Chinese-American poet and philosopher Lin Yutang observed that the world was extremely fortunate because the first chicken laid two and not merely one egg. "From the first of those eggs", he wrote "came a rooster to ever ensure that the chicken and future chickens would continue to lay eggs. From the second egg came an omelet, and from that moment on, the world has been civilized".

What Lin Yutang did not comment on was that from that omelet came the world's first recipe, and from that time on the world's need for recipes has been insatiable. In the United States and France alone, newspapers publish over 5,000 recipes weekly. Because this is not nearly enough to satisfy the needs of the people, 136 American, 24 English, 62 Italian and 44 French weeklies or monthlies are devoted to presenting their readers with new recipes. And more than 3,000 new cookbooks are published every year.

Devising new recipes has been a popular activity for many years. The truth of the matter, however, is that as only a handful of men and women have visited outer space, very few people can claim to have invented dishes that are really new. England's King Henry II said that he invented the recipe for mayonnaise in 1155. In 1465, France's King Louis XI claimed that the discovery was his. Even Michael Romanov, the first tzar of Russia got into the act by saying that one of his chefs had devised the first recipe in 1620. Each of these royal personages was wise enough to recognize that one day mayonnaise would become the most popular sauce in the world. Considering that the earliest known form of mayonnaise was actually devised by the ancient Egyptians, probably about 4,500 years ago, each of them was also a liar.

One of the major problems facing the dedicated collector of cookbooks is that many of them are merely collections of recipes that have already been published. Although the wording of these recipes has been changed around a bit to avoid law suits for infringement of copyright, most of these books add absolutely nothing to our already existing culinary repertoire. Others have recipes so banal or so badly written that they prove useless in the kitchen. Most cookbooks, in a word, are bad cookbooks. Good cookbooks are invaluable references for either devoted amateurs or professional cooks and chefs. Selecting a basic or advanced professional library is not difficult so long as one follows certain basic rules:

1. Avoid cookbooks where the writing style and recipes do not tempt your palate. If a book does not tempt you, the dishes you prepare from it will not please those who dine at your table.

2. Even the most professional of chefs should not hesitate to buy books that were written with a
non-professional audience in mind. Although written for a popular audience books by author-chefs such as Claudia Roden, Giulliano Bugialli, Paul Bocuse, the Troisgros brothers and Paul Prudhomme
can be invaluable in any kitchen.

3. Seek out books that have a slightly different culinary point of view than your own and avoid cookbooks that merely repeat what you already know. Although there is no need to radically change your culinary style, fresh input and new ideas should always be welcomed.

4. Add at least several classic cookbooks to your collection. Even though few chefs today would consider preparing dishes or sauces in precisely the same way as Careme, Escoffier or other early geniuses of the kitchen, there is an enormous amount we can learn from these masters.

5. Avoid cookbooks where the titles of the dishes are too cute. A sure sign that an author has nothing new or worthwhile to tell us is when they resort to giving dishes names such as Yummy Pecan Pie, My Aunt Mary's Pumpkin Soup, or Secret Ingredient Beef Stew (where the secret ingredient is Coca Cola), it is a sure sign that he or she has nothing new or worthwhile to tell us.

6. Beware also of books where the author seems to have spent too much time on his or her acknowledgements. No one should begrudge uthors the right to acknowledge the people who gave them recipes or helped test them, but when, as Sara Finkel did in her "New Jewish Cookbook", they start thanking people they met twenty-five years ago, their husbands, sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and a large assortment of friends, editors and proofreaders" you know that the authors' egos are more important than their recipes. Mrs. Finkel displayed special courage with her last dedication: "To the Almighty for his guidance, which I deeply and genuinely experienced throughout the writing of this book". Whether the Almighty was pleased by this acknowledgement is not known, but Mrs. Finkel's was one of the most useless cookbooks I have come across in many years.


Cookbooks For the Sophisticated

Modern Writers: There are several modern authors whose books should be welcomed in any professional library. Included in this list are some authors who are professional chefs and others who have specialized in writing about food. One cannot go far wrong with any of the books, for example, of James Beard, Simone Beck, Georges Blanc, Raymond Blanc, Paul Bocuse, Penelope Casas, Julia Child, Alain Chapel, Craig Claiborne, Elizabeth David, Fernand Point, Pierre Franey, Marcella Hazan, Madhur Jaffrey, Anton Moismann, Richard Olney, Claudia Roden, Jean and Pierre Troisgros, Roger Verge, Anne Willan and Paula Wolfert.

Classic Writers: Many of the greatest chefs in France never go to sleep before reading at least a few pages in Antonin Careme's sixteen volume Encyclopaedia of Gastronomy. Consider as well some of the books of Ali-Bab (the pseudonym of Henry Babinski), Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin; Curnonsky (the pen name of Maurice Edmond Sailland); Georges Auguste Escoffier; Ambrose Heath; Francois Pierre de la Varenne; Vincent La Chapelle (the pen name of Francois Massialot); Henri-Paul Pellaprat; and Taillevant (the pen name of Guilaume Tirel).

Books About Food: In addition to cookbooks, the library of the professional chef should also include books about food. Some of these may deal with the history, philosophy, sociology, aesthetics and culture of dining and others will deal with restaurants and dining experiences. Yet others will be personal reflections of lives dedicated to fine dining. The following authors will always make for fine reading and good learning: Robert J. Courtine, Quenten Crewe, Alexander Dumas, Henry Gault, A.J. Liebling, Lin Yutang, Christian Millau, Marcel Proust, Jean-Francois Revel, Cesar Ritz, Mimi Sheraton and Reay Tannehill.

Oh yes: A strong (but friendly) suggestion - no understanding of the world of food, especially of the world of restaurants, would be complete without a reading of George Orwell's magnificent "Down and Out In Paris and London"!!!!

Building a Collection

Nearly every food writer has published a list of the books they consider most important to put in one's cookery collection. No two writers have ever come up with the same list. In keeping with this tradition, I have devised my own list. Even though the list strives for a balance between historical, classic and current books, I guarantee only one thing - that it will not please everybody.

Ali-Bab: Gastronomie Pratique. Originally published in 1928, the French edition has over 1,100 recipes and 1600 pages. The English language version, published in 1970 is about half the size.

James Beard: The James Beard Cookbook, 1973. (English and French)

Paul Bocuse: Cuisine du Marche, 1976. (French and English).

Marie-Blanche de Broglie: The Cuisine of Normandy, 1984. (English). J`?

Giuliano Bugialli: The Fine Art of Italian Cooking, 1989. (English).

Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: La Physiologie du Gout (The Physiology of Taste), 1825.French, English, German, Italian).

Antonin Careme: L'Art de la Cuisine Francaise au Dix-Neuvieme Siecle, 1833. (French, English, German, Italian). A sixteen volume work that also exists in a two volume abridged form in French and English). (Personal note: I consider this book so important that serious chefs and food lovers should be required to read one chapter before retiring every night).

Penelope Casas: The Foods and Wines of Spain, 1982. (English, French, Spanish, Italian)

Julia Child: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 1961. (English and French)

Craig Claiborne: The New York Times Cookbook, 1961 (revised 1981). (English, French). Also Claiborne's autobiography A Feast Made for Laughter, 1982. (English, French, Italian).

Margaret Costa: Four Seasons Cookery Book, 1970. (English).

Robert J. Courtine: The Grand Livre de la France a Table, 1982. (French).

Curnonsky: Le Tresor Gastronique de France, 1933. (French, with a shortened edition in English).

Elizabeth David: Mediterranean Food, 1950, Italian Food, 1954, and French Provincial Cooking, 1960. (All in English and French)

Alexandre Dumas: The Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, 1873. (French). An abbreviated edition, Alexandre Dumas' Dictionary of Cuisine, appears in English, 1986).

Georges Auguste Escoffier: Guide Culinaire, 1903 (updated in 1979) and Ma Cuisine, 1934 (both in French, English, German and Italian).

Pierre Franey: Pierre Franey's 60-Minute Gourmet, 1979, or Pierre Franey's More 60-Minute Gourmet (1981). (Both in English and French).

Fu Pei-Mei: Pei-Mei's Chinese Cookbook, revised edition, 1989. (English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese).

Jane Grigson: The Observer Guide to European Cookery, 1983. (English),

Michel Guerard: Cuisine Minceur, 1986. (French and English).

Marcella Hazan: The Classic Italian Cookbook, 1976. (English, French and Italian) or The Second Classic Italian Cookbook, 1982).

Madhur Jaffrey: Madhur Jaffery's Indian Cookery, 1982. (English).

Diana Kennedy: The Cuisines of Mexico, 1972. (English, Spanish and French).

Francois Pierre de la Varenne: Le Cuisinier Francois, 1651. (French, English, German).

Margaret Leeming and May Huang Man-hui: Chinese Regional Cookery, 1987. (English).

A. J. Liebling: Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris, 1962. (English and French).

Jacques Maximin: The Cuisine of Jacques Maximin (edited by Caroline Conran), 1986. (French and English).

Jacques Medecin: La Cuisine du Comte de Nice, 1972. (French). (English edition known as Cuisine Nicoise, 1983).

Anton Moisimann: Fish Cuisine, 1988; and Cuisine a la Carte, 1981 (French and English).

Jean-Francois Revel: Culture and Cuisine, 1982. (English and French). (A book about food of course, written by one of my cultural/intellectual heroes. If you don't know why, ask. Big smile)

Claudia Roden: A New Book of Middle-Eastern Food, 1988 (English). (Originally published as A Book of Middle-Eastern Food in 1968).

Waverley Root: The Food of France, 1958 and The Food of Italy, 1971. (Both in English, French and Italian).

Albert and Michel Roux: The New Classic Cuisine, 1983, French Country Cooking, 1989 and Patisserie (all in English and French).

Alain Senderens: The Three-Star Recipes of Alain Senderens, 1982. (French and English).

Taillevant: Le Viander, 1392. (French, English and 22 other languages).

Jean and Pierre Troisgros: The Nouvelle Cuisine of Jean and Pierre Troisgros, 1985. (French and English).

Roger Verge: The Cuisine of the South of France, 1983. (French and English).

Alice Waters: The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook, 1983. (English)

Paula Wolfert: Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco, 1973; and Mediterranean Cooking, 1977. (English).

To read my comments about writing workable recipes, click here:

© Daniel Rogov