James Beard's American Cookery has been called "The Bible of American Cooking by "The King of Gourmets" in Time magazine, and it's safe to say they are correct on this one. James Beard is probably one of the best known authors of cookbooks; in his lifetime he penned over twenty different cookbooks, but none as famous as James Beard's American Cookery.
While I hesitate to call this a cooking Bible myself, it really is a bible for foodies. It contains over 800 pages worth of recipes - there are very few cookbooks this big out there. It contains recipe after recipe for just about any item you could find in your American pantry or freezer. While some of the recipes aren't exactly every day dinner fare - Grilled Pig's Feet, anyone? - there are many recipes in here that are perfect to make it to your menu plan.
One of the best parts about James Beard's American Cookery is that it goes into details about some of the items used in the recipes, as well as tips and tricks for making many of the dishes. While there are no pictures of the dishes included in this book, I'm not sure it's really needed - it would be almost like having pictures in a dictionary. Consider this cook book your textbook for American cooking. Sit down and just read though it; you'll learn a lot! Don't open it looking for just quick and easy semi-homemade fare however; this is the real deal. It's not to say that all the recipes are time consuming and you'll spend all day in the kitchen - but these recipes use real ingredients like spices and meats. Many have under 5-6 ingredients in the recipe, and are easy to follow along with.
If you can have just one cookbook in your collection, tJames Beard's American Cookery would definitely be a worthy choice of that honor.
James Beard's American Cookery is a hardcover cookbook published by Little, Brown and Company. It contains 877 pages, and the suggested retail price is $35.00. (Right now, Amazon has it for just $23.10 as of this posting, and it is available for the Kindle and other e-readers)
I received a copy of the book mentioned above in order to share my opinions.
3 comments:
I've owned this book for many years and am quite fond of it. I've used it many times. Very reliable, and it has interesting historical commentary throughout.
I just checked this out from the library the other day and I'm really looking forward to flipping through. It's close to making my Buy list.
Sounds like a great book! We love to cook and bake around here- but it seems like we're always getting such ambitious recipes ( you know, from the TV foodies). They're great, but, dinner becomes an all day affair sometimes. It would be great to have a go to book with quick ones to break it up!
Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
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