We will always need cookbooks

April 4, 2020·Jenny

More now than ever, the cooking community is coming out in full force. Everyone is live-streaming a dish, recipe and offering their advice on all things cooking. For those of us who know how to make a sourdough starter or transform a can of beans into a feast, it is our time to shine.

Over the years, people have asked me repeatedly: "What do you need with all those cookbooks?" I often respond, "Those cookbooks are escapes to faraway countries, to a world of cultures and cuisines that I may never experience first hand. To me, those cookbooks are a world of possibilities." Sometimes weary of the question, I reply, "I know, but I love them."

Personally, I am trying to remain positive and not criticize others for what brings them joy. For instance, the issue with the narrative that accompanies online recipes. There was another squirmish in Twitter-verse this week when Mindy Kaling posted the following tweet:

https://twitter.com/mindykaling/status/1244330176030355457

To which I still maintain, scroll past it all sister. (Order up: one recipe, hold the narrative). Social media is a wonderful thing especially today when we all feel the desperate need to connect. But social media is also a curse, where the urge to post something negative or critical is often never quashed.

Yasmin Fahr author of Keeping It Simple: Easy Weeknight One-Pot Recipes published a piece for Delicious entitled "Do we still need cookery books?" Yasmin gave us a shout out in the piece where she argues the merits of cookbooks. Her points include that cookbooks offer a sensory experience, are a source of inspiration and are a valuable tool for preserving history and culture of various cuisines. I couldn't agree more.

Cookbooks are keys to our past, guides to the present and provide hope for our future. They help us to understand other cultures and bring this vast world closer. We need each other and should respect our differences as well as our similarities. Don't yuck someone else's yum.

My husband is like Weird Al with song parodies and for some reason, his affliction has passed to me. Sing along with me in the fashion of We Will Rock You:

Honey, you're a cook, make a big mess
Playing at the stove, gonna make a souffle today
You got flour on your face, it's your escape
Kicking your pans all over the place, singin'
We need, we need cookbooks
We need, we need cookbooks.

Honey, cookbooks are all over the place
Piled down the hall, pushed against the wall, ready to fall
You got sauce on your face, it's your escape
Posting pictures of your bread all over the place
We need, we need cookbooks
We need, we need cookbooks

9 comments

GiselleMarieApril 4, 2020

I agree with you that cookbooks are comforting and a very important part of my life. I love leafing through my collection of cookbooks, old and new, and discovering a new dish that I would never have thought to look up on-line. That, to me, is the “problem” with the internet: you have to know what you’re looking for to begin a search. Also, as you say, books provide a historic record in a compact way. My favorite pie crust recipe comes from a hard bound book I inherited from my mother’s aunt (I think it might have been a freebie that came with the purchase of a product) published by General Mills in 1933. I often try new pie crust recipes but they can’t compare. I worry that my three daughters are going to throw out my entire collection when I die, but I guess I won’t care at that point. Still, I use my cookbooks and cooking magazines every single day. I try at least three or four new dishes every week, and I use foil stars to rate each recipe, one star meaning “Terrible” (I think I’ve given a recipe a one-star rating only once); two stars meaning “Edible but not very good;” three stars meaning “Okay. A good, basic recipe;” four stars meaning, “Very good. Make this again;” and five stars meaning “Outstanding. If I were to never try another recipe for the same kind of dish, I’d be happy.”

I wish the EYB database included more of my collection. I have many books and cooking magazines from the 80’s and 90’s and they either aren’t in EYB at all or they haven’t been indexed. Still, I use EYB constantly and I love it for helping me locate recipes I wouldn’t find on my own. Better still, it’s enjoyable to be part of a community of fellow cookbook lovers!

bakerpeabodyApril 4, 2020

I'm a blogger so of course I use online recipes but I will ALWAYS want a cookbook. I go back to them like they are old friends. Because they are.
I love posting recipes on my blog and connecting with others but my cookbook obsession is strong. And honestly it's the only thing that I'm looking forward to right now at home...are the new releases. And of course, my cookbook release too. :)

sir_ken_gApril 4, 2020

I travel quite a bit - not this year - and don't need many souvenirs.
But one thing I do get sometimes is local cookbooks.
Bhutan, New Zealand, Laos, Cambodia, Iceland. Alaska, Cayman Islands. Few get indexed here but they are still fun to look at.
I also get coffee cups. This morning's was from Japan. Also have Burma, Laos, Qatar., Australia, Galapagos, Thailand, and many more - brings nice thoughts at breakfast time.

fairyduffApril 4, 2020

The song is great!
Really enjoyed it.

JaniceKjApril 4, 2020

My first 2 cookbooks were the infamous Betty Crocker Cookbook (1972) and Cocina Criolla, by Carmen Aboy Valdejuli (1972 as well, first published in 1954). For some reason, I have always loved cookbooks. I thought I was alone in this cookbook fever until I joined the EYB family. I don’t post much, it’s been a bit busy, but I still log on weekly, register my books and enjoy the stories. Being retired helps, I have more time for it. And I agree, many cookbooks take you to a different culture, time, place. I have gotten to a point that I can almost “smell and taste” a recipe before deciding to make it. I have gotten to over 140 books, and endless magazines. My husband smiles when I get a new one. He enjoys my happiness. I’ve told him that I may not make all the recipes, but I enjoy every moment of searching and viewing them. I have hope that I can leave behind a library for my granddaughter.

whitewoodsApril 4, 2020

Yes, I enjoyed singing the song. The line, "Posting pictures of your bread all over the place" had me LOL.

GiselleMarie, I guess you probably won't see this comment if you've already read this blog entry, but you do know that you can use My Bookshelf/Import Books as a very quick way to add any titles from your collection that have ISBNs into the EYB database. Right? Most cookbooks in the 80s and 90s had ISBNs. My collection is also mostly from that time period, and I sometimes wish there were more folks on EYB interested in the vintage titles.

JaneApril 5, 2020

GiselleMarie - this is the Help section on adding books using the ISBN numbers. There are links there as well on adding the ISBN numbers using a barcode scanner.
If a book you add is not in the EYB Library then we will try to get the book data from Amazon and it will be added to your Bookshelf and the Library.

SerenaYLeeApril 11, 2020

I have been a collector of cookbooks since I was a college student. I attended UC Berkeley in the 1980s when the burgeoning local food scene was really starting to attract a lot of attention from all across the country. I couldn't help but absorb all that was going on around me, culinary-wise, and being a poor student, cookbooks were a relatively inexpensive introduction to all the exotic cuisines I saw around me. I'm more of a baker and have always baked from my cookbooks, but it wasn't until just last year that I made a concerted effort to cook more savory dishes from my books. As it is for a lot of people, cookbooks provide a way into a culture through its cuisine, all from the comforts of home. I have always been fascinated by how raw materials are used to prepare everyday food all over the world, and cookbooks help satiate my curiosity.
Long live cookbooks!

KarenGladApril 28, 2020

Just had to tell you that I’ve been singing your little song for weeks now lol. What would I be rushing to save in the case of a flood or fire....after my cat and family pictures of course....my favourite cookbooks! And yes I look at recipes online too but how do you trust in a highly recommended recipe when people comment or recommend on a recipe that they have not actually made? I don’t need to know if you think it sounds delicious or if it’s something you’d like to make some day! There’s nothing like curling up with a cup of tea or a glass of wine and a stack of cookbooks both old and new, full of recipes that I can reasonably trust in.