Kitchen Gardeners International: 2 cookbooks for those who already know how to cook

I have always divided the world of cooks up into two categories: cookbook cooks and intuitive cooks. Life somehow seems simpler and easier to handle when submitted to the rigor of classification. As I grow older, however, I'm discovering that the culinary world is grayer than I thought. Not only are there people out there cooking without the aid of cookbooks who probably shouldn't, there are others who produce perfectly delightful results without cookbooks who still consult them for guidance and inspiration.

If you fall into the latter category, you might want to add two books to your holiday wishlist, both of which were recently featured by Amanda Hesser of the New York Times:

"As of Nov. 29, three weeks after its publication, "The Silver Spoon" had sold 26,000 copies, according to Bookscan, making it one of this season's surprise hits. Although "La Bonne Cuisine" is still relatively unknown here, its influence is easily traced. Julia Child, the food historian Barbara Ketcham Wheaton and the cooking teachers and writers Madeleine Kamman and Anne Willan all relied on it in their early days in the kitchen. Paul Aratow, who translated the book into English, owns a version that Child once sent to a friend. Her inscription reads, "This is the best French cookbook I know." Indeed, Wheaton told me recently, it can be seen as the template for Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (written with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle): Saint-Ange begins a subject like braising beef with a long basic recipe, then proceeds with more challenging refinements. "It empowers you," Wheaton said. "If you have the patience to follow the big recipe, which is described in incredible detail, you will really know where you are in the kitchen."

Dating back to 1927 and 1950 respectively, La Bonne Cusine and The Silver Spoon offer further proof that there's very little new under the culinary sun, but, fortunately, many deliciously old things to rediscover.

Posted by KGI on December 16, 2005 7:35 AM to Kitchen Gardeners International
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