[Sca-cooks] Christmas stuff....

[Elaine Koogler]

On Sun, Dec 27, 2009 at 6:29 PM, <lilinah at earthlink.net> wrote:

>
> I'm curious. The descriptions of the book says it ''represents 14 of the
> great cooks of the last six centuries''. Then they mention Taillevent,
> Scappi, Martino, Robert May, Escoffier, Mrs. Beeton, and Fannie Farmer. I'm
> wondering who the other seven are...


Taillevent, Martino, Scappi,  LaVarenne, May, Menon, Glasse, Leonardi,
Simmons, Careme, Soyer, Beeton, Farmer and Escoffier.  I have copies of
works by Taillevent, Martino, Scappi, LaVarenne, May and Careme.  The ones I
had not encountered previously were Menon, Leornardi, Simmons and Soyer.
The thing I liked was that, for the few recipes the author included, the
originals were included as well, though in translation.

>
> Actually, i don't own any of Julia Child's cookbooks. Heck, i own few
> Western cookbooks at all. My first cookbooks were Indian, Persian, Turkish,
> Greek, Mexican, and Chinese. From there i expanded into Japanese, more
> Middle Eastern (as in Southwest Asia), and Southeast Asian. Then North
> Africa (Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco), Afghanistan, and Central
> Asia. Now Medieval....
>
> Someone sometimes called Urtatim


While I haven't actually read the Julia Child books I received (Vols. 1 & 2
of Mastering the Art of French Cooking), I have looked through them.  I saw
several recipes I definitely want to try right away.  I really like the
layout of the recipes.  They have the ingredients listed beside the steps
where those ingredients would be used rather than at the top of the recipe.
This is probably good and bad...good in that you can see where they get used
and how; bad because you don't have them up front to make sure you have
everything.  I also like the inclusion of information about techniques...and
there is a full chapter on kitchen equipment, with pictures!

I do own several other American or European cookbooks, but the only "popular
compilation" is a McCalls cookbook that I was given many, many years back.
I also have a number of regional cookbooks, my all-time favorite, as I think
I've mentioned here before, is "Virginia Hospitality," a book that was
published by the Junior League of Hampton, VA.  Yes, many of the recipes are
exactly what you'd expect:  recipes created or adapted by housewives or
their cooks.  However, many are traditional Virginia or Southern
recipes...and they work!  It is the only cookbook I own that I would prepare
something from it for a party without testing it out first.  Every single
time I've cooked something from that book, it has been a great success.

Kiri