Sadly I haven’t cooked from 6 Seasons yet, but do want to, especially when the garden starts producing! I’m in the cool PNW, and we’ve had an unusually wet and chilly spring, and the garden is behind. Our high today will be 62.
Thanks for the reminder about this book, and the linked to recipe. I’ll use your interest to spur me on with this book, and will select some recipes to try @MplsCook.
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I am obsessed with this salad! My husband, who is not a man who craves vegetables, gets random hankerings for this one.
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We’ve really enjoyed this salad: https://www.silkroaddiary.com/raw-couscous-cauliflower-with-almonds-dried-cherries-and-sumac/ My husband didn’t think the cherries quite fit, so we’ve been using cherry tomatoes instead.
I’m currently enjoying “Mrs Beeton’s Cookery Book”. It comes with a bit of a story. So, settle down and I’ll begin.
First published in about 1890, this is from the “Mrs Beeton” brand rather than written by Isabella herself. She died in 1865, a month short of her 30th birthday and some four years after the publication of her famous book “Household Management”. Although not dated, the preface to this edition dates it to the late 1940s or early 1950s but the references to the housewife managing the household servants certainly goes back to an earlier time. In the early 20th century, it would have been the norm for middle class families to employ a live-in servant - the so called “maid of all work”. But this started to died out after the Great War and there was very little domestic service after WW2.
So, there we were, having lunch in a pub in the Cheshire village of Kelsall, about a 40 minute drive from home. We’d been to visit a nearby plant nursery and knew there would be decent food at the Morris Dancer. It’s part of a small national chain of dining pubs which are generally very reliable. There’s a corporate style of furnishing and decoration in all the pubs which I suppose I can describe as “vintage”. A mismatch of old tables and chairs. And old prints and photos on the walls, many of them relating to the area the pub is in. I presume, their procurement involves going to auctions and buying up loads of stuff. Now, as someone who once earned their living as a procurement manager, and someone generally interested in history, this is a job I would love to have had.
So, we’re seated next to a run of open shelves, filled with books. Intended purely as decoration, they probably buy them by the yard/metre. While waiting for the food, I glanced to the shelves and spotted this book. Picked it up and had a flick through. And, at the next opportunity, asked our server if she’d ask the manager if I could buy it. She comes back a few minutes later to say the boss says I can just take it. So I did.
I had no idea if it might be valuable. This has happened once before in the same circumstances when I acquired a novel, fictionalising a guy’s experiences in the Great War. I used to play on a military history forum and, some months later, there was a thread discussing rare books about the war. The site owner mentioned this particular book and I casually mentioned this story. Months went by and I recieved a message from a new contributor asking if I’d consider selling it. He was the grandson of the author. Now, in truth, I was suspicious as another contributor was well known for pranks. So, I quoted a price of £100 and said they’d have to send a cheque. Which, of course, would immediately foil any prank. But, no, the cheque arrived and all was fine. But, as for Mrs Beeton’s Cookery Book, it has little value - just a few pounds on the AbeBooks listings. So, I don’t know if I’ll ever cook from the book - I’m not sure I fancy “veal and ham gateau, cold” but who knows.
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I have this book and feel determined to make this tonight, although I only have the celery and lots of dried fruit and nut substitutes. I am reminded of my mother’s cooking.
Done!
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There was a sale. I caved:
Rambutan
Parsi
Battersby
The big J had a good laugh at the sheepish expression on my face as I unpacked my haul.
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I’m helplessly addicted to cookbooks, though in my defense, I use them.
Latest acquisitions:
Plenty More - Ottolenghi
ATK Menu Cookbook (these guys are my favorite cookbook series)
Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook (this is my first Alice Waters book)
The Food of the Greek Islands (I went to Greece in April and I like to collect cookbooks as souveniers)
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I collect as well, and have all titles except for the ATK one. I love The Foods of the Greek Islands, especially.
Ooh, any favorites from the Greek Island cookbook?
I’ll need to do a quick review and let you know, but I’m thinking I made a dip or two, and was impressed by others that I haven’t made. The author is solid and a favorite. She especially highlights the fact that the islands’ cuisines are based on making do with limited resources, so it does contain a lot of vegetarian dishes if I’m remembering correctly. My husband is a 2nd generation Greek American, so I’ve got quite a few Greek cookbooks, and we both cook and enjoy Greek food often. We spent 3 weeks in Greece too many years ago, and are ready to go back!
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Since I have never encountered a Robuchon or Keller dish I disliked, I am thinking of putting French Laundry and the Complete Robuchon on my list. Anyone have either and thoughts on them?
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I bought TFL cookbook as a keepsake after my meal there: I have never felt the urge to cook from it. Bouchon has more usable recipes, I think (the roast chicken and wild mushroom quiche for starters).
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I flipped through a friend’s copy of The French Laundry and was entirely overwhelmed by the techniques and recipes in general. I had ZERO interest in attempting any of the recipes. I have TK’s Ad Hoc at Home and I am comfortable using those. I also have the Bouchon Bakery baking book. There’s a lot in there that I am still too intimidated to try.
I don’t claim to be any kind of amazing cook or baker but I have successfully made many Bravetart and Momofuku Milk Bar recipes. TFL is just way out of my league.
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I just ordered a (used) copy of Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax.
I came across it while researching a cloud cake recipe which a few people have made recently on the baking thread (via Smitten Kitchen).
Looking forward to receiving it. If you have it, would love to hear your thoughts.
White Heat has a similar vibe. I do, however, like riffing simpler versions of both TK and Marco Pierre recipes. I find their full blown recipes the sort of tedious creations that would be thrilling in a professional kitchen but get tedious as home cooking.
I bought a copy at the thrif store. After looking it over and having it for a couple of years i donated it back. I dont know why maybe because there were no weight measurements.
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I’ve had that book for years. My favourite recipe is for the Indiana orchard crumb pie, though that most often gets made without the crust as a crumble. The angel food cake in there also works perfectly, every time. Oh, and make the ginger hottendots. They’re good and spicy.
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The crumb pie sounds great, as do the hottendots. I favor traditional and heirloom recipes, which is why the book appealed to me.
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Thinking I might like a Maida Heatter book.
Any recommendations for someone who like baking fruity desserts (but not so much chocolatey or heavily frosted desserts)?
Eyeballing in particular Happiness is Baking or Great american Desserts.
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Sort of a one-trick pony, but Pamela Z. Asquith’s Fruit Tart Cookbook is definitely in our three most worn, splotched with food, and full of notes cookbooks.
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