The Gourmet Cookbook
I recently renewed my membership at WNED-AM. I’ve been a member for a couple of years. This, along with United Way, represents the “corporate” giving that I do each year. By saying that, I mean that I can declare these gifts on my taxes. Other charitable offerings, I don’t because I really don’t keep track of things like that.
For renewing my membership, I received The Gourmet Cookbook 
. This is a voluminous tome, at over 1,000 pages and weighing in at over 5 lbs. Many, many good recipes, culled from the pages of Gourmet Magazine, spanning over 60 years. I started paging through it the other day, and spent over an hour reading it before I realized that I was going to be late to meet someone. It will be a worthy addition to my collection of cookbooks. I have about 2 cases of them. Swedish, French, Polish, gourmet, meat, vegetarian, I got alot of them.
The three that I use the most, though, are Family Circle Encyclopedia of Cooking, Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book:, and believe it or not, Campbell’s Great American Cookbook.
The first one I received was the Campbell’s (c) 1984, as a Christmas present from a brother. It is actually a good cookbook, with basic recipes, easy to read, and does not have Campbell’s soup in every recipe. I actually have about 15 pages bookmarked, for different things from banana bread to Salisbury steak, to Green Goddess dressing. Several years later, I bought the New Cook Book, and actually use that one more than the others. It has really good pictures and explanations, but the thing I like the most is that it has nutritional analysis of all the recipes, which is cool, when you are trying to gain/lose weight, or even to plan more balanced meals. The Encyclopedia of Cookery I bought a few years later, as a spur of the moment decision at Waldenbooks. It is about as big as the Gourmet Cookbook, and about as informative.
When I cook, especially if I am cooking something for the first time, I will cross-reference between several books, and even go online to get more information for a recipe. I’ll then choose one out of all the ones that I like, and make that one. Eventually, I will marry several recipes together and not bother with a book, if it’s a dish that I like.
The thing I liked the most about reading the Gourmet Cookbook was the variety of recipes. tabbouleh, tzatziki, Creamed peas and cucumbers with dill, Cuban roast pork loin . . . god, I’m making myself hungry. I also liked the style in which it was written.
The name cioppino may stem from a real Italian word, but legend has it that the term evolved from the expression “chip in”. Created by San Francisco’s Italian and Portuguese fishermen, who chipped in the odds and ends of their daily catch tomadi a communal stew, cioppino has always been exceptionally versatile. . .
It has plenty of sidebars on how to do things using techniques and tools, blocked sections on types of food and ingredients, tips on accompaniments and garnishes, and cook’s notes to vary the recipe. I think it will be a book that I will enjoy using for years to come.
