What cookbooks would you 'save' ?

hotcookie101

I could easily ditch Delia's complete cookery collection-never use it.
Couldn't live without-Nigel Slater (as many as possible-have appetite, real food, kitchen diaries, real fast food and 30 minute cook-real fast food I got as a teenager free with hair dye and its WONDERFUL) I use his recipes regularly, and Hugh F-W Meat is fabulous too. Madhur Jaffrey's complete curry collection or whatever its called is used regularly
I have loads of other ones that I could maybe live without, but am currently loving rick steins latest, and gordon ramseys pub food. I love to read my cook books, I think thats why I love Nigel so much

Oh and the Dairy book of home cooking-the best retro curry sauce in the world!!

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

I went upstairs and counted my cookbooks when I started to read this thread.The fact that my cookbooks are upstairs proves something does'nt it.
I counted 38 books and a huge recipe file of clippings some dating back to 1972.I could quite happily dispose of them all,I never use them.
I seem to have aquired these books,looked at the pictures and put them on the shelf to be dusted weekly.
Why on earth I bought them I'll never know,I always go back to my old favourites anyway.

Chris25

I've just done the same thing - have sent several bags to the charity shop - all lovely books to look at but very few recipes used from them.

I have a few that I am copying recipes from, to put into some folders that I keep - 1 for sweet, 1 for savoury and 1 for special events (Christmas, Easter, Christenings etc) - then they too will go.

I'm only keeping some old ones - about 5 in total.

I can't believe the amount of space I have freed...........now what else can I find to clutter them with

morganlefay

Chris, that's what I realised when I thought about it. I read the pretty books in bed, but seldom make things out of them, and keep coming back to the old ones. I wonder how much else in my house the same principle applies to.....oh dear.
PS of all the 'new' cookery writers I do think Nigel Slater is the one who makes me really drool. His recipes are always for really nice things you'd like to eat, with pictures of all the burnt bits, and his grotty old pans - and they work.
But isn't it interesting which books we'd hang on to - I have discovered some I'd never heard of on this thread and am resisting getting them (so far) !:beer:

Kiwisaver_2

You made me count the books on my kitchen shelf :rotfl: 43 to be precise, including 2 x Madhur Jaffreys and 3 x Jamie Olivers, Delia's Summer Collection and numerous other little more specific ones, some local ones, 100 Muffins etc.

The one I always turn too is Good Housekeeping (Circa 1985), especially for baking and puddings, when I have got sick of trying to find anything in all the others. Whilst I love seeing Jamie Oliver cook on TV, IMO his book indexes are awful and I can never find anything I want. The Good Housekeeping was the first cook book I ever owned and has recipes for every dish imaginable and always comes up trumps for the basics and classic dishes. The pages are all yellow and the cover is battered, but it will serve me well for the forseeable.

My other well worn favourites are two New Covent Garden Soup Books, which are fab if a little whacky and a Sainsbury's book called 'Almost Vegetarian' which is quite similar in style to Delia's Summer Collection and appeals to my almost vegetarian tendencies.

Steel_2

I seem to always come back to the same three: Nigella's Domestic Goddess, Good Housekeeping and How to Feed Your Family on £5 a day by Bernadine Lawrence.

thriftlady_2

After years of throwing out cookbooks I don't use and then wishing I still had them and (yes really:rolleyes: :doh: ) buying them again! I've come to the conclusion that whilst I may not cook from all my books I do enjoy reading them a lot. So, what I do now when the urge to clear my cookbook shelf of 'deadwood' strikes is stack the offending books in the cupboard under the stairs until I realise I want them again. I've gone through the stacking and putting back on the shelf thing several times already this year. At least I haven't rebought books I've thrown out since I started doing this.

It is strange how I have loads of other books -poetry, fiction, craft, gardening that I barely touch and yet I don't consider throwing them out. But, cookery books seem to have to justify themselves by being used even though I read the cookbooks I don't cook from more often than I read the poetry and other books. Maybe it is because I know I spend a lot of money on cookbooks that I feel they have to earn their keep.

Today I recieved my latest Amazon parcel of books -this time from Amazon.fr. I'm not sure I will cook from them a lot, but already I have been inspired by them to try new things and I'm enjoying reading them immensely.

Fun fact:) -French books have the titles on the spine running from bottom to top. British and US books have it running from top to bottom. I wouldn't know that if I didn't spend so much money on books:o

Swan_2

thriftlady wrote: »

After years of throwing out cookbooks I don't use and then wishing I still had them and (yes really :doh:) buying them again! I've come to the conclusion that whilst I may not cook from all my books I do enjoy reading them a lot. So, what I do now when the urge to clear my cookbook shelf of 'deadwood' strikes is stack the offending books in the cupboard under the stairs until I realise I want them again. I've gone through the stacking and putting back on the shelf thing several times already this year. At least I haven't rebought books I've thrown out since I started doing this.

I've done that too! most recently with a set of books from the 70's I gave away in a moment of complete & utter madness, they're out of print now & I've gradually re-assembled the collection via eBay

& I'm still lamenting giving away two ecyclopaedic books whos titles I've forgotten, an American one & a British Empire one, they were early 20th century & had very old-fashioned recipes, that no-one nowadays would ever want to make (no, not even us Old Stylers!) but I used to just love reading them because they seemed so familiar, yet so alien at the same time

that's an excellent idea about 'hiding' books, I might give it a try
I don't know how many books I've got as I'm not at home right now, I'll count when I get back & work out the ones I couldn't part with

I'd love to see a list of your books thriftlady

I wonder if for once I'll be able to get away from clicking a cookbook thread without buying anything? :rolleyes:

IsoChick

I'd keep:

Nigella's Domestic Goddess
Nigella's Feast
James Martin The Collection
Jamie's Italy
Hugh FW River Cottage (the original one)

I've also got loads of little GH ones for puddings, quick meals, etc and a fantastic biscuit, biscotti and cookie one...

clutterydrawer

Good housekeeping - an all time favourite, if my hosue was on fire I'd grab this on the way out!


also the marguerite patten books of wartime recipes - very helpful when you're trying to save money.