When I add over 20 blogs to a particular blogroll—Food, in case you’re wondering—in a little over a day, I guess I’m telling myself I’m getting a little interested in a topic.
Who knows, maybe the Crazy Devotion to the Altar of Cooking thing may be happening. I’ve started reading cookbooks for the fun of it. Pretty much anything is possible.
You definitely sound like you’ve got the bug, Diane. I was raised by a rabid cookbook collector, lover, and reader. My mom is an amazing cook and loves to do it, and she’s almost completely self-taught. Which is to say, you’re on your way to being a great cook and loving it.
I had the opposite experience you did, my mother had me in the kitchen from the earliest possible age, sitting on stools to mix things, talking to me about everything she was cooking, teaching me what she was doing, and then drafting me into the ranks of sous chef once I was old enough to handle a knife safely. And I love her for it, because I have no fear of cooking.
Keep reading the books, take a class, and keep experimenting. It’s all a big chemistry experiment and you eventually learn what works and what doesn’t.
If you really want to get into the science of cooking, check out Cooks’ Illustrated magazine and their Best Recipe books. The PBS show is good, but not nearly as informative as their writing. They obsess over food chemistry and tweaking preparation and ingredients, but I’ve learned incredible amounts from reading them. If you understand the priciples behind how food chemistry works, it can only make you a better cook.
When I was growing up, I knew a woman who collected cookbooks. I thought it was a little odd (she was obsessed), now I wish I could see her collection!
Nigella Lawson’s writing just makes me laugh. Like grocery shopping, though, reading cookbooks should not be done on an empty stomach. But that’s just common sense…
Well, cookbooks we’ve got, as you can see in the picture on this page: Although I’ll have to take a new picture, because we have even more now! (Mostly the ones I’ve gotten.)
I admit to being underwhelmed by the Best Recipe, because nothing I’ve made from it has been, uh, really great. I know that sounds silly, and I’ll have to give it another try, but of the few things I’ve made none of them made me say, “Oooo, gotta do more in this book.” Whereas Joy and Fannie Farmer and How to Cook Everything all did that for me.
Our friends Fernando and Nancy have a real cookbook collection though. I’ll ask Fernando to take a picture of it for me.