Don't Throw Out That Old Edition

Joy of Cooking

It boasts 500 new recipes for a total of 4,500 "recipes for the way we cook now". It's the 75th Anniversary edition. It's good but (like those dictionaries that feature new entries without telling which one's they've dropped) it is of its time.

Chicken Pot Pie description from the 1964 (reprinted 1974) edition that has sat on our shelves and has been often consulted these low thirty plus years:

An easy dish if you have precooked chicken or beef and precooked pie shells. We find the precooked shell more convenient and tastier than the crust which has to be exposed to long, slow cooking.

Not a mention of precooked pie shells in 2006 (the 75th Anniversary edition). There the bottom is crustless.

We do gain a whole section on pat-in-the-pan crusts. And this very useful piece of advice on timing:

Baking time will vary according to the material from which the pan is made. —> If it is ovenproof glass or enamelware, cut the baking time indicated by one-fifth to one-quarter.

Whatever volume you may have at hand to consult, there is of course no substitute for reading and research (and practice). Looking at the pictures doesn't suffice. The Joy of Cooking is blessed with a lack of food porn. There are other books for luscious extravagant illustration (or even elegant line drawings such as Amy Vanderbilt's book with drawings by Warhol).

Still holding on to the various editions. They all deserve shelf space.

And so for day 1789
06.11.2011