Synopsis
Originally self-published in 1931, THE JOY OF COOKING has been the right-hand of Americans in the kitchen for more than 75 years. Conceived by Irma S. Rombauer as a reaction to the difficulties of the Depression, JOY was meant to be a user-friendly guide for women unfamiliar with the kitchen, packed with everything the cook might need to know, from metric conversions to how to skin a squirrel (including tasteful but riveting drawings in the original edition). With its enormous wealth of recipes and easy-to-follow advice, this American classic continues to be popular.
The new edition of that perennial favorite, THE JOY OF COOKING, is the first revision in more than 20 years--this one by Erma Rombauer's grandson, Ethan Becker. This version contains no canned soup recipes, no frozen veggies, and few gelatin salads. It does feature such ethnic and/or health-conscious recipes as Ethiopian chicken, Thai beef salad, Szechuan spiced tofu, low-fat cheesecake, and an entire chapter devoted to pasta.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1997-11-01 | | Illustrator: | Laura Hartman Maestro | | Edition Description: | Revised |
| Size | | Length: | 1136 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 7.0 in | | Thickness: | 2.5 in | | Weight: | 59.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
Since its original publication, Joy of Cooking has been the most authoritative cookbook in America - the one upon which millions of cooks have confidently relied for more than sixty-five years. This, the first revision in more than twenty years, is better than ever. Here's why: . Every chapter has been rethought with an emphasis on freshness, convenience, and health. All the recipes have been reconceived and tested with an eye to modern taste, and the cooking knowledge imparted with each subject enriched to the point where everyone from a beginning to an experienced cook will feel completely supported. The new Joy provides more thorough descriptions of ingredients, from the familiar to the most exotic. An all-new "RULES" section in many chapters gives essential cooking basics at a glance. Separate new chapters on grains, beans, and pasta include recipes for grits, polenta, pilafs, risottos, vegetarian chilis, bean casseroles, and make-ahead lasagnes. New baking and dessert chapters promise to enhance Joy of Cooking's reputation as a bible for bakers. Little Dishes showcases foods from around the world: hummus, baba ghanoush, bruschetta, tacos, empanadas, and fried wontons. All new drawings of techniques, ingredients, and equipment, integrated throughout an elegant new design, and over 300 more pages round out the new Joy. Among this book's other unique features: microwave instructions for preparing beans, grains, and vegetables; dozens of new recipes for people who are lactose intolerant and allergic to gluten; expanded ingredients chart now features calories, essential vitamins, and levels of fats and cholesterol. There are ideas for substitutions to lower fat in recipes and reduced-fat recipes in the baking sections.
Industry Reviews
"The book became my cooking bible. Other cookbooks came my way, all of them good manuals, but I would lose interest in the dull, functional prose. The thing about Marion and Irma was that they could write as well as cook!"
Washington Post Book World - Julia Alvarez (12/08/1996)
"...I would never be without 'The Joy of Cooking': I can turn to it when I make a foray into the unknown..., and it will give me, without condescension, basic information and the techniques for using it. And, possibly best of all, it isn't scary. It's probably the friendliest cookbook ever written."
New Yorker - Nancy Franklin (01/06/1997)
"While the old 'Joy of Cooking' signified an era of plain eating and orderly family life, its newly revised pages reflect a chaotic culture seeking solace, and status, in food. It now delivers authentic ethnic recipes, herb-infused oils and restaurant-inspired dishes. It is a comprehensive, well-tested collection of both trendy and homey recipes, paying homage to the moment just as the five previous editions did to the fashions of their times....[A] carefully updated revision that reflects the enormous changes that have occurred in cooking over the last two decades. In tone, it reads like a teaching cookbook rather than the quaint and chaotic ramble it once was....Longtime loyalists may bemoan the loss of recipes for simmered porcupine....'Joy,' the icon, is no longer a guide to daily life and an antidote to the worries of its era. The new 'Joy' is a good cookbook. But it is only a cookbook."
New York Times - Molly O'Neill (11/05/1997)
"Many recipes have been discarded, added, or changed. The famous mystery cake made from tomato soup is gone....Versions tend to be lighter..."
New York Review of Books - Diane Johnson (12/18/1997)
"Simply stated, the recipes work, and a whopping two-thirds are ones that we would make again....It should also be noted that the range of recipes is impressive....The prose is competent but impersonal, well-written but pedestrian....As we face the looking glass of the new 'Joy," we may be more accomplished and sophisticated cooks, but lacking, I think the essence of the enterprise, the joy of cooking."
Cook's Illustrated - Christopher Kimball (03/19/1998)
"Sadly, neither I nor any of the dozens of other contributors receives a penny in royalties, so I can objectively say that I think this is a necessary and invaluable reference work for anyone--the book you need in your kitchen as urgently as you thought you needed the old Joy, a completely different sort of book for all its charm. This edition is contemporary, and far more instructive than the previous versions, taking into account the style Julia Child originated, which tells you the underlying reasons for the various steps...."
Atlantic Unbound - Corby Kummer (12/17/1997)
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