What cookbooks would you 'save' ?

vixtress

we are sorting the kitchen out after decorating and i have just returned from taking 3 carriers of cook books to the charity shop :eek:

rescued were:

delias complete cookery course
a 1970,s st michaels (M&S) freezer coook book
jamie olivers cook (dont really rate it but i paid full price for it not that long ago and im tight)
a newish weightwatchers one
how to boil an egg, for nostalgic reasons
easy indian
an old sainsburys veggie one
an indian veggie one

and most important and by far the most used, 'jamies journal' which is essentially a fancy empty book where i write down all the recipes i fancy from the net (usually from here)

i am quite proud of myself for being good and 'getting rid'

KarrieBee

OOh difficult I'm a bit of a cookbook addict. I did a Lent thing with CA where on one day you had to give 10p for each cookbook you have....
But I really couldn't live without Nigel Slater , both his fast food and kitchen diaries and Mary Berry for excellent basics.
I'm trying to find recipes on the web and use them more but would really like a journal to write them all down in which I think probably defeats the object.

angelavdavis

Really, there are only about three books that I regularly use:

- Dairy book of home cookery
- Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cookery Book
- Dairy book of British Food

All of these are over 20 years old, so have definitely stood the test of time!

I dip in and out of other books and use the internet more and more now.

Merrywidow

Funny thing about all your collections - no one seems to fancy Gary Rhodes. I love his Great British Cooking - revolutionised my Yorkshire puddings - a never fail recipe that is fantastic. I recently found several of his Rhodes around Britain from the 90's and rediscovered what basic cooking is all about. I don't own a Nigel Slater book, but you all rave about him so I might take a look. My all time favourites are Delia's Summer, Winter and Christmas. I recently bought a Good Housekeeping "Manual" at a jumble sale for £1. Tucked inside were magazine cuttings from women's mags from years ago - facinating biscuits and cakes - long forgotten - a real find. I could never part with my collection - I would chuck out all those gardening books before a cook book.

juliav50

Hi there, well, I have the Good Housekeeping cookery Book I was given as a wedding present 35 years ago, it is wonderful, and when it started to get tatty I decided to treat myself to a new one. When I read thenew ones though, I changed my mind and had my old one rebound, and the bookbinder said she did loads of them for just the same reason!! Nope, the new ones are rubbish compared to this, it has all your basic recipes (eg all types of pastry), all basic techniques, tips on what has gone wrong if things don't turn out well, menu plans, cake decorating, international dishes, conversion charts, I use it several times a week even now.

Also: New York Times American Heritage Cook Book, Mary Berry's Fast Cakes, an old Marks & Spencers Freezer cookery book, Cordon Bleu cooking by Rosemary Hume and Muriel Downes, Ma Cuisine by Escoffier and The Silver Spoon. all of these I dip into occasionally, but GH is the king................

Merrywidow

What I really love and use regularly are the books they bought out with the Masterchef recipes from the programs when that irritating American, Loyd Grossman was in charge. They are short, sharp and very delicious. Recently I have been checking out charity shops as they have very many of the very old cookbooks, all can be bought for a few pounds. Am I the only person that thinks that modern day recipes are very rich and too filling?

a_sav

Good housekeepi g,Delia,s cookery course anf Mahdu Jaffrery-Flavours of India(borrowed from the library so many times should buy it but its out of production amazing how 15 years have passed)

Chris25

Merrywidow wrote: »

Funny thing about all your collections - no one seems to fancy Gary Rhodes. I love his Great British Cooking - revolutionised my Yorkshire puddings - a never fail recipe that is fantastic.

oh yes, I like Gary - I tried his yorkie recipe where you mix in an extra white. They rose all right - they stuck to the grill :rotfl: :rotfl:

champys

thriftlady wrote: »

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

thriftlady I am entirely with you there.... I operate exactly the same. My 'working' cookery books, most used and referred to frequently, are on a shelf in my office, which is next to the kitchen. The rest is upstairs in the room dubbed 'the library' with all the other books (DH is a booknut too). I love browsing, picking up one from 30 years ago and suddenly realising there is a good recipe in them which I have never made. At that point it my travel downstairs to the office and live with the work horses for a while.
You are right about the French titles - but it only gets annoying if they are mixed on a very low shelf!

thriftlady_2

Swan wrote: »

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

I've just counted them and there are 98 :eek: and that's not including all my little 'Favourite Recipes' books(I don't have all these, but quite a lot).