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What’s on YOUR Cookbook Shelf?
Music – “What’s Cooking” from What’s Cooking by The Wolfe Gang. Released: 2010
CLICK ABOVE TO PLAY MUSIC
In a few of my posts, I have mentioned a terrific site for cookbook lovers: http://www.eatyourbooks.com. For a small annual fee, you can add as many cookbooks to your “shelf”, as you want. (other plans are also available) The site has more than 150,000 cookbooks on their “shelf” and by selecting those that you have in your own collection, you have instant access to a huge searchable database. You can then “search” through your own cookbooks to look for a specific recipe: by ingredient, ethnicity, occasion, food type, author, etc. The possibilities are astounding. If you have more than a couple of dozen cookbooks, you’ll immediately understand how useful this site is. No more “now where on earth WAS that recipe for Khanate of the Golden Horde that I liked so much?” Instead of hauling book after book down from your real shelf, you can quickly and easily consult the virtual shelves of Eat Your Books. There are no recipes (due to copyright issues), but the idea is to save time and hair pulling by finding the recipe in a book you already have. The best thing since sliced bread!
There are numerous other searches one can conduct on the site, and other members can view what cookbooks you have on your own (real) shelves. One of the interesting searches is to find out what other cookbook lovers are reading. Eat Your Books has thousands of members worldwide, so their audience is huge. By searching their library as to “popularity“, one can instantly see the number of cookbook lovers who have that particular book on their shelves. A search I did a few days ago revealed some interesting trends. I arbitrarily selected the most popular 25 cookbooks among Eat Your Books members:
Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi Categories: Vegetarian; Restaurants & celebrity chefs; Vegetables
Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs; EYB Pick – UK; Middle Eastern
Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast by Jamie Oliver Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs; Quick / easy
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One by Julia Child and Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck Categories: French
The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins Categories: General
Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs
Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life by Jamie Oliver Categories: Gardening; Seasonal
Joy of Cooking (Sixth edition)
by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker
Categories: General
Jamie’s Italy (USA) by Jamie Oliver Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs; Italian
The Naked Chef (USA) by Jamie Oliver Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs
Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast by Nigella Lawson Categories: Quick / easy; Restaurants & celebrity chefs
The Return of the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan Categories: Italian
The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten Categories: General
The Silver Spoon
by Phaidon Press Editors
Categories: Italian
How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food
by Mark Bittman
Categories: General
Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs
Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients by Ina Garten Categories: General
Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook by Jamie Oliver Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs
Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone by Deborah Madison Categories: Vegetarian
How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food (UK) by Nigella Lawson Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs; General
The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins Categories: General
Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi Categories: Vegetables; Vegetarian; Restaurants & celebrity chefs; EYB Pick – UK
Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs
Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again by Ina Garten Categories: Restaurants & celebrity chefs
Of the 25, I have 15 on my real bookshelf. I must confess I am totally unfamiliar with Yotam Ottolenghi, but as this author’s books seem to be very popular, I may have to investigate to see what I’ve been missing! Most of these books have been around for a while and are not “hot off the press”, as far as I can tell. I call them “substance” cookbooks.
Take a look at http://www.eatyourbooks.com and see what you’ve been missing! (no, I’m not getting paid for giving them a little publicity. I just think they came up with a very ingenious tool for cookbook lovers!)
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