June 2013 cookbook roundup
Every month Susie Chang reviews new cookbook releases and notes trends in the United States. And she may also occasionally throw in a review of a "not-quite cookbook." And for our non-U.S. members, Jane and Fiona…
Susie
Just how long should a recipe be?
For some years I've been an advocate of more explicit recipes - you know, recipes that tell you not just time and temperature ("3-5 minutes over a medium flame"), but what to look, listen, smell, and taste for - the…
Married with cookbooks
A couple of years ago, a book called Just Married and Cooking was published. The couple was cute and camera-ready, though I thought the recipes were nothing special and I didn't keep the book. But it seemed like a…
Sweet without the heat
Before Saturday, I had never once made panna cotta, I'm embarrassed to admit. I'm not sure why, since I basically can't say no to a custard of any kind. Maybe it's because I'm never quite sure the gelatin will set, or…
Is DIY turning into FIY (Forage It Yourself)?
If there's one kind of a cookbook I can't resist (and goodness knows there's more like a dozen kinds I can't resist), it's a book about weeds. Every time I try to put a book about weeds on the Give Away pile, it's like…
May 2013 cookbook roundup
Every month Susie Chang reviews new cookbook releases and notes trends in the United States. And she may also occasionally throw in a review of a "not-quite cookbook." And for our non-U.S. members, Jane and Fiona…
The "good enough" cookbook (or, the "A with B and C" cookbook)
The "good enough" cookbook is a concept that's come to me over my years of reviewing cookbooks. It sounds a little churlish (think of Obama's "likeable enough" comment and the uprorar that caused..), but it's not. In…
Return of the single-subject cookbook
I'm a bit late with this week's post, mostly because I've been up to my ears in the summer cookbook roundup. It was an exciting batch of books, but what struck me especially forcefully this time round was the…
Here come the kids...
With Mother's Day fast receding into the rear-view mirror, I thought it would be interesting to look more closely at a phenomenon which seems to be especially noticeable this year: cookbooks by those whose parents are…
About those menus...
You know those "suggested menus" offered by many cookbooks? Where they tell you what goes with what, from starters to salads to mains to sides to sweets, and what wine you should serve with what? And often they have a…
Cookbooks for Mother's Day!
Less than two weeks till Mother's Day, and we're entering the "spring bump" - next to the year-end holidays, it's the second-busiest time of year for cookbook publishing and cookbook sales. (Which is why my developer…
April 2013 Cookbook Roundup
Every month Susie Chang reviews new cookbook releases and notes trends. And she may also occasionally throw in a review of a "not-quite cookbook." We're arranging for similar roundups like Susie's for books published in…