As I was talking to my mother on the phone about the delightful Julie & Julia, she asked what book somebody would choose now if they were going to attempt a Julie-Powell-esque cookbooking project. It's a difficult question. Mark Bittman is out, even though he is the best cookbook writer alive today, because his recipes are too simple. Indeed, it is almost antithetical to his minimalist cooking philosophy to treat his recipes as a self-actualization marathon.
Maybe it's my limited imagination, but the best sequel I could come up with was The Best Recipe. It's also big, hard, and encyclopedic. But even so, a "Best Recipe" project would hardly compare to the Julie/Julia Project. The Best Recipe lacks the same personal myth, and the book just isn't designed to teach you to "master" cooking the same way Julia's book is. Am I missing a good one? Or maybe there is no comparison.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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Maybe I'm missing the point (or maybe it's worth a post on my part...) but it would seem now, more than any time else, cookbooks are dead; Smitten Kitchen as well as a plethora of other food blogs (this one included seem to have taken their place). Or even websites; allrecipes.com, or epicurious.com to name two favorites (pre-rated too, with suggestions and comments from people who've tried them!), the former more than the latter.
ReplyDeleteOr, better yet, perhaps a techniques book is better (teaching people to fish one cook at a time). Hence my avid support of things like Ruhlman's Ratio or Pepin's Complete Techniques (which, by the way, makes for an interesting segue from Julia Child, given their relationship in her later years...).
Alinea at Home.
ReplyDeletehow about something like fuscia dunlop's sichuan book? it's not quite the compendium that julia child's cookbook was, but at least it's a coherent exploration of a particular cuisine.
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