?

Anonymous said...

Well I buy cookbooks that really call my atention, but I just have 6 right now. Space crisis uh!, I know what is that, I trashed many books not of food but know the feeling. It's true, I just got another book, there it is in my most recent entry at my blog and sure all those questions matter when you are going to buy a book, don't just buy blindly. After all there are many recipes to try them all.

Now imagine what cost more?, to buy many books that are not worth or spend it in a good fine recipe ingredients?, there are books wich value is never achived when it comes to what you really cooked from those books and after all we end up with just that SPACE CRISIS!, ohh the martians are invading!, run!, run for your lives!!. hahaha. Good to write you back BB. Watch out that fallen tree.

Emily DeVoto, Ph.D., said...

I have maybe 50 cookbooks. My favorites are Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone because of its emphasis on laid-back, simple recipes with fresh produce; Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook (an older edition); Joy of Cooking (also older - like, 25 years?); Marcella Hazan's original 2-volume cookbook; and of course Julia Child's Mastering etc.

ByTheBay said...

I own at least 15, but rarely use them. The one I do use frequently is Mama Leah's Jewish Kitchen. I will start using my gluten-free baking books more this winter I think. Otherwise, I use the internet for recipes or make up my own - And use the cookbooks just for inspiration and flavor ideas.

ML said...

I think I have about 30 cookbooks and a really daffy looking binder with little pieces of paper with recipes on them stuffed in there. I seem to use my binder a whole lot more than the cookbooks.