This book is both an instrument for serious cooking and a personal statement about the preparation and eating of food. It contains more than 1,000 recipes, from regional and ethnic cuisine to outstanding haute cuisine.
I paid for this cookbook yet got a whole different Craig Claireborne book.
Published by Chelsea , 3 years ago
Got the wrong cookbook super disappointed.
Excellent Reference. Look Elsewhere for Instruction
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
This Craig Claiborne `magnum opus' was my very first serious cookbook, from which I have probably done more recipes than any five others put together. As such, I have an intimate knowledge of its strengths and weaknesses.The evaluation of this book depends greatly on an understanding of the purpose that the book best serves. The main feature of the book is its vast size. It weighs in at about 800 pages. The only `cookbook' on my shelves with more words and pages is the encyclopedic `Larousse Gastronomique'. The class of cookbook which most closely approaches this book in size is the all-purpose `how to cook' manual such as `The Joy of Cooking' and Mark Bittman's `How to Cook Everything'. This Claiborne volume fits neither of these two categories. It is also certainly not a restaurant, celebrity, or `terroir' cookbook such as those about Provence or Tuscany. It basically defines a class of which it is probably the premier exemplar. This is the class of book that is simply assembled to provide you with as many recipes as possible. It's reason for being is volume. There are some special cases of this class of book which deal with a particular cuisine, such as the `Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook' by Gloria Bley Miller. Claiborne outstrips this book by a mile, giving us two to three recipes per page, thereby weighing in with about 2000 recipes covering the four corners of the world.In a sense, the class of cookbook that may come closest to this MS is the fundraising cookbook commonly published by churches and social organizations with recipes supplied by the group's members. The similarity is that the recipes were supplied by dozens of different authors and there are few if any threads connecting the recipes except the organization sponsoring the publication of the volume. This Claiborne work distances itself from such volumes in the quality and diversity of the recipes. It is important to remember that most, if not all of these recipes have appeared in the pages of the New York Times. In order to do this, they would have had to pass scrutiny of not only Times editors but the thousands of readers of the New York Times food columns. Each recipe would have had to survive a second professional screening when it was being considered as an entry in this book. Additional screenings would have been done for each successive edition. The bottom line is that the value of this book is in its providing a widely diverse selection of high quality recipes for a cent and a half per recipe. Compare that to the twenty to thirty-five cents per recipe you pay for a new hardcover cookbook from the latest celebrity chef or the latest send-off of recipes from Rome, Tuscany, or Provence.The other side of the coin is that the only thing you get in this cookbook is the recipes. Period. Virtually every recipe is composed of nothing more than a title, a number of servings, a list of ingredients, and numbered steps for the procedure to be followed. A very few recipes for truly
My Refrain
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
Let me add my own refrain to all the others. This is the quintessential cookbook. It is immensely useful to both beginners and accomplished cooks. I started cooking using this book and the bulletproof recipes gave me the confidence to try other more obscure and complicated dishes.The range of dishes that are taught also provides a good education on cuisines we may not otherwise try, thus opening culinary doors for the less experienced. Splendid cookbook!PLEASE REPRINT THIS SOON! WE ALL NEED NEW ONES!
unbelievable
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
I NEED to have a copy of this cookbook. My old book -- and I mean OLD -- and frayed and stained and... was lost in a move and I am LOST without it. PLEASE let me know how I can find it. When will it reprint? What's a cook to do? I really miss my old friend in the kitchen. There is no cookbook like it and I have several. It is the best resource I've ever owned. PLEASE HELP.
The man in the kitchen's best friend
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
This is a great guide to the preparation of wonderful food for both the culinary expert and the novice.The directions are simple. The results are elegant.My copy is falling apart from constant use and I'm crushed to learn a replacement is not available from the publisher. I implore all Claiborne and Franey fans to lobby for a reprinting of this fabulous guide to good dining.
The best all around cookbook ever printed.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
The "New York Times Cookbook" is without peer in my opinion. I have never found a single reciepe that failed to live up to our expectations. Everything has been easy to follow and well explained for the professional to the amateur like myself. We have used this guide to great food for several years now so this is no quick judgement and I can heartily recommend it to all fortunate enough to secure a copy.
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