Cookbooks.
Jenny and I have a lot of them. An outsider’s perspective could find that we have too many. But we didn’t ask for that outsider’s opinion, and we would appreciate it if they could keep their negative opinions to themselves.
Jenny and I have a lot of them. An outsider’s perspective could find that we have too many. But we didn’t ask for that outsider’s opinion, and we would appreciate it if they could keep their negative opinions to themselves.
Cookbooks are a fantastically cost effective way to gain some insight into unfamiliar cuisine. However, all cookbooks are not created equal. If you’re just looking for a depository of recipes, then your William Sonoma or Culinary Institute of America compendiums work just fine. But, for me, those giant tomes are as uncreative as they are unwieldy. How many times are you actually going to flip through a 1,500 page encyclopedia of recipes? And how enjoyable will that process actually be? For my money, I like a cookbook that dials it’s focus down into a single cuisine. I also like a cookbook that adds a little bit of personality and storytelling to it’s recipes.
I’ve never been one to follow a recipe to the “t.” Even when learning how to cook, I would take general concepts and play with them until I made them my own. Actually, that’s how I learned how to do most of the things that I know how to do. So, when I look through a cookbook, I want the author to make me interested in the over-arching concepts behind what their cuisine is. I don’t care if I can roast a chicken exactly like Thomas Keller. Instead, I want to look at how Thomas Keller roasts his chickens so I might steal a technique of his to add to my own. This, in my opinion, is how cooking knowledge should be passed down and shared. Anyone can follow a specific set of instructions, but fewer people know what they are doing and why they’re doing it.
So, having said all that, this post is going to be the first of many cookbook reviews that we do. I am, by no means, the end-all authority on what makes a cookbook great. But, I do know what I like, and I want to believe that there is someone in the world that feels the same way about cooking and learning.
The first cookbook on my list is Heritage, by Sean Brock.
Sean Brock is one of my culinary heroes. If you aren’t familiar with Mr. Brock, then I suggest you watch season 2 of the PBS series, Mind of a Chef to acquaint yourselves. His style is a beautiful meld between old style southern cooking and new technique. His passion for local, heirloom produce is scarcely matched by anyone, and his utilization of his produce is really magical. His love for old-style preservation techniques is actually what inspired me to try my hand at pickling and fermentation.
Sean Brock is also a bit of a history nut, culinarily speaking. He regales the reader with tales of old low-country agriculture, leading the push to revive the beautiful and nearly lost crops that had been farmed in his homeland for centuries. He highlights the culinary history of southern cuisine, tracing its roots all the way back to east Africa where he finds some surprising similarities.
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Heritage is a delight to flip through. Even if you never used it for it’s recipes, the layout and photography alone would make it a beautiful coffee table book. The way he breaks down each “chapter” with a personal story of what he feels are the important lessons on what you’re about to peruse is both charming and effective. To me, it fits all the criteria of what makes a cookbook worth my time and money. If you’re in the market for a new cookbook, and have any interest in what’s new and hot in American cuisine, I would strongly suggest you check this one out.
-MC
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