Five Favorite Books
Reid over at Ono Kine Grindz has tagged me to continue the five favorite (cook) books meme. This was just what the doctor ordered to get me writing again after being swamped with life and work. (Click through to Reid's post to see the geneology of the meme, as far back as he could determine.)
Total number of (cook) books I’ve owned: Currently sitting at 41, although I purged at least a dozen during our last move. Counting the cookbooks from other housemates, a total of 79 sit at my fingertips. I've posted a panoramic of the shelf before.
Last (cook) book(s) I bought: The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii's Culinary Heritage. I've been seeking a Hawaiian cookbook that covers indigenous dishes in depth, talking story about the foods and their preparation methods. Food of Paradise moves in the right direction, but still falls short. I'm beginning to think the book I want doesn't exist.
Last (food) book I read: I'm nearly finished with M.F.K. Fisher's An Alphabet for Gourmets. Where has she been all my life? Such wit!
Five (cook) books that mean a lot to me:
- The Household Searchlight Recipe Book, published 1939
Yellowed pages, plenty of stains, scraps of recipes stuffed between the pages and most importantly, originally my grandmother's. Many of the recipes seem quaint by today's standards, but others are brilliant and timeless.
Several years ago I was in a used book store and happened to overhear a lady asking the clerk for this specific cookbook. My cash flow at the time... wasn't. Dollar signs flashed before my eyes and for a brief moment I considered selling my family copy of the Searchlight to a complete stranger. Good sense prevailed and it remains the matriarch of the cookbook shelf.
- The French Laundry Cookbook
My food porn. I look to this book for non-specific inspiration, attempting recipes only when I serendipitously stumble across the unusual ingredients most dishes seem to require. Most recently, I made Pacific Moi with Fresh Soybeans, Scallion and Radish Salad, and Soy-Temple Orange Glaze after I happened on fresh Hawaiian moi at my favorite Chinatown fishmonger. The only thing that overshadowed the moi was my tremendous sense of accomplishment!
- Cheese making at home: The complete illustrated guide
I found this gem for twenty-five cents at a library book sale. The binding is separating and whole chapters are trying desparately to break free. Cheese is my ambrosia, and this book explains in plain language how to make it at home.
- How To Cook Everything
How to Cook Everything is my current "go to" cookbook. Technically it belongs to a housemate, but when she gets married in a few months and moves out, I'll either pilfer her copy (okay, just kidding. mostly.) or buy my own.
- the unknown Mexican cookbook
I haven't found this book yet, but I have faith that it's out there, yearning for a place on my shelf. The best huevos rancheros and frijoles ever were at a dusty truckstop somewhere a few hours east of Mazatlan. Where is a cookbook to help me recreate those flavors? I don't want a cookbook of Tex-Mex, nor some Fusion Mex. I definitely don't want any book that includes mention of cheddar cheese as a garnish. I want a solid Mexican cookbook. After I have this one, my collection will be complete. Well, and after I have an indigenous Hawaiian cookbook. And maybe Bouchon.
Who am I kidding. I'll be buying cookbooks long after I'm too old and frail to cook for myself.
Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog?
I'm pretty shy, so I wasn't able to come up with a full list of five. Instead, I'm tagging two friends who don't normally write about food but both love to cook: ASNN and (pronounced lock-lin). Both are smart guys that don't write nearly as often as they should.
Hi Alan,
You've got a great list there. Thank you so much for participating. I have too many important ones (to me at least), to mention just 5. I'm slowly going through them all to figure out which are the most important and I am working to update my list.
As for Mexican, what about Rick Bayless? I keep hearing his name for some reason.
So what Hawai'ian cookbook do you want that doesn't exist? Obviously you're searching for something that deals with traditional foods. Maybe you should make your own. :)
Reid, I'll make sure to check back from time to time. It was hard to narrow down to a top five because it can vary depending on what I've been cooking lately and how important a cookbook seems because of that. I eventually decided to answer based on what I thought right at that moment, knowing that I could change my mind the next day. In truth, there were only four because I cheated with the Mexican cookbook. Next step: check into Rick Bayless and see if he's the one I'm seeking.
Topher, if the literature doesn't exist (I still need to check the University of Hawaii and Bishop Museum) then I'd pretty much have to write my own. That would involve lots of talking story with kupuna, and I don't think I have the credibility to do that yet.