I just spent $100 on food books.
Posted by Chewy on Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
A hundred bones is almost a weeks worth of groceries for Matt and myself. It’s the bill of a decent restaurant for the two of us. It’s the cost of a good new chef’s knife. It’s the cost (including tip) of a night of drinking and charcuterie plate eating for the two of us at Brooklyn’s Spuyten Duyvil (best bar for beer connoisseurs in New York - it’s not arguable, it’s a fact).
My friend Joe, who will contribute to this blog, is also an avid cook. But he only owns one cookbook, How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman, which his parents gave to him and I don’t think he’s used it yet. He pretty much uses the internet for everything. (He prefers the member based recipes of AllRecipes whereas I prefer the celebrichefs of Food Network and more recently, as I’ve outgrown the Food Network, Epicurious and Cooking Light). But this brings up a good question: Are cookbooks now obsolete? Are they frivilous? Is it just a waste of money since you can find almost anything on the internet? I guess it all comes down to what you are willing to spend your money on - be it cookbooks or weed or a designer handbag or an Insane Clown Posse tattoo. I am a visual person and love looking at the photos in cookbooks. The food chapters of my French textbooks were always my favorite when I was younger and I even went as far as ripping out a food photo from one before returning at the end of seventh grade. I love going through a cookbook and tagging what dishes I would like to make. Hopefully I have chosen good cookbooks that won’t become passé. Like this beauty.
What I bought off of Amazon:
- On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee*
- The Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst* (I wish this was even smaller than it is so I can easily carry it in my bag.)
- The Visual Food Encyclopedia: The Definitive Practical Guide to Food and Cooking by François Fortin and Serge D’Amico* (A very large book with beautiful Illustrator illustrations.
- The New Food Lover’s Tiptionary: More than 6,000 Food and Drink Tips, Secrets, Shortcuts, and Other Things Cookbooks Never Tell You by Sharon Tyler Herbst*
- Eat This Book: Cooking with Global Fresh Flavors by Tyler Florence (Even though he sold out to Applebee’s, I think he is highly underrated as a celebrichef, who seems like a normal, down to earth kinda guy so his personality does not overshadow his cooking.)
- Charlie Palmer’s Casual Cooking by Charlie Palmer (Kitchen 22 is one of my favorite and most frequented restaurants - good food at a good price, making gourmet food reasonable to those who usually can’t afford it, though I have only had a decent dessert there once)
Any food book recommendations you may have for me, I would appreciate.
*Recommended by Alton Brown (from I’m Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0).
What I ate while writing this: Leftovers from a recipe from Tyler’s above mentioned cookbook. African spiced chicken with cous cous (with dried apricots, toasted almonds, cilantro and mint), a green olive tapanade and a lavash.
Categories: 
Discussion: 
I would like to point out that I do, in fact own more than one cookbook, however, as was pointed out, I do not regularly utilize them.
My issue with cookbooks is akin to my issue with art books. In a 1 bedroom Queens apartment (or any NYC apartment for that matter) storage quickly becomes an issue. Thanks to the internet, it’s simple to find an award winning jambalaya recipe that doesn’t feature an extra 120 pages that needs to be stored in a very limited space.
The unfortunate shortcoming of the internet is that anybody can plop a recipe on the internet, and you run into some utter crap. On top of that, you run into lazy housewives saying things like, “well, I substituted that “proshooto” with some hormel deli ham and it was soooo good that my fat children want to eat it every night.” Get out of kitchen - FIRED!
Also, I have a reading request. Any books and / or websites that will allow me to add more science and / or chemistry to my cooking would be greatly appreciated.
Comment written by Brosephus on 12:20 pm on the 6th of March, 2007
I keep telling you, you need floating shelves. You can probably cram twice as much crap into your kitchen with them. One day we will go to Home Depot and I’ll help you install them.
Anyway, I’d rather have cookbooks which I will know I will use again and again (about three or four times a week) then regular novels, which most of time, I will read only once and leave in my bookcase untouched for years.
Comment written by Chewy on 2:25 pm on the 6th of March, 2007
How to Cook Everything is a useful tome, for sure. Some of the recipes I find somewhat less-than, but the majority are just good basic sets of guidelines on which you can build. A great book for a beginner who wants to make a step up. I used to have a bunch of hilarious cookbooks with recipes mailed in by random midwestern housewifes. Cherry Loder of Minot, ND’s soy sauce hamburger pie was a personal favorite for, uh, for one pot-fueled evening.
Comment written by mr_lun on 2:41 pm on the 6th of March, 2007
hey chew, good luck with the bloggage! i’m a lot bigger into cooking. albeit vegan for the most part so i can cook for friends. i’m just trying to bridge the gap and make things that don’t taste like shit.
i made a sweet chocolate waffle recipe over the weekend, nothin to big but i was still proud of myself for making something that worked! i’ll keep tabs on this!
Comment written by :: smo :: on 3:32 pm on the 6th of March, 2007
“how to cook everything” is a new classic. bittman is no bullshit which gives you plenty of room to interpret on your own.
that said, i can’t believe you give props to TYLER FLORENCE!! even when he was a non-celeb his food was passable at 3am at best, the only reason he has any sort of “fame” and therefore “cred” is because he’s good looking. someone else writes those reciepes and clears them by him so he can add that pretty face to them and sign off.
you shoulda bought another jamie oliver. another great one, check out jody adams. redic flavor combinations.
Comment written by stephTM on 8:10 pm on the 6th of March, 2007
Steph,
Tyler went to Johnson and Wales, studied under Charlie Palmer and opened Cafeteria as the executive chef, so it’s not like he’s some Rachael Ray. And what’s this now, only ugly people are credible? Look at Nigella, she’s sexy (despite the teeth and an overly produced cooking show) and can cook well.
Comment written by Chewy on 12:15 am on the 7th of March, 2007
Can I just say that I’m totally excited about this new blog adventure we’re all partaking in!
Comment written by red on 10:29 am on the 7th of March, 2007
fuck you all. i cant eat. im on the damn master cleanse.
but when its over, you better make me some goodies. all of you!!
xo
Comment written by ruthless on 3:31 pm on the 7th of March, 2007
Food tastes better after The Master Cleanse. You are more conscious of it and appreciate it more.
Comment written by Chewy on 4:25 pm on the 7th of March, 2007
i’m not saying only ugly people are talented. i’m just saying being attractive does not make you talented.
i mean, cafeteria? doesn’t take talent to make a $16 slice of meatloaf. in fact, bet joe makes a better meatloaf then tyler (for 1/2 the price.
the fact that his culinary school and one stage with palmer are the only things on his bookjacket bio speak volumes.
he was plucked from obscurity to be the chef at cafeteria by fashionable nightclub owners who don’t eat, who wanted to serve a crowd of models and club goers who didn’t eat either. he was hired because he was attractive, would make good publicity (lizzie grubman repped cafeteria) and didn’t cost too much. as food was not the point of cafeteria, why spend so much on a chef?
he just lucky cause he happens to photograph well. before the food network sent him to media training he didn’t even know how to speak to the camera. i met him at one of his very first food network guest appearances, he blew his lines. and his idea was gross.
i’m sure the cookbook is filled with good recipes, just don’t suffer the illusion he created them.
obviously, tyler hits a nerve…
Comment written by stephTM on 5:41 pm on the 7th of March, 2007
and fyi.. the chef who actually cooks at charlie palmer’s restaurant, dante boccuzzi… quasi-genuis.
Comment written by stephTM on 5:43 pm on the 7th of March, 2007
Mario Batali wasn’t initially great on camera. He stuttered and fumbled and it’s was like watching a five year old performing in a school play. And Emeril still sucks on camera.
Tyler also worked at River Café. Dude’s only 36, btw. So who do you hate more, Tyler or Rocco?
And which Charlie Palmer restaurant are you referring to? Dude’s got like a dozen.
Comment written by Chewy on 6:38 pm on the 7th of March, 2007
i am pretty sure he only had auerole when tyler worked for him.
dante works there now, i’m telling you, brilliant.
hmm, hate more? i know rocco is (was?) super talented, before he sold out for the camera. he knew how to combine flavors like no one else, he was an asshole to his staff and a perfectionist, but truly knew how to cook. union pacific was close to perfection. i don’t respect him now, but now he makes filet mignon on soap operas and latest restaurant touted spaghetti, so can you blame me?
i just think there are a lot more talented, extremely talented chefs out there then tyler and they are just not as saleable. it pisses me off.
remind me to share some stories with you about his winning personality offline. i’ve got at least five that you would probably deam “offensive.”
in the joe and franz way…
Comment written by Stephanie on 11:10 pm on the 7th of March, 2007
Why don’t you just write a piece on celebrichefs, Steph?
Comment written by Chewy on 12:02 am on the 8th of March, 2007