Books for Cooks Features Recipes from All Over the World

Books for Cooks has published their Catalogue 6. Books for Cooks is an Australian bookseller, so you will find some titles dedicated to Australian cuisine. Perhaps better known is Australian wine which makes its appearance. However, most of these books aren't Australian. They come from all over the world. Since most books are in English, Britain and America are well-represented. Of course, if there is food and wine, France must also be represented. Then, there is a long section of Japanese culinary titles offered. If you eat, there is sure to be something to fit your taste. Prices in the catalogue are quoted in U. S. dollars. These are a few of the books.

We begin with the most popular English cookbook of the second half of the 18^th century and well into the 19^th. It went through at least 21 official editions and undoubtedly many pirated ones. The title is The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy, Which Far Exceeds Anything of the Kind Ever Yet Published... and when first published in 1747, was attributed only to “A Lady.” By the time of this 1765 edition here offered, it had been revealed as written by Hannah Glasse, though it was disputed for almost two centuries whether she really was the writer (she was). It's unclear why she would have disguised her identity at all considering that from the title she obviously had a high opinion of her book. The book was aimed at not the rich but their staff. However, its success indicates that the book's reach was far greater. That may be explained by its explicit instructions, exact cooking times, and simple directions. It is noted for early instructions on making ice cream and curry (not together). Despite the popularity of her cookbook, Mrs. Glasse, whose primary occupation was dressmaker, suffered bad financial losses and spent some time in debtor's prison. She was forced to sell her copyright to a group of booksellers after the fourth edition to pay her debts. Item 16. Priced at $950.

What is Argentine cooking? This book contains such recipes though also for Italian, German, English, American, and French dishes, plus Native Hispanic Creole. The title is La Perfecta Cocinera Argentina and this is the 22^nd and final edition from 1940. The author is listed as Teofila Benevento, though that was a pseudonym for her actual name of Mrs. Susana Petrona Rita Eduarda Susana Torres de Castex. Why she needed to come up with even more names is a mystery. This was the first Argentine cookbook when originally published in 1888. However, it was expanded, from 413 recipes in the first edition to 1,052 in the final one. The author was the daughter of a wealthy landowner and politician. She served Argentine Creole food at her society dinner parties. Item 3. $250.

Now, if you are looking for food fit for a king or queen, this is the book you want. The title is Royal-cookery: or, the Compleat Court-Cook... The author was Patrick Lamb, and as he notes in the book's lengthy title, he was for 50 years the master cook for King Charles II, King James II, King William and Queen Mary, and Queen Anne. He outlived them all, so either his food was very good or very bad. He didn't outlive his book though, dying shortly before the first edition was published in 1710. Offered is a second edition from 1716. He explains its purpose is “not to cook out an art of gluttony or to teach the rich to grow fatter...but to represent the grandeur of the English court and nation.” In those days, French cuisine was considered superior to English (still is), so Lamb wanted to change that impression. He became the master cook for Charles in 1683 and put on the coronation feast for William and Mary in 1689 for a cost the equivalent of over half a million dollars today. Not only are recipes described, but proper table settings are shown in the illustrated plates for dinners and feasts. This second edition added over 500 recipes to the small number described in the first. Item 26. $3,000.

Probably the most famous chef of twentieth century America is Anthony Bourdain. He is less noted for his recipes than for his personality and writing about behind the scenes in fine restaurants and his world food tours. He was the chef at some fine New York restaurants when he burst out into the public consciousness with this behind-the-scenes book in 2000 – Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. It quickly became a bestseller and put Bourdain on TV's Food Network. Eventually, he ended up on CNN doing food tours of the world, where he displayed having meals of local cuisine at out-of-the-way and less glamorous places around the world. He willingly ate food many of us would recoil from. This book lets you know what goes on in restaurant kitchens, enabling you to choose wisely if not just eat at home. Despite his great renown and following, something went wrong in Bourdain's mind when suddenly and unexpectedly, he took his own life on one of his food tours. No one could figure out why. Item 7. $950.

We now turn to food advertising and an item that seems strange, but apparently made sense when they were produced circa 1900. It is a collection of eight promotional trade cards or bookmarks. They were created by H. J. Heinz Co., noted for their “57 varieties.” As an aside, the number 57 was an invented number, something that sounded good from a marketing perspective, not reflective of the number of products they produced. That was always more than 57 from the time the logo was first employed. Heinz is most famous for its ketchup, but here they were promoting pickles. The cards each show a fashionable-looking little girl or young lady (one with a male chef) superimposed on a pickle. They were known as the “Heinz Sweet Pickle Little Ladies,” and most are holding another Heinz product. Double exposure. Item 18. $325.

Books for Cooks may be reached at +61 0432 569 809 or shop@booksforcooks.com.au. Their website is www.booksforcooks.com.au.