My Favorite Cook Books

There is no end to cookbooks. Every language, every style, every cuisine of the world can be found in a cookbook somewhere and now with the Internet most all foods are fairly easily accessible to an adventurous cook. I have books about cooking seafood, vegetarian foods and anything you can imagine to do with red or green chilies. I have Moroccan, Italian, French and Spanish cookbooks. I have a 598 page tome just on sauces. All are great books and all have helped me in my kitchen adventures. But what is a cook book? Is it just a collection of recipes, just measurements and instructions, page after page of instructions? Maybe because I love to read anyway, I think a cook book should be more. It should tell about the history of how and why cuisine developed, how invading cultures, geography and climate influenced the food in a region. My favorite cookbooks, the ones that are food stained and dog–eared, are more than just recipes. They are filled with stories and histories. They speak of the people that grew, harvested, prepared and cooked the food. The authors of these cook books talk about flavor combinations and foods that complement each other. They stress seasonality and fresh ingredients. They explain the why as well as the how. Maybe they should be called “foodbooks” because they tell stories about the food.
Some of my favorite cookbooks were compiled and written before there was a grocery store on every corner, a time when there were little or no pre-processed foods and the only canned products were what you preserved yourself. That’s not to say I don’t used some canned products but, in most cases, I much prefer the flavor and quality of homemade. Sure it is extra work but in most cases it’s more than worth the effort because you know exactly what is in it because you control the ingredients and flavors. These are some of my favorites because I very seldom will follow a recipe exactly. I almost always add a little of this or take out that. I look at recipes as more suggestion than hard and fast rules
So here are a few of my favorite and most used “foodbooks”. These are used almost daily or when I need a little inspiration to get me out of a rut. They are in no particular order.


The first book I want to talk about is “Culinary Artistry” By Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.
After my opening paragraphs it may seem a little out of place on my list so let me explain. It is very much a reference volume. It is first because of the wealth of information that is compiled by the authors. It has interviews with various chefs with menu suggestions and how some of the recipes were developed. In it you will find extensive tables or charts of Flavor Matches compiled from the chef interviews. If I am stuck for an idea I can look up an ingredient and find which other flavors compliment it. Almost any food you can name is in the charts. Each table gives the “classic” flavor matches, like basil and tomato, but also some that are not so traditional. There is also a Spice chart that shows which spices complement each other and which combinations to avoid. I think it is an invaluable reference to anyone who, like me, is a tinkerer in the kitchen.

If you know me you know that I love the food of the American southwest, more specifically, the food of New Mexico. So it should come as no surprise that two of my favorites spotlight the food and flavors of Santa Fe. “The Feast of Santa Fe” and “The Good Life” both explore the roots and reasons of NM cuisine and keep alive the old ways of cooking from scratch. These are not Bobby Flay recipes they are simple recipes from people living simple lives but the flavors are bold and multi-faceted.

The Good Life-New Mexico Traditions and Food by Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert.
First published in 1949, the first half of the book tells the story of a family group and their daily lives and customs. It spotlights special occasions and feast days; the marriage of a son, the harvest of Pinion nuts and ends with the death of the local medicine healer woman. One of the chapters tells of the family heading out on a picnic making a day of harvesting pinion nuts. The foods and recipes are the traditional foods of the New Mexican people and center on corn, squash, and tomatoes, Pinion Nuts and, of course, chilies. There are some meat recipes but mostly the recipes center on what could be grown in the harsh land or harvested from the wild.

The Feast of Santa Fe-Cooking of the American Southwest by Huntley Dent
Another book that stresses the traditions of New Mexico, it describes the influences of the Spanish, the Mexican and Anglo on the foods of New Mexico. Like most cookbooks it is broken down into chapters like Appetizers, Soups, Meats, etc. but begin Traditions, The Santa Fe Larder, A Modern Approach, Sauces, Relishes and Fillings, etc.
In the Traditions chapter there is a section called “Twelve Feasts of Simplicity.” In it he describes the basic ingredients of chiles, corn and beans prepared and served in traditional ways and each day builds on the previous day’s menu. I will follow this one day when I have twelve days to dedicate to it. It is a time consuming way that would be difficult to fit into our insanely busy world.

Spice-Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean by Ana Sortun
I love this book. It is well written and beautifully (put together) (edited). It is not set up as most cookbooks are. It is broken down by spice and herb families and complimentary spice matches. After introducing the concept of the book, the first chapter spotlights three spices; cumin, coriander and cardamom. She gives descriptions of each spice and then follows with recipes. The remaining chapters follow suit. Each recipe begins with a story and tips and techniques, such as roasting peppers, are sprinkled throughout the book. If you like Middle Eastern cuisine this book is a great addition to a collection. The beautiful photography absolutely makes my mouth water.

White House Chef-Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen by Walter Scheib and Andrew Friedman.
I bought this book several years ago on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. It is a very entertaining read. Chef Walter Scheib was brought into the White House by the Clintons (not my favorite first family) to help showcase American cuisine. It is an interesting insight into some unseen White House goings on and I will admit gaining a little admiration for what the Clintons tried to (and did) accomplish by bringing Chef Scheib aboard. He stayed through the first Bush term but apparently wasn’t what the Bush’s wanted. It is a fascinating behind the scenes look at Formal State Dinners and the everyday family meals. There are quite a few recipes here but I think the real reason to read it is for entertainment and enlightenment.




So there are my suggestions for books about food. They may not be what you think of as a cookbook but they are entertaining enough to read away from the kitchen but educational enough to keep close by when looking for that “something different”. If you have any others that I missed I’d love to hear from you.