by Beard, James;
Illustrations/Photography by: Hollander, Earl

Published in 1972 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston
Binding: Hardback
Condition: Very good
Comments: This is a terrific find—a hardback copy of the 1972 edition of “James Beard’s American Cookery” that hasn’t been loved to death. Though it’s full of charming illustrations by Earl Hollander, this is a cookbook that’s made to actually be cooked with, not sit there and look pretty. It’s used, but hasn’t been abused—nobody seems to have broken the spine in an effort to make it stay open on their counter, for instance (though it does seem to do a good job of that), and it’s not full of grease stains and pencil marks. In fact, the pages are perfectly clean and the text block is solid, with no loose or missing pages or tears. There is a little wear on the cover, with slightly bumped corners and slightly bent caps on the spine, and a very small stain at the bottom of the back end papers, but otherwise is in remarkably good condition for a 53 year old book. This is an all-round useful cookbook, one that belongs on the shelf next to “The Joy of Cooking”—in fact, Irma Rombauer, the original author of “The Joy of Cooking,” is one of “my favorite great ladies of the American kitchen” and Beard dedicates his book to her. It’s not quite correct to say the recipes follow the old saying of “from soup to nuts;” instead, they follow a more modern menu, starting with a first chapter titled “Cocktail Food” and going through twenty-five food categories before ending up with Candy. Along the way Beard makes fun detours to tell us what to do with what he calls “edible weeds” like dandelion and pokeweed and how to perk up canned vegetables. On the other end of the spectrum, he has recipes for fancy dishes like Stuffed Veal Shoulder in Jelly, but most of the recipes handily fall in the middle and comfortably within the abilities of most home cooks. Beard recognizes that, in a country of immigrants, “American Cookery” is in many ways international cookery, and it has recipes with origins from all over the world, as well as with origins deep in American history, some dating back to the Colonial era. He loves telling the stories of where all of these foods came from and how dishes developed, and provides practical information about what is available now—the different types of potatoes cooks will find in grocery stores, for instance, and which potato is best used for which dish. The book ends with a useful index and—unusual for a practical, as opposed to academic, cookbook—an extensive bibliography. See our photos for details. Very good+.

Seller Inventory #: 0000506