PastryWiz The American Century Cookbook

 

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The American Century Cookbook
by: Jean Anderson

Price*$39.73
as of 02/09/2010 16:34 EDT

Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5973
EAN: 9780517705766
Edition: 1st
ISBN: 0517705761
Label: Clarkson Potter
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageEnglishUnknownEnglishPublished
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 560
Publication Date: November 11, 1997
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Release Date: November 11, 1997
Studio: Clarkson Potter

Editorial Review:

Product Description:
For the past ten years, Jean Anderson has been on a quest: to search out the most popular recipes of the 20th century and to chronicle 100 years of culinary change in America. The result is a rich and fascinating look at where we've been, at the recipes our mothers and grandmothers loved, and at how our own tastes have evolved.

The more than 500 cherished recipes in these pages are mainstays of American home cooking, the recipes that have remained favorites year after year. For the smallest sampling:

California dip . . . Buffalo chicken wings . . . vichyssoise . . . tuna-noodle casserole . . . Swiss steak . . . frosted meat loaf . . . tamale pie . . . corn dogs . . . lobster rolls . . . classic green bean bake . . . perfection salad . . . green goddess salad . . . frozen fruit salad . . . chiffon cake . . . brownies . . . chocolate chip cookies . . . chocolate decadence

Beyond this collection is Jean's exploration of the diversity of our nation's cuisine and our adoption of such "foreign" dishes as pizza, gazpacho, lasagne, moussaka, and tarte tatin. Her painstakingly researched text includes extensive headnotes, thumbnail profiles of important people and products (from Fannie Farmer to James Beard and from electric refrigerators to the microwave), and a timeline of major 20th-century food firsts.

In recording popular recipes that might have been lost, in setting them in richly detailed historical context, Jean Anderson has written her masterwork. The American Century Cookbook may well be the most important new cookbook of the decade; it is certainly the book America will love.

Amazon.com Review:
Thank goodness Jean Anderson's The American Century Cookbook is as much a culinary page-turner as a call to the kitchen, because most of the 20th century's favorites are killers according to modern nutritional standards. Try to be satisfied learning that chocolate brownies and meatloaf, as we know it, were born back when most cooks relied on a wood-burning stove, and resist the urge to whip up a Grasshopper Pie or batch of Cherry Winks. Be assured, though, all 500-plus recipes work to perfection, including the one for Perfection Salad, the gelatin mold that started it all back in 1905. Charting trends along with the origins of specific dishes, Jean Anderson shares the significance of landmark cookbooks, from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, to Craig Claiborne's The New York Times Cook Book, and Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Sea changes cited are the acceptance of foreign cuisines and the idea that cooking can be a pastime as well as a necessity. A few landmark recipes include Clam Dip, Gazpacho, Guacamole, Sloppy Joes, New York-Style Cheesecake, and Banana-Nut Bread. Find your favorites set in context by Anderson's painstaking research.


Related Items:
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:  out of 5 stars

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Best CookBook Ever!
I already had a copy of this book however I ordered another to give as a gift to a friend for a recent trip to Barcelona, Spain. I wanted them to have a taste of America whenever they wanted. She now knows how to make Apple Pie and was making another this week!
I like this book because it gives the history of recipes and products we use daily and might take for granted. It is a good sampling of the most common foods we enjoy. It's a wonderful book and beautifully designed!



Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - Beware the words "adapted from"
As others have pointed out, this book is interesting as a history of popular cooking in the U.S. in the last hundred years or so. The illustrations are delightful and the text is informative.

But I must differ from the other reviewers and make a point for those of us who like authentic recipes. Many of the recipes here are introduced with the words "adapted from" or "version of" - which is a way of saying that the original recipe has been altered in unspecified ways and for unknown reasons. The result is that many of the bowdlerized recipes are only vaguely similar to the original, and invariably to their detriment.

I vastly prefer the recipes to be given in their original form so that, if we choose to, we can make them as we remember them. If I want to de-fat and de-sugar recipes where these elements are vital to the taste and texture, I can make that "adaptation" on my own. I think it's rather dishonest to portray the contents as "the recipes our mothers and grandmothers loved" when, in fact, they are frequently pale imitations with all the goodness removed. Be sure to preserve and treasure those clippings grandma left you; with a world full of "editors" carefully excising the politically incorrect ingredients, they're the only unadulterated record of how grandma really cooked.



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Bringing Back the Good Times for My Mother
Now that my mother needs others to cook for her, I look for ways that I can prepare a meal ahead that will bring back memories of the "Good Old Days". I still follow her dietary guidelines, but re-introducing recipes from her hey-day makes her smile, and gives her a welcome change of pace. One of her favorites from this cookbook has been Johnny Marzetti, but I use Baby Portabela mushrooms instead of white mushrooms, and my mother wants double the amount of mushrooms. For my mushroom-hating mother-in-law and cheddar-averse sister-in-law, I remove the mushrooms and saute red and green bell peppers instead and switch to colby cheese. For DH, I increase the extra lean ground beef and use pepper jack cheese. These variations are economical, not too spicy, but tasty. They bring a smile, and take some of the pressure off my mother's care-givers. This cookbook lets me recreate the "Good Old Days." As always, it is my prerogative to update to meet dietary needs.



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - My memories in food!
I love to cook and eat. I have loads of cookbooks. This is the best book I have seen that captures what my parents and grandparents ate and taught me to eat. Beyond that, is chronicle of the food that became available and why and where they originated.
It should be considered a history od 20th century foods a s well as a cookbook. Loads of comfort recipes, as well as those that are now considered classics, never to be deleted. Worth purchasing if you are a baby boomer, you will love it.
DOC


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The American Century Cookbook
Price*$39.73
as of 02/09/2010 16:34 EDT

 

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Product prices and availability updated on 02/09/2010 16:34 EDT.