In your opinion, what is the best cookbook ever written? Have you read More With Less?

Answer 1

May I nominate three, for different reasons, please?

1. The Grammar of Cookery, by Philip Harben - long out of print, but the first book I'm aware of to treat cooking as science/chemistry. So it had chapters with headings like 'Recipes using the Gluten in Flour ...' and explained how gluten works; the recipes themselves (not many) were there as examples. It taught me, for example, that the crust on roast potatoes is a caramel formed by the starch - turning into sugars - and reacting with the fat, which will only happen above a certain temperature, so you can cook them at low temperature for as long as you like but nothing will happen.

2. Good Food on a Budget, by Georgina Horley - does what it says on the tin, uses seasonal foods, absolutely delicious, has a recipe for beef stew with pickled walnuts to die for.

3. There's a New Zealand writer, Alison Holst, who's written a series of recipe books that cost about a dollar each, each on one subject. The one on Sausages is brilliant but they're all good, cheap, practical, delicious.

Answer 2

I used to be the buyer for a cookware store's cookbook section, and I collect cookbooks. I have hundreds of them, but I only use a handful.

The best one by far is the New York Times Cookbook. No pictures, but the most basic for someone who wants to be able to whip up most simple yet high quality international and domestic basics. I grew up around "foodies" from France, and the recipes here are like what they cooked. Plain, simple and high quality without being overdone.

Second choice is the victory garden cookbook. If you want to learn to love vegetables (NOT vegetarian, mind you), this is the book. Every recipe is absolutely delicious.

If you like to cook authentic Mexican food, I recommend Adventures in Mexican Cooking by ortho books, and anything written by Diana Kennedy. My husband is from Jalisco Mexico, and I couldn't live without the recipes in those books.

If you want a big, fancy schmancy picture book that teaches french cooking, you MUST buy Larousse Gastronomique Basic Cooking Course. The cover has completely fallen off of my copy.

Answer 3

Best cookbook without a doubt is "The Fanny Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook." There are many close seconds but that's not the question.
No. Haven't read "More With Less."

Answer 4

The best cook book ever written is the Betty Crocker book (doesn't matter which edition--they've been around practically since the beginning of time, and the one I have (from the late 90s) has equally good recipes as does the one my grandmother has (from the 1960s).

The recipes are easy, they taste great, and they're pretty straightforward. The book itself also has a substitutions list and a special helps index in the back.

Answer 5

The Foods and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas.
I love how she explains everything, why one rice over another etc....

Also an old cookbook, Readers Digest Collection of Recipes

Answer 6

I have a very old Good Housekeeping cookbook that I have used for many years. It has everything I want and some easy recipes.Good home cooking.

Answer 7

My old standby is "The Joy of Cooking." It has instructions and tips for preparing just about anything edible under the sun.

I haven't read "More with Less." Who's the author, and what do you think of the cookbook? :-)

Answer 8

I've had my mother-in-law for dinner but found the meat rather fatty. I don't think the Donner's ever compiled a book but several recipes did appear in Cannibal's Quarterly. You sicko!

Answer 9

I love the trilogy of books by those wacky Canadian gals - Janet and Greta Podleski.
The books are called Looneyspoons, Crazyplates and Eat, Drink and be Merry.
They are lowfat, healthy and ultra delicious with cartoons and trivia mixed in. You should try!

Answer 10

not my favorite, but was suprised at how good those marlboro cookbooks are