Or a dessert one, for that matter.
In the tradition of the Simple Cooking website’s desert island cookbook list, here is my list of stranded-in-the-middle-of-nowhere cookbooks. I have tried to limit myself to five. The links are to Jessica’s Biscuit where available.
In ascending order:
5. Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson. For measurers and new cooks, her recipes can be a bit of a minefield of omitted steps and dodgy cooking times. I didn’t choose this for recipes as much as for culinary eye candy as none of the other books have photography, or at least not very much.
4. The Cake Bible and The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Technically, this is cheating as it is two books — two indespensible books. Ms. Beranbaum and her publishers were not overreaching to call these tomes bibles. Aside from the breadth of the recipes, the volumes both offer basic knowledge of ingredients and technique. Beranbaum has also recently released The Bread Bible which I haven’t been able to purchase as of yet, but it looks equally informative.
3. The Afternoon Tea Book by Michael Smith. (The link is to Amazon, sadly Jessica’s Biscuit doesn’t seem to carry it.) This is the tea book. There is a history of tea from the first leaf falling into boiling water up to suggestions for where to take tea. The recipes are not Americanized but instead reflect the British tastes for cakes, sandwiches and rarebits.
2. The Joy of Cooking. The American bible of cookery. I have linked to the updated version released in 1997, but if you can get a copy of the 1931 original or 1970s revision, run with those babies. The new one definitely reflects the changing tastes of the latter part of the 20th century and into the 21st, but it lost some of its encyclopedic qualities in the revision. The chapters on canning and preserving and game cookery were both cut. I have on many occasions had need for canning times and prep info and have used the Ball canning book that you can pick up anywhere canning supplies are sold, even Target in season. And though I may never dress and grill up a deer, it is important culinary knowledge and probably info you would need were the desert island situation to arrive.
1. On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee. This is truly a master work of culinary science and skill. Yes there are recipes but they are hardly the focus of the book. Those of you who watch Alton Brown with regularity will have caught glimpses of his very dog-eared copy in several episodes. I am currently reading this cover to cover for the third time and dip into it frequently as a reference. If you want to seriously geek out on foodie knowledge this is the place to gather the goods.
In addition to these published works, I also have a recipe file and two notebooks of recipes and notes and menus that I have close at hand in the kitchen. I would probably take them over any of these if I had to make a Sophie’s choice.
What are the cookbooks you would rescue from a kitchen fire?
