Reinvent the Classics
Kerry McCray of the Modesto Bee offers an important reminder - just because a cookbook is a classic does not mean it is good. While some classics deserve a coveted spot on the kitchen counter, others simply reflect the trends of their time, rather than information that is as useful today as it was when the cookbook was published. Among the trendy cookbooks without utility today are those that discuss how to roast a squirrel or make mock duck.
McCray calls out the cookbooks that never get dusty, such as the Joy of Cooking and the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. These provide simple, but necessary answers: “How many minutes per pound do you cook a chicken? How do you make stock? How did Grandma get her pie crust so flaky, anyway?”
As part of his research for the article, McCray “perused the Web site for the Feeding America project, for which Michigan State University archivists scanned and transcribed 76 of the most influential cookbooks dating back to the 1800s.” He compiled some of the highlights:
Ever wonder the proper way to eat something? Turn to the “Woman’s Favorite Cookbook,” first published in 1907. “Crackers should not be broken into soup, but eaten plain,” it reads. “Bread should be buttered on the edge of the plate, never in midair.”
Craving mock duck? The same cookbook tells you how to make it. “Take a round steak, make a stuffing as if for a chicken, put it in the steak, roll and skewer. Sprinkle with flour, put in a pan, put bits of butter on it, pour water over and bake.”
Problems with cockroaches? Again, from the “Woman’s Favorite Cookbook”: “The best method to destroy cockroaches is to plentifully scatter pulverized Borax. … I have done this around the kitchen where there have been thousands and killed them all in one.”
Can’t stand washing dishes? “When I hear a young lady say, ‘I hate to wash dishes,’ I know she is not a trained worker and does not know the best ways of doing things.” This is from the 1909 edition of “The Good Housekeeping Women’s Home Cookbook.”
The book goes on to instruct ladies (not men) to arrange a dry place to put the dishes, and not to wash too many at once.
Like to sip and stir? A 1973 cookbook by that name says, “We feel that an occasional sip of wine, beer or martini as you cook can only enhance the flavor of the dish.”
That last one is some of the best advice I have heard in a long time.
[Photo from the Modesto Bee]
