Used Cookbook Haul
Posted by Boris Mann on Sunday, January 31st, 2010Tags for this Article: British Columbia Heritage Cookbook, cookbooks, Cooking in Switzerland, New York Times Cook Book, Salvation Army, Thomas Haas
Yesterday I wandered the rainy streets of Kits sipping my first taste of Thomas Haas chocolate and ended up at the Salvation Army. I always look for used cookbooks that cover a particular ethnicity or from the women’s auxiliary of some church in some county from a long time ago.
British Columbia Heritage Cookbook: This first book is interesting because the author gushes about BC regional cuisine. Many of the recipes have place or people names from around the province.
It had a Bowen Island recipe (where I grew up, and where my parents still live), so I definitely had to get it. Lots of the recipes have canned goods of various kinds, even if they are things that can be sourced from BC (e.g. smoked oysters). I bet, back in the day, that lots of canned things were more local, so if you made something with a tin of tomatoes, it would taste different in BC because they were local BC varietals. Provenance for canned goods? Of course…
Cooking in Switzerland: Cookbooks that focus on regional cuisines are also of interest to me. This one is a hardcover, and the pages are a rough type of paper, and the whole book seems to be covered in grease spots. Well loved!
Also, there are little notes like this – “I could eat this everyday” – scattered throughout the book. Again, a must have because of this alone. That, and every recipe seems to call for potatoes and bacon – at least, the ones that aren’t calling for whipping cream and butter!
The New York Time Cook Book (1961) was another no brainer. Why? Well, because of this next recipe photo…
Why yes, that is a roast suckling pig! I really must make this at home some time, and we really do need to schedule another pig session. The book is great, with lots of multicultural recipes from around the world , as well as good versions of lots of “basics”. It contains about 1500 recipes published in the New York Times between 1950 and 1960. I’m very pleased with my used cookbook haul. What’s a great find you’ve made, and what do you cook from it?
not so much of a find, but one of my treasures is my grandmother’s cookbook, “The way to a man’s heart” from 1943.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/degan/4319376425/
Picked up a copy of Larousse Gastronomique at pulp fiction in kits 6 or so months ago for $10 (score!).
However, I NEVER use it, and I’m downsizing my book collection. It’s a version from the 70s. Any takers? I’ll let it go for a fiver (or a pint of something local!). No dust jacket.
My fav find: The old world kitchen – historic European peasant cooking. Very interesting and makes the NYtimes 50 cookbooks I’d rather not live without. Found it somewhere downtown (McClanes? books) for a fiver.
It’s a blessing that I found your article on the internet, I’ll try it and see how it goes, saved me time and headache trying to figure it out by myself. thanks