Chicken Marbella

The Kitchn recently took a stab at naming the defining cookbook for each of the last 5 decades, plus the current one. Their  criteria was to choose those  cookbooks - and their signature dishes - that defined a decade and became the go-to source for dinner party menus. Here's their list with our comments and alternate suggestions - feel free to contribute your own:

  • The 70s: The New York Times' International Cookbook by Craig Claiborne. It's easy to remember how very influential Claiborne was, but we're not sure his cookbooks were that important - and even then, the original New York Times Cookbook, although it was from the 60's, was more seminal. Instead, we'd vote for the 1975 edition of The Joy of Cooking - it was the best-selling edition, the one truest to Rombauer's original version,  and a cookbook everybody owned and learned from. And it solidified the rediscovery of an  American way of cooking that included international influences, but got away from the Frenchified aura that defined fine dining at the time.
  • The 80s: The Silver Palate Cookbooks by Sheila Lukins and Julee Russo. We'd have to agree, if for nothing else than the ubiquity of their Chicken Marbella recipe, plus everybody  we knew had a copy of, at least, the first one. A symbol of "gourmet" home cooking that introduced a lot of new flavors to the kitchen.
  • The 90s: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. This was definitely the decade when the crave for eating fresh, locally, and even in a flexitarian style (though it wasn't called that) began. And Madison's book was more popular than anything by Alice Waters - plus more focused on vegetables and fresh produce.
  • The 00s: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judi Rodgers. While she redefined a roast chicken - no mean feat - we're at a loss to think of another world-shaking recipe from that book (and we own it). Instead, we'd argue that this was the decade of the celebrity chef - defined by TV. To that end (though it's cheating by one year since it was published in 1999), we'd nominate The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver as a representation of the genre. Something by Rachael Ray or Emeril Lagasse might also fit, but Oliver reigned strong over the entire decade and represents the move to embracing chefs regardless of which country they call home - just as long as they master social media.

Photo of Chicken Marbella, from The Silver Palate Cookbook