Cooking The Books

For the second time now, I register for this course at UBC continuing education called Cooking the Books. 

And for the second time it gets cancelled the last minute due to low registrations.

Given that I had booked the day off for the course, I thought I will take the time to spend with my cookbooks.

And given its Wacky Thursday, I decided to find my wackiest (and favourite) cookbooks and write about them.

So here you go...




The Centaur's Kitchen is entertaining in content, writing, and recipes with no real measurements or temperatures. And we cannot forget the caricatures throughout the book. (Read Dinner with Centaur and Centaur is Back).

Found Meals of the Lost Generation is a selection of recipes and anecdotes from the bohemian revolution in Paris. It includes meals prepared by different restaurants for famous types like James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway. (Read New Year in Paris).

I was gifted Fabulous Fondues a couple of years ago and I am yet to cook anything from it.  Why did it make it to my wackiest favourites? Just check that cover. Those kinds of pictures are throughout the book.

I walked the streets of Amsterdam for days looking for an authentic Dutch cookbook, but in English. The Flavour of Holland was an excellent choice - authentic Dutch and Indonesian recipes, including menu planning and easy instructions. Time to cook from this again.

I fell in love with Du Thé Plein La Toque at a bookstore. It is a bunch of recipes using different teas that all look delicious. A feast made with Shaktea teas from this book should be planned - would it be fillet de cheval au Darjeeling, couscous de légumes au thé Vert or effiloché d'aile de raie pochée å l'Earl Grey Smoky? 

Now that I practiced my French, time to work on my Deutsche with Österreichische Küche, a gift directly from Austria. Blutwurstgröstl looks good; Gefülltes Brathuhn looks better; and white and creamy Esterhazyscnitten is the best. Oktoberfest menu in the making.

  
On the extreme side of wacky is a beautiful gift I received from London, Indian - Jewish Cooking. I have used it once (read Diwali with a Twist) and loved it. Oh, so much to cook...

But my all time favourite is this one - a 1982 diary that my mother wrote in it recipes for me before I left home. One day soon, this will be a published cookbook, so stay tuned.