u/Icy_Conference_564

In America, one name will quickly come to mind when Indian food is mentioned, and that is this author. I wanted to highlight her for a couple of reasons. One is to bring her remarkable story into view. If you are only aware of her as a cookbook author, you are missing an equally important part of her life. Secondly, I wanted to highlight her most significant works as she has been prolific and, if you are looking to explore the cuisine, it can be daunting to know a good place to begin.

This author of 30+ cookbooks is generally considered to be the doyen of Indian cookery writers, yet while growing up this hardly appeared to be the career path her life would follow. Born in 1933 in Delhi into a prosperous family, she virtually never set foot in a kitchen before moving to London in 1955 to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art… and even then it was only in reaction to the dismal state of British food and Indian restaurants. In desperation, she asked her mother to send her recipes for the food on which she had grown up and she began to teach herself to follow them.

In 1958, she moved to New York City, continuing to act in theater, primarily in Off-Broadway productions. That same year, she met Ismail Merchant who had just arrived from Bombay to attend New York University. In 1959, she introduced him to James Ivory and she subsequently appeared in a number of their films.

In 1966, an article appeared in The New York Times describing her as "the actress who could cook" which lead to a contract for her first cookbook, An Invitation to Indian Cooking (1973), with Judith Jones at Alfred A. Knopf as her editor. The book was an immediate success and she began teaching classes in Indian cooking at the James A. Beard School of Cooking and in her Manhattan apartment throughout the 1970's. In 1982, she hosted a cooking program for the BBC, Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery, followed by two more series in 1989 and 1995.

For 50 years, Madhur has been publishing cookbooks on every aspect of Indian cuisine. Several of her most notable titles include Madhur Jaffrey's Flavors of India (1995) Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian (1999) and From Curries to Kebabs (2003). Seven of her books have won James Beard Foundation Awards and, in 2004, she was named an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

Throughout this time, she remained active as an actress on both stage and screen though, at the age of 90, she has now retired from that aspect of her career.

Significant publications:

• An Invitation to Indian Cooking (1973)
• Madhur Jaffrey's Flavors of India (1995)
• Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian (1999)
• From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail (2003) [also issued under the title Ultimate Curry Bible]
• At Home with Madhur Jaffrey (2010)

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For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,300+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

Based on her biography, this author would not have been a likely candidate for writing a cookbook. And yet, when circumstances required adaptation, hidden talent emerged. While most of the contents of her books may be outdated today, it is worth remembering that she was striking a tone very much in sync with the times, and that earned her credibility and respect for her cooking and writing skills.

Mildred was born in 1898 in New York into a family of wealth, providing an opportunity for her to travel extensively while growing up, though not to spend any time in a kitchen. In 1926 she married Edwin H. Knopf, brother of the publisher Alfred A. Knopf and, following a sojourn in Italy, they returned to spend a couple of years in Baltimore while Edwin produced plays. In 1928, they moved to Los Angeles where Edwin worked as a producer, screenwriter and director in film and television until retiring in 1961. During these years, Mildred developed her much-admired cooking skills, a necessity in view of the extensive entertaining demanded by their social position.

It was Edwin who encouraged Mildred to compile a collection of her recipes, thus launching her career as a cookbook author. Her first publication was The Perfect Hostess Cook Book (1950) drawing upon her extensive experience entertaining in Hollywood. Her second book in 1959, Cook, My Darling Daughter, was designed as a tutorial for her daughter Wendy with each chapter beginning with a letter to her about cooking, followed by recipes. While many of the dishes are now dated, the book was popular in its day as a mother/daughter gift and remains a nostalgic time capsule.

Mildred wrote two cookbooks for children, Around the World (1966) and Around America (1969), but she is best remembered for her last work, Memoirs of a Cook: Yesterday and Today, published in 1986, five years before she passed away at the age of 93. As a legendary hostess, she was much admired for her cooking skills and the book intersperses recollections of memorable meals with the recipes behind them.

I should also note that Mildred and Edwin co-authored The Food of Italy and How to Prepare It (1964), a cookbook that drew its authenticity from Edwin's extensive travels in the country and retains its relevance today.

Significant publications:

• The Perfect Hostess Cook Book **(**1950)
• Cook, My Darling Daughter (1959)
• The Food of Italy and How to Prepare It (1964)
• Memoirs of a Cook: Yesterday and Today (1986)

==============================

For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

If Marcella Hazan can be considered the Queen of Italian cuisine in America (and I would say she can), then a strong argument can be made that this author can be hailed as the King. A born teacher, he was equally adept at leading culinary tours, researching recipes and writing exceptionally usable cookbooks. Those books, by the way, are just as enjoyable to read as they are to follow in the kitchen.

In 1977, four years after Marcella Hazan's The Classic Italian Cook Book, Giuliano released his first publication, The Fine Art of Italian Cooking. Taken together, these two works were responsible for the popularization of authentic old-school Italian food in America. Born in Florence in 1931 to parents who both worked, he grew up learning to cook for the family with his grandmother and aunts as teachers. Following business studies at the universities of Florence and Rome, he first worked as an Italian instructor for American college students.

By 1972 he had opened his first cooking school in Florence and by the following year had moved to Manhattan and opened another. During his life, he published a dozen cookbooks with a focus on various regions of Italy. As a culinary historian, his books were authoritative presentations based on meticulous research at the service of authenticity. Even so, they were far from being stuffy scholastic tomes in offering clear, relatable instructions and being filled with beautiful photography. Of particular note is Bugialli on Pasta (1988) which is, possibly, the most comprehensive guide on pasta preparation from every region of Italy.

Beyond his cookbooks, Giuliano's greatest gift was teaching. When he wasn't filming his cooking shows on PBS or demonstrating in cooking schools around Italy, he could be found offering classes in the spacious kitchens of his villa outside Florence.

In April of 2019, Giuliano passed away at the age of 88 leaving behind a bibliography that ensures his legacy for generations to come.

Significant publications:

• The Fine Art of Italian Cooking (1977)
• Classic Techniques of Italian Cooking (1982)
• The Foods of Italy (1984)
• Bugialli on Pasta (1988)
• Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Tuscany (1992)
• Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Sicily & Sardinia and the Smaller Islands (1996)
• Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Naples and Campania (2003)

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For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

Few culinary authorities were as respected in America as this author, and it is important to keep her accomplishments from slipping out of the public's memory. After all, the focus of her career was to preserve the traditions of Southern cuisine and provide visibility to them through her publications. I regret never having had the opportunity to meet her as I immediately felt a connection through her writing.

Universally recognized as the "mother of Southern cooking", Edna was born in 1916 into a large family in the small farming settlement of Freetown, VA about 40 miles outside of Washington, DC. At 16, she left home and settled in Washington for several years before moving to New York City in the mid-1940's. Initially, she worked as a seamstress, achieving success copying haute couture designs for members of high society. She also began hosting dinner parties for friends which lead in 1948 to a 5-year run helming the kitchen for the newly-opened Café Nicholson, which was to become a legendary gathering place for noted writers, artists and cultural celebrities.

Over the next 20 years, Edna variously opened (and closed) her own restaurant, ran a catering business, and taught cooking classes while devoting time to liberal political causes. With encouragement from Judith Jones, the legendary editor at Knopf, she collaborated with Evangeline Peterson (a NY socialite who had introduced her to Jones) on her first publication, The Edna Lewis Cookbook, in 1972. Though successful, Judith felt the book was lacking Edna's voice and worked with her on her own to write The Taste of Country Cooking in 1976, the book that brought her wide recognition. (In 1979, Craig Claiborne named it as "the most entertaining regional cookbook in America." )

In 1988, she wrote In Pursuit of Flavor, about the same time she founded the Society for the Revival and Preservation of Southern Food, a precursor to the Southern Foodways Alliance. Her focus was always on ensuring that the classic Southern dishes and the techniques involved in creating them would not be forgotten. Beginning in the 1990's, Edna was the recipient of numerous culinary awards including being named the first James Beard Living Legend, as well as a Grande Dame by Les Dames d'Escoffier.

In 1990, she met Chef Scott Peacock who was employed at the time in the Georgia Governor's Mansion, and the two formed a close working relationship, eventually collaborating on The Gift of Southern Cooking (2003). While Edna retired from cooking in 1995, she continued to work with Chef Peacock who became her caregiver until her death in 2006.

From very humble beginnings, Edna earned herself a well-deserved place among a handful of celebrated professionals at the pinnacle of American culinary history.

Significant publications:

• The Edna Lewis Cookbook (1972)
• The Taste of Country Cooking (1976)
• In Pursuit of Flavor (1988)
• The Gift of Southern Cooking (2003)

============================

For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

While we typically think of James Beard as a solitary character, one of his closest relationships was with a food columnist and cookbook author who lived in California and to whom we can trace the rise of one of the most distinctive American culinary movements. Though not as well remembered today as many of her close friends, her influence on cooking and cookbook design more than qualifies her inclusion amongst the gastronomic stars.

Born in Brooklyn in 1904, Helen was first attracted to a culinary lifestyle when she and a friend opened a catering business in the 1920's, followed by a restaurant with her husband, Stephen Comstock, in New Haven, CT in the early 1930's.

In 1936, she divorced and married Phillip Brown, and the two subsequently moved to Pasadena, CA. In the meantime, she had established a substantial reputation as a food writer and restaurant critic while authoring articles for House & Garden, Sunset and Woman's Day throughout the 1940's. Between 1946 and 1951 she published her first four cookbooks, but it was her classic West Coast Cook Book in 1952 that brought her national acclaim and recognition as the authority on what would eventually become known as "California cuisine".

Her approach was revolutionary for the time, championing the use of local, fresh ingredients regardless of what was imported in the grocery store. Local, even backyard, sourcing brought attention to items such as avocados, cherimoyas, figs, guavas and loquats, and the use of cilantro and garlic for seasoning. She advocated for the use of farm-raised meat and locally caught fish, and used them in recipes that fused traditional American cuisine with immigrant cultural influences.

Her writing style also had a transformative effect on the structure of cookbooks with the incorporation of bibliographic references providing historical context and social significance to her recipes. It was this that first brought her to the attention of James Beard and helped to forge a close relationship that would last until her untimely death in 1964. The two wrote hundreds of letters to each other and visited as often as possible. They collaborated on The Complete Book of Outdoor Cookery (1955), and Beard posthumously dedicated his American Cookery to her in 1972. Their correspondence was eventually published by Beard's editor, John Ferrone, in Love and Kisses and a Halo of Truffles (1994).

Helen published six more cookbooks through the 1950's while heading the cooking department at Sunset magazine and writing articles for Collier's, the Ladies' Home Journal, McCall's and Woman's Home Companion. In 1961, she fell ill during an extended research trip to Europe and was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease that developed into cancer. A final cookbook that was jointly written with her husband, Shrimp and Other Shellfish Recipes (1966), was published two years following her death at their home in Pasadena.

Helen's circle of friends included Julia Child, Craig Clairborne, M.F.K. Fisher, Helen McCully, Chef Albert Stockli and dozens of other culinary notables, but it was her influence on cookbook design and West Coast regional cuisine that cemented her legacy.

Significant publications:

• Chafing Dish Book (1950)
• West Coast Cook Book (1952)
• The Complete Book of Outdoor Cookery (1955) [w/James Beard]
• Breakfasts & Brunches for Every Occasion (1961)
• Love and Kisses and a Halo of Truffles (1994) [Compiled by John Ferrone]

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For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

Although I've lived in Vermont for the past 35 years, I've always identified as a Southerner having grown up in Virginia and enjoyed deep roots in Kentucky.  The cuisine of the South is so broad in scope and reflects such a wide diversity in its influences that it is predisposed towards periodic reinterpretation.  The culture has customarily viewed such ideas as additions rather than replacements.  Thus,  I appreciate the approach in this title, in keeping with that tradition.

There is a revolution taking place in the South but, this time around, it has been warmly embraced by Yankees, Westerners and folks from every other part of the country.  Interestingly, one of the leaders is Canadian, but we're certainly not going to hold that against him.  We're talking, of course, about food and the most exciting culinary innovations taking place in a region known for generations of tradition.

Prior to opening the legendary restaurant Five and Ten in Athens, GA in 2000, Hugh Acheson had already spent major portions of his life living, studying and cooking in the US, predominantly in the Deep South.  His culinary education came about through stages with classically trained chefs at leading restaurants in Ottawa and San Francisco before he and his family settled down in the heart of Dixie.  And that is where he began to work his magic.

Applying classic French techniques to traditional Southern cuisine with seasonal local ingredients was a shock to the system, but one that was immediately appreciated both by natives and foodies across the country.  Sometimes it takes an outsider to open your eyes to the potential of what has always been around you, and that may be Hugh's secret sauce.  His ability to turn time-honored regional specialties on their ear and update your grandmother's old family favorites in unique ways has sparked interest from an entire generation of young, talented up and coming chefs.  Further inspiration has come from other like-minded culinary talents such as Frank Stitt, Scott Peacock, Mashama Bailey, Donald Link, Vivian Howard and Edward Lee - all helping to create the future by reimagining the past.

This one-of-a-kind cookbook is a joy to read, giving everyone a glimpse into the creative mind behind one of the best examples of the new Southern cuisine.  Though filled with sidebars, tangents, historical tidbits, cooking tips, casual observations, interesting quotes and handmade cartoons & illustrations, there is still plenty of room for some serious recipes.  All the fun and games are in service to the food and it is glorious, indeed.

=================================

For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

I am as fascinated by "what was" as I am by "what is" in the culinary landscape. This author has built a career on exploring both aspects, and doing so with an enviable command of the English language. Though well known in Britain, her writing deserves greater visibility in the U.S.

Elisabeth's compelling prose and her knowledge of European culinary history place her in rare company alongside Elisabeth David and Jane Grigson in the British pantheon of food writing. While her publications have not had the same landmark impact on contemporary English cuisine, her scholarly works and personal memoires have proven to be as popular in Great Britain as her international and single-subject cookbooks.

Born in 1942 in London, she lost her father to action in World War II not long afterwards. Her mother remarried a diplomat with posts in Latin America which is where she spent her early years, becoming fluent in Spanish (she already spoke English and French) while gaining plenty of exposure to the region's culinary cultures. Summer holidays were spent in various European locales before attending finishing schools in Paris and Florence. She married in the early 60's, four children quickly followed, and the family moved to a remote area of Andalusia where she began writing a cookery column for the British country lifestyle magazine "The Field". Subsequently, she became, and has remained, a frequent contributor to numerous magazines and newspapers.

In 1984 she published her first book, The Rich Tradition of European Peasant Cookery, which lead to her hosting a 13-part cookery series based on the title for Australian and British television. In 1992, she moved to a farmhouse in Wales where she spent the next 25 years writing prolifically on the food of France, Spain and Latin America, as well as two novels and four memoires-with-recipes. In 2017, she moved back to London where she has been working on reissuing updated editions of some of her earlier works, as well as drafting a fifth memoire.

Elisabeth is currently President of the Oxford Symposium of Food & Cookery. The organization was founded in 1962 by Alan Davidson, Theodore Zeldin, Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson and, in fact, it was Mrs. Grigson who invited her to attend one of the initial gatherings. In 2016, she was the recipient of The Guild of Foodwriters' Lifetime Achievement award. Elisabeth is also an accomplished artist who illustrates many of her works and publishes a Substack,  Elisabeth Luard's CookStory, which she describes as a "cartoon cookbook based on recipes gathered on my travels as a food-writer". In addition, her beautiful watercolor vegetable and fruit prints are available from her personal website shop. I am pleased to own several, and I recommend them highly.

Significant publications:

• The Rich Tradition of European Peasant Cookery (1984)

- Issued in the U.S. as The Old World Kitchen (1987)

• The Barricaded Larder (1988)
• The Flavours of Andalucia (1991)
• Saffron & Sunshine: Tapas, Mezze and Antipasti (2000)
• A Cook's Year in a Welsh Farmhouse (2011)

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For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head

This author was one of my earliest global influences when I began collecting cookbooks. I've had many more since then, but his curiosity paralleled my burgeoning interest in both foreign lands and their foodways just as I was starting to travel.

Born in Burlington, VT, in 1921, Copeland came to writing somewhat late in life but, starting at the age of 60 he published sixteen cookbooks between 1981 and 1999 on a wide variety of global cuisines that were relatively unknown to American kitchens.

Following a degree in agriculture from the University of Vermont and service in World War II, he joined the Foreign Service which provided frequent opportunities to travel the world, after which he opened an import-export business dealing in art works and textiles. During these years, he lived at various times in Mexico, Guatemala, India and South Africa before finally settling in New York.

A lifelong interest in global cuisine, and an endlessly curious nature, led to his first book, The Indonesian Kitchen (1981). This was quickly followed by investigations of cooking in Calcutta, Guatemala, the Himalayas, Malaysia, Korea, Burma and North Africa. His approach involved selecting a location and then spending a few weeks to several months traveling around the region and cooking with people in their homes. After returning to New York, he would find people from that locale and spend considerable time testing recipes with them.

At the time he was publishing, Copeland's books reached an appreciative audience, but were also a source of some contention with food professionals. While acknowledging that his efforts brought valuable recognition to cultures and cuisines lacking prior exposure in the U.S., some questioned the depth of his scholarship, finding it often superficial. By contemporary standards, his books fall short in comparison with the later authoritative works of the Malouf's, Alford & Dugiud or a host of other international authors; but, as he readily noted, he had never trained as an historian or anthropologist (or even a cook, for that matter) - it was his enthusiasm and sharp inquisitive mind that compelled his explorations. In today's globally wired environment, authenticity can be debated and more easily vetted; but in retrospect, his bibliography is a remarkable achievement that amply rewards today's food readers and home cooks.

Of his many works, two in particular deserve a shout out. False Tongues and Sunday Bread (1985) was the first serious exploration of contemporary Mayan cooking for a Western audience, reflecting influences from India, Africa, the Caribbean and Spain. His 1992 Sephardic Cooking, is generally recognized as his masterwork, delving into the 500-year old roots of the present day cuisine of Jewish communities in Greece, Calcutta, Libya, Turkey, the Caucasus and Northern Africa.

Copeland passed away in 1999 at the age of 78. At the time of his death, he was working on a book about foods of the Senegalese coast. As far as I have been able to determine, it was never completed.

Significant publications:

• The Indonesian Kitchen (1981)
• False Tongues and Sunday Bread (1985)
• The Burmese Kitchen (1987)
• Sephardic Cooking (1992)
• The Exotic Kitchens of Peru (1999)

=============================

For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

Despite having collected hundreds of noteworthy volumes on the subject of Southern cooking, there are always those that rise to the top and the following two titles belong in the upper echelon.  I was a big fan of Nathalie's for the last 40 years and these can be considered her master works.

In the 96 years since the publication of Mrs. Dull's Southern Cooking, a number of authors have taken up the mantle of Chief Proselytizer for Southern Cuisine, but few more so than Nathalie Dupree.  Best recognized for launching the New Southern Cooking movement early in her writing career with her similarly-named publication in 1986, she has the bona fides to support that distinction including fourteen additional cookbooks (to date), an advanced certificate from Le Cordon Bleu, nine television cooking series, ten years as Director of Rich's Cooking School in Atlanta and chef for three different restaurants on her résumé.

Her list of accolades include four James Beard Awards, "Grande Dame" of Les Dames d'Escoffier, founder and two-time president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) and a founding member of Southern Foodways.  In addition to her cookbooks, she has frequently written for such publications as the LA Times Syndicate, The Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Food and Wine, Cook's Magazine and Bon Appetit. 

Thus, it should come as no surprise that Nathalie would be the author of these two masterful explorations of one of America's foundational cuisines.  Tradition is at the very heart of Southern cooking and her recipes pay the requisite amount of respect to those customs while introducing modern touches to increase their relevance for contemporary cooks.

As extensive as is the scope of the Southern cooking volume, it is entirely appropriate that a separate publication be devoted to vegetables.  Devotees would argue that American produce reaches its apotheosis in the South, and Nathalie does nothing to dissuade that claim.  The same neighborly personality she honed  over the years hosting hundreds of television shows shines from these pages and beckons you into the kitchen.  My advice?  Don't fight the feelin'.

Sadly, Nathalie passed away January 13, 2025 in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the age of 85.  Hers was a voice that will be sorely missed.

==================================

For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

Today, I'm pleased to spotlight an author I have long admired. She initially came to my attention through her radio program, which led me to her excellent cookbooks. Regardless of the medium, she was always asking and answering the questions I would have as a cooking enthusiast. Regrettably for me and hundreds of thousands of her fans, her retirement has left a melancholy void in our weekly listening schedules.

Lynne, the grandchild of Italian immigrants, was born in 1943 and raised in New Jersey with a deep appreciation for the culinary culture of the country of her ancestors. After initially pursuing an acting career, she changed direction and embraced cooking, teaching Chinese classes out of friend's kitchens before managing and teaching at the Cordon Bleu of New York. In the mid-70's, she moved to Denver where she opened a cooking school called Lynne Kasper's Lid and Ladle in 1978.

In 1997 she created and launched The Splendid Table on Minnesota Public Radio, winning the James Beard Foundation award for "Best National Radio Show on Food" the following year. The program was a huge success and was (and still is) distributed by American Public Media nationwide. Each week, listeners enjoyed travel-related segments that explored cuisine from around the world, interspersed with guest appearances from chefs and food writers, along with call-in questions. One of her first guests was an old friend, Julia Child, who reciprocated some years later when she invited Lynne to join her on two episodes of In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs.

The title of Lynne's program was taken from her 1992 cookbook, The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food, for which she won a James Beard Cookbook of the Year award in 1993. In 1999, she revisited the subject with the equally popular The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens.

During her years on the show, Lynne co-authored two more cookbooks with her producer, Sally Swift, drawing on the most popular tips, recipes and culinary know-how - The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper (2008) and The Splendid Table's How to Eat Weekends (2011). Both are thoroughly engaging, reflecting the curiosity, attitude and originality that listeners had come to love.

In 2017, Lynne retired as host and lives today in Englewood, NJ with her husband, Frank. In 2025, she placed her entire collection of cookbooks, kitchen & serving ware up for auction. (BTW, I was late to the party and did not acquire anything.)

Significant publications:

• The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna (1992)
• The Italian Country Table (1999)
• The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper (2008)
• The Splendid Table's How to Eat Weekends (2011)

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Explore more of my collection at Cookbook Chronicles’ Culinary Archive: https://rickdowning.substack.com/.  My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from  my personal archive of 8,200+ titles.  Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

 - - Rick / Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

While I have over 160 books in my collection devoted to herbs and spices, far too many of them stumble over the same obstacles when it comes to presenting recipes for the average home cook - difficult to source ingredients and complex, time-consuming instructions. They mean well, and the resulting dishes can be amazing, but if the effort is more applicable to a professional chef or a culturally-specific pantry, then the larger interested audience will be cast aside, left staring at the pictures while wondering whether they actually know anyone who would do that.

That is precisely why I am so drawn to this book - Dhruv Baker gets it. His amazingly multi-cultural background combined with professional training has provided him with a deep understanding of how spices interact, and the skillset to construct recipes that take full advantage of them. The magic, though, comes from the thoroughly approachable manner in which they are presented. As you read through the instructions, you'll appreciate that these dishes are not intimidating - the ingredients are readily available and the steps involved are straightforward.

Though it is true that various recipes involve the creation of marinades that benefit from an overnight rest in the refrigerator, there is nothing complicated about them and they are generally quick to prepare offering a simple weeknight dinner option if you've whizzed them up the day before.

One other thing I appreciate is the global approach towards the selections. While the Contents page employs the standard organization by primary ingredient (e.g. meat, chicken, fish, vegetables, etc.), the recipes are drawn from culinary traditions around the world. Spices are universal, and Dhruv is showing you simple techniques for using them for maximum flavor.

I still love my other spice books, but this remains the one I reach for first when I'm looking for inspiration.

===========================

For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

If I didn't need to keep this book close at hand for recipes and cooking inspiration, it would be sitting on a shelf in between my copies of Winnie-the-Pooh and The Giving Tree. It's a powerful reminder of the importance of small actions presented in a quiet, purposeful manner.

There are at least three intentions behind this book - two are explicit while the third slowly soaks its way into your consciousness as you glide through this slim volume from legendary Seattle bookshop owner Peter Miller.

The first is the most obvious - what Peter describes as a manifesto to make lunch. In this case, lunch is a communal meal, an act performed daily by the staff, setting aside time to break from the business routine and share food with each other. At the appointed hour, the "closed for lunch" sign goes on the door, and everyone congregates in the break room. The responsibility is divided amongst them for providing each day's meal. The shop has followed this practice for most of the past 35 years and, occasionally, even a long-time patron joins the gathering. In a perfect case of leading-by-example, Peter cogently describes a process that simply makes sense, and will leave you wondering why not if you don't already.

Secondly, this is a cookbook. The recipes are drawn from those they've served at the shop, while the books chapters organize them in several ways: meals that can be made on the spot with limited facilities, dishes that are made at home and brought in, and seasonal variations on those themes. There is even a section that lays out daily suggestions for a two-week period. The recipes are sophisticated in flavor yet uncomplicated in execution, focusing on seasonally appropriate and readily available ingredients. They dine well at the shop.

While the first two objectives above address the "Practice" from the title, the third leans into the "Art", persuasively making the case for embracing a lifestyle centered on the pleasures of enjoying healthy, fresh food amidst the daily bustle. The benefits are physical, mental and social and, to repurpose an old marketing slogan - it provides the pause that refreshes.

One final note - the beautiful photography is by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton. Frankly, that alone would have pulled me in.

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For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw upon my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

In the world prior to the wine authors and critics that come first to mind today - before Kermit Lynch, Jancis Robinson or Robert Parker - there was Hugh Johnson. Parker may have created the point rating system in the Wine Advocate that has become the industry standard, but Johnson was precociously writing with authority from the time he graduated from Cambridge. All the rest of us could do is read'em and drink.

Born in 1939 in London into a family of privilege and position, Hugh was educated at Rugby School and read English at King's College, Cambridge. A random wine tasting with his roommate in 1959 proved to be an epiphany, and he became a member of the Cambridge University Wine and Food Society. Following graduation in 1961, he began writing wine columns for Vogue and House & Garden and, in 1963, became general secretary of the Wine and Food Society and editor of their publication (succeeding the legendary gastronome André Simon.)

In 1966 at the age of 27, he published his first book, Wine, establishing himself as one of the subject's foremost authorities. Five years later, he authored The World Atlas of Wine (1971), considered the first serious attempt to map the world's wine regions. The book has been translated into 14 languages and sold over 4 million copies. It continues to be updated and is currently on its ninth edition. For the past 48 years, he has published the annual Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book, the world's best-selling wine guide.

In addition to writing about wine, Hugh is an avid gardener and has published books and columns on the subject for many years. In 2004, he was honored with the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite by the French government and, in 2007, was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Today, at the age of 87, he lives in Kensington, West London, and continues to remain active in his field.

Fun Fact: in 1964 he tasted a 1540 Steinwein from the German vineyard Würzburger Stein, thought to be the oldest vintage ever tasted.

Significant publications:

• Wine (1966)
• The World Atlas of Wine (1971)
• Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book **(**1977)
• The Story of Wine (1989)

Note: most of Hugh Johnson's publications have gone through periodic updates and some offer annual releases.

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For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw upon my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

Today's culinary personality was born and raised in France, but spent the great majority of her life in the U.S. Her impact on American culinary history was expressed directly through her teaching and personal interactions, and her cookbooks deserve a wider audience.

Born in 1897, Josephine Araldo's life was dedicated to preserving and spreading the culinary heritage of her birthplace in Brittany. Her expertise and devotion to her craft earned high praise from her mentor, Henri-Paul Pellaprat, founder of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, resulting in her being one of the first women to earn a toque from the school. In addition to teaching thousands of students, much of her life was spent as a private chef in the homes of wealthy patrons.

Josephine's two most notable characteristics were 1) an exquisite sense of taste which enabled her to create unusual yet successful pairings of ingredients and 2) an absolute hatred of waste resulting in recipes that utilize virtually every aspect of an entire vegetable.

Her legacy is captured in three cookbooks – Cooking with Josephine (1977), Sounds from Josephine's Kitchen (1978), and a loving combination biography/cookbook written by her former student and close friend Robert Reynolds, From a Breton Garden, published in 1990, shortly after her passing at the age of 93.

The following quote from Kitchen Arts & Letters bookstore in NYC describes Josephine's life and her importance in culinary history.

>Among the extraordinary array of figures who have appeared in kitchens over the years to feed their clients, win the hearts of their students, and inspire their colleagues, one of the most memorable was a brilliant, eccentric, magnetic woman named Josephine Araldo (1897–1989).

>Born in rural Brittany, she gardened from childhood and learned to use what she grew to make food that “tasted like itself.” Deciding on her vocation while still in her teens, she went to Paris where she studied at the Cordon Bleu with, among others, the great Henri-Paul Pellaprat.

>She worked briefly for luminaries in the French government, but in 1924 she was asked by a wealthy American to come work for his family in San Francisco. That she did, and although she remained in California, she made many return trips to France to seek additional training. In time, she was fully engaged in teaching both amateurs and professionals, and her West Coast reputation and devoted following grew.

>Although formally trained, her kitchen work was far from orthodox. Brilliantly instinctive, she knew when to follow the rules and when to take off and fly. Many fine cooks, ranging from Alice Waters to Marion Cunningham, came to see her and to absorb what they could from both her technique and her keen sense of what worked.

Her cookbooks contain no-nonsense instructions from a master chef based on the classic principles of Cordon Bleu cooking leavened with her own inventive suggestions drawn from a lifetime of culinary experience.

Significant publications:

• Cooking with Josephine (1977)
• Sounds from Josephine's Kitchen (1978)
• From a Breton Garden **(**1990) [written by Robert Reynolds]

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For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw upon my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

Cookbook publishing is a very big world and it can be difficult to see beyond the wealth of titles and authors that we find in bookstores or encounter in the usual places we look, particularly if they are from other countries. In building my collection, I have tried to expand my boundaries and have been rewarded with so many interesting finds. Here is one you may enjoy.

Though not so well known in the United States, Keith was a larger than life British culinary institution. Despite lifelong challenges with business finances and periodic serious health issues, he developed a large fan base for both his engaging and idiosyncratic television personality, and his numerous cookbooks combining recipes with international travel.

Following an "unsuccessful" stint in the British army in the mid-60's, he began to explore opportunities in food preparation. By 1971, he had already acquired three restaurants in Bristol, each of which had financial problems, establishing a pattern that was to be repeated in multiple locations in Britain, France and Thailand in the coming years. However, those initial restaurants led to his first cookbook, Floyd's Food (1981) and a local radio program which, in turn, provided an opening for his first BBC TV series, Floyd on Fish in 1985. The show was a hit and eventually led to fifteen more with tie-ins to individual cookbooks.

There were several reasons for Keith's popularity - his engaging manner, the show's settings in far-flung locales, and the ever-present glass of wine - none of which, by themselves, would have sustained his career had the recipes and food presentation not been first rate. From 1985 to 2001, the series and books took British viewers to France, Ireland, the US, Australia, Spain, Italy, Africa, India, Sweden and other destinations, always taped on location and, usually, with some unexpected twist.

Unfortunately, Keith's personal life was not as successful as his public one. All four of his marriages ended in divorce, no doubt related to his constant travel. He was both a smoker and a heavy drinker, and beginning in 2002 he suffered repeated strokes and collapses resulting in frequent hospitalization. In 2009, at the age of 65, he experienced a heart attack and died at a hospital in Dorset.

While professional chefs may have viewed him as a "gifted amateur", the testimonials offered by the culinary world were a strong indication of his impact on the industry as a whole. As for the public, the continued popularity of his 27 cookbooks and reruns of his programs have insured his legacy.

Significant publications:

• Floyd's Food (1981)
• Floyd on Oz (1992)
• Far Flung Floyd: Keith Floyd's Guide to South-East Asian Food (1993)
• Floyd on Africa (1996)
• Floyd's Fjord Feast (1999)

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For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve more attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw upon my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

This author only ever published two cookbooks and never had a lot of visibility with the American public. However, her importance within the nation's culinary landscape is momentous, and her position amongst U.S. cookbook royalty, is undisputed.

Cecilia was born into a large very wealthy family in Wuxi, Jiangsu, in 1920. Following a move to Peking (Beijing) at the age of four, she was raised in a 52-room converted Ming-era mansion where elaborate formal meals were standard fare. At the age of twenty-two, she escaped the Japanese occupation with one of her sisters by walking for six months to Chongqing where she worked as a Mandarin teacher for the American and Soviet embassies. It was here that she met the man she would marry and settle into a comfortable life in Shanghai.

In 1949, the family fled the Chinese Communist Revolution on the last flight to Tokyo, where they opened a successful restaurant, Forbidden City, to pay the bills. Several years later, she was visiting a sister in San Francisco's Chinatown and, through a convoluted series of circumstances, ended up opening what would become one of the most important restaurants in America.

Initially, The Mandarin was not popular as she faced a number of challenges from a lack of parking and a liquor license to her speaking Mandarin in a Cantonese environment, as well as discrimination from simply being a woman business owner. All of these issues were suddenly overcome, however, when Vic Bergeron (founder of Trader Vic's) and Herb Caen (popular local journalist) became regular customers and brought their celebrity friends. In 1968, Cecilia relocated the restaurant to a 300-seat space in Ghirardelli Square where she continued to preside over a steady stream of VIPs until she sold it in 1991. (She also opened a second location in Beverly Hills in 1975 which was subsequently run by her son, Philip, starting in the 1980's.)

The Mandarin's significance is that it introduced the country to authentic Northern Chinese cuisine (Sichuan, Hunan, Beijing) at a time when the only Chinese food that was available was an Americanized version of Cantonese served in cookie-cutter dining rooms filled with cartoonish décor depicting an unfamiliar culture. Cecilia's approach was to evoke the opulence of the palace environment in which she had grown up, wearing lavish gowns and expensive jewelry. The food was exquisite, showcasing culinary wonders previously unknown to Americans.

Her rapidly growing reputation helped introduce her to a raft of important figures in the nascent American food movement, many of whom became lifelong friends and mentors including Chuck Williams (William Sonoma), George Chen, James Beard, Julia Child, Jeremiah Tower, Alice Waters and Marion Cunningham. In turn, she taught them authentic Chinese cooking and served to influence an entire generation. In 1978, Waters and Cunningham joined Cecilia on a months-long tour of Europe's best restaurants in search of inspiration.

In 1974, she published The Mandarin Way, an autobiography with recipes. In 2007, she wrote a second memoir, The Seventh Daughter: My Culinary Journey from Beijing to San Francisco, that included many more recipes, as well as a number of details that were deliberately omitted in the first so as not to endanger relatives who remained in mainland China.

Cecilia retired from the business in 1990, spending the next 30 years focusing time on her grandchildren and promoting charitable causes. In 2013, she won a James Beard Foundation Award for lifetime achievement, and in 2016 she stared in a 6-episode PBS series, The Kitchen Wisdom of Cecilia Chiang.

She passed away in 2020 in San Francisco at the age of 100. Following in his mother's footsteps, her son Philip was a co-founder of the P.F. Chang's restaurant chain.

Significant publications:

• The Mandarin Way (1974)
• The Seventh Daughter: My Culinary Journey from Beijing to San Francisco (2007)

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Explore more of my collection at Cookbook Chronicles’ Culinary Archive: https://rickdowning.substack.com/.  My window is the past 140 years, and I draw upon my personal archive of 8,200+ titles.  Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

 - - Rick / Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

For those of us of a certain age who survived the tofu and rice cake obsessions of enlightened  flower-children and back-to-the-earth communal kitchens of the 60's (memories of which can cause even the most open-minded of us to cringe at the mention of an organic sprout or a natural carob creation), one of the last things we would want to peruse is a 50-year old hand-lettered vegetarian ode incorporating nuts and seeds into our daily meals. I get it, believe me.

And yet, all is not as it might seem.  Published in 1975 to document the recipes crafted by Mo Willett and her friends at their restaurant, Krishna's Kitchen, in rural Cismont, Virginia, the contents are well worth your investigation.  Yes, there is more than a smattering of counter culture philosophy ("Eat when hungry… feast when joyful… fast to get high… and sing of love all the time."), but what sets this apart from other tomes of its ilk are solid recipes that display a firm grasp of flavor principles and  a good degree of culinary skill.

Admittedly, this is not the second coming of the Moosewood Collective which was making waves in Ithaca around this same time, but it should also not be consigned to the lost archives of hash brownie has-been's.   There is substance here, and it deserves to be remembered and cooked.  Not everything is a winner, but there are definitely pleasures to be found.

Explore more of my collection at Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive.  My window is the past 140 years, and I draw upon my personal archive of 8,200+ titles.  Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

 - - Rick / Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

One of the driving factors of my collection is that cookbooks are every bit as much for reading as they are for use in the kitchen, and this is a great example. While my mother used it as a guide for cooking, I find the writing thoroughly entertaining. I think you will, as well.

From the late 1940's through the 1960's, the golden era of home entertainment in America, Helen Corbitt was every bit as well-known a culinary figure as Julia Child would become in the 70's and 80's. In addition to authoring several very popular cookbooks, she was a frequent columnist, lecturer and cooking instructor, as well as having served for almost 20 years as the Director of Restaurants for Neiman-Marcus. Her notoriety established her as one of the country's foremost authorities on entertaining, and this book helped confirm that.

Offering menus and recipes for dozens of occasions, the book is a veritable time capsule of the era in which boomer's parents appreciated her advice on everything, from whether a luncheon would be seated or a buffet, to selecting the perfect punch for receptions and teas. One of the things that helps this particular book stand apart is that it came onto the scene at a point where social mores were beginning to relax - the old rules of entertainment were not being blindly followed - and the introduction of foreign dishes added a patina of sophistication to festive gatherings.

Helen was never one to take herself too seriously and was perfectly capable of holding her own within the generally male-dominated world of commercial cuisine. While readers today will find many of the recipes dated or menu suggestions positively retro, the author's writing is clever, personable and as entertaining as when it was first published. Helen Corbitt is an acquaintance worth making.

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Thank you for reading. If you would like to continue with me on this journey, please see my note in the Comments. There are so many great cookbooks I want to share, and I want to learn from you and your experiences.

- - Rick / Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

I want to bring to your attention an authorship duo that may likely be new to you if you don’t live in the U.K. or have ready access to BBC Four. I love coming across culinary talent beyond the confines of our local bookstores.

The Herbert's, a.k.a. The Fabulous Baker Brothers, seem like a too-good-to-be-true story, but they are the real deal. Growing up in Gloucestershire in southwest England as the fifth generation behind the Hobbs House Bakery, their futures seemed predestined. However, Henry decided that, since his older brother Tom displayed talent working with bread, he would focus on becoming a chef specializing in butchery. They both set about developing their careers and, several years on, the butcher shop next door to the family bakery became available and Henry moved in. Now, they work and cook side by side and, since 2012, the British public follow their story on The Fabulous Baker Brothers television series.

Thanks to hard work and dedication in producing wonderful food products, the brothers have grown their business to four retail locations, a cookery school and a number of charitable operations. Along the way, they have published two cookbooks - The Fabulous Baker Brothers (2012) focused on baked goods, and Glorious British Grub (2013) revitalizing traditional British fare with contemporary twists. If you've seen them on TV, know that their books are just as much fun to read. If not, don’t let that stop you.

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Thank you for reading. If you would like to continue with me on this journey, please see my note in the Comments. There are so many great cookbooks I want to share, and I want to learn from you and your experiences.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

In 1987, Ruth Rogers and her business partner Rose Gray opened a restaurant in Hammersmith, London on the banks of the Thames, appropriately named The River Café.  Initially functioning as the employee canteen to feed the staff at Rogers' husband's architecture firm, it quickly developed a reputation for serving excellent seasonal Italian fare with an intense focus on quality and technique.  In 1995, they published their first book, The River Café Cook Book. In 1998, they received their first Michelin star and have held it ever since. 

If you don't live near London or have never been to the Café, then their cookbooks are the perfect gateway to recreating much of their menu at home.  Given that so many of England's top chefs have spent time in the Café's kitchen over the past 39 years, it may seem unlikely to expect home cooks to  serve these dishes, but therein lies the secret -  the food is simplicity itself.  You may well not have a giant pink woodburning pizza oven at your disposal, but you likely have everything else you'll need at hand (and your oven will do just fine.)  Unpretentious dishes created with basic techniques, using the freshest possible ingredients and accompanied by a pleasant glass of wine - that is the River Café ethos.

Rose Gray sadly passed away from cancer in 2010, but Ruth has maintained the consistent level of excellence that made the Café into the legendary institution it is.  Over that time, thirteen cookbooks have been published, but the simple approach and comfortable vibe have remained from the beginning.  This is a book for generations to follow.

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For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve more attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw upon my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”