Synopsis
The new (sixth) 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: | Ginnie Hofmann, Ikki Matsumoto | | Edition Description: | Revised |
| Size | | Length: | 928 pages | | Height: | 9.3 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 37.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
An American household classic, the newly revised and expanded edition of "The Joy of Cooking" is the most essential item one can have in the kitchen. Divided into three parts, "Foods We Eat", "Foods We Heat", and "Foods We Keep", "The Joy of Cooking" contains more than 4,500 recipes with hundreds of them new to this edition, plus an enlarged discussion on herbs, spices, and seasonings, tips on various cooking techniques, canning and preserving advice, and more. 1,000 line drawings.
The Joy of Cooking grows with the times—it has a full roster of American and foreign dishes such as strudel, zabaglione, rijsttafel, and couscous, among many others. In this updated version, all the classic terms you’ll find on menus, such as Provençale, bonne femme, meuniére, and Florentine are not merely defined but fully explained so that you can easily concoct the dish in your own home. The whys and the wherefores of the directions are given throughout the book, helping you create recipes you never thought possible. A special emphasis on a vital cooking factor—heat—is added in this new edition. Your best-laid plans can be either made or marred simply by the temperature of a single ingredient. Learn exactly what the results of simmering, blanching, roasting, and braising have on your efforts. An enlarged discussion on herbs, spices, and seasonings tells you the suitable amount necessary in recipes. With more than 1,000 practical, delightful drawings by Ginnie Hoffman and Ikki Matsumoto, you can learn how to present food correctly and charmingly—from the simplest to the most formal service, how to prepare ingredients with classic tools and techniques, and how to safely preserve the results of your canning and freezing. No necessary detail to your success in cooking has been omitted. Divided into three parts, “Foods We Eat,” “Foods We Heat,” and “Foods We Keep,” The Joy of Cooking contains more than 4,500 recipes with hundreds of them new to this edition. This American household classic is the most essential item for your kitchen.
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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