Narsai David’s chocolate torte, Chocolate Decadence, was published in Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Chocolate cookbook, and I have been making it for years for my partner’s birthday, which we always celebrate with neighbors on the first Saturday in December. I have just baked it, as it improves making it a day in advance!
The old cookbooks, with the pages warbled from a splash of vinegar long since dried, or textured from a clap of floury hands, are just the best. I know the 1980s are not "old" in the true sense, but my Martha Stewart "Hors D'oeuvres" and "Crabtree & Evelyn Cookbook" are still two of my favorites for entertaining.
Beard on Bread was one of my favorites, and unfortunately disappeared in a move five years ago. Thanks for information on where I could replace it! I still have and use my 50 year old Betty Crocker, Joy of Cooking, and an even older Fannie Farmer. They live happily among newer volumes on a pantry bookshelf. Another lost volume was a paperback NYT that had a fabulous whole grain pancake recipe.
Love my old cookbooks! I have Moosewood, an early edition of The Joy of Cooking, which I still use for holiday cooking, Diet for a Small Planet, and The Tassajara Cookbook. But my most treasured one is mmmmm by Ms. Reichl herself. I bought that around 30 years ago through (I believe) Bonnie Slatnick. Each book whooshes me back in time to an earlier era and it is beyond wonderful to cook from them and share the results!
Kalyustan’s in NY makes delicious vadouvan and ships to California! You can buy a bag and decant it into jars. The historical context of vadouvan, I believe, is France’s colonization of parts of South India from the 1670s to 1954 — nearly 300 years. It’s a French modification of an Indian masala with shallots and garlic added.
I absolutely love both Bonnie Slotnick and, my neighborhood haunt, Kitchen Arts & Letters. Now I'm down the rabbit hole of Lizz Young's gorgeous collection. Oh no!
Would love to have seen No Need To Knead on your list but what the heck! Love the gift list an the peppers are wild, never heard of them. Am in the kitchen making pepper jelly for gifts with one TINY espelette thrown in so as not to ruin friendships. My generous neighbor gave me a huge bucket of his espelette...am making a wreath and just hope no one wants to taste it....
Happy holidays, Ruth, and love the chocolate decadence also....we eaters of dark chocolate supposedly hang around a little longer....
Narsai David’s chocolate torte, Chocolate Decadence, was published in Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Chocolate cookbook, and I have been making it for years for my partner’s birthday, which we always celebrate with neighbors on the first Saturday in December. I have just baked it, as it improves making it a day in advance!
The old cookbooks, with the pages warbled from a splash of vinegar long since dried, or textured from a clap of floury hands, are just the best. I know the 1980s are not "old" in the true sense, but my Martha Stewart "Hors D'oeuvres" and "Crabtree & Evelyn Cookbook" are still two of my favorites for entertaining.
Beard on Bread was one of my favorites, and unfortunately disappeared in a move five years ago. Thanks for information on where I could replace it! I still have and use my 50 year old Betty Crocker, Joy of Cooking, and an even older Fannie Farmer. They live happily among newer volumes on a pantry bookshelf. Another lost volume was a paperback NYT that had a fabulous whole grain pancake recipe.
Need to find my old Beard Bread book, one of the very first I got, loooooong before choosing food and cooking as my basic job.
Love my old cookbooks! I have Moosewood, an early edition of The Joy of Cooking, which I still use for holiday cooking, Diet for a Small Planet, and The Tassajara Cookbook. But my most treasured one is mmmmm by Ms. Reichl herself. I bought that around 30 years ago through (I believe) Bonnie Slatnick. Each book whooshes me back in time to an earlier era and it is beyond wonderful to cook from them and share the results!
Wonder why Vadauvan won't ship to California! It would make a great present. Too bad!
Wonder why Vadauvan won't ship to California! It would make a great present. Too bad!
Kalyustan’s in NY makes delicious vadouvan and ships to California! You can buy a bag and decant it into jars. The historical context of vadouvan, I believe, is France’s colonization of parts of South India from the 1670s to 1954 — nearly 300 years. It’s a French modification of an Indian masala with shallots and garlic added.
Kalyustan’s link: https://foodsofnations.com/products/vadouvan-french-influenced-south-indian-spice-mix
I absolutely love both Bonnie Slotnick and, my neighborhood haunt, Kitchen Arts & Letters. Now I'm down the rabbit hole of Lizz Young's gorgeous collection. Oh no!
Monday Night at Narsai's with Doris Muscatine is one of my favorite books.
Thanks for your post about old cookbooks. They never go out of style. They just sit on the shelf waiting to be discovered again.
Such riches—thank you, Ruth!
Would love to have seen No Need To Knead on your list but what the heck! Love the gift list an the peppers are wild, never heard of them. Am in the kitchen making pepper jelly for gifts with one TINY espelette thrown in so as not to ruin friendships. My generous neighbor gave me a huge bucket of his espelette...am making a wreath and just hope no one wants to taste it....
Happy holidays, Ruth, and love the chocolate decadence also....we eaters of dark chocolate supposedly hang around a little longer....