What should we study for next month's Cookbook Club?

My cookbook club generally chooses books by geography (e.g. Mexico, Burma, Isarel) vs chef or cuisine. What are your favorite cookbooks with a regional focus? (Hoping to dig up some old treasures, so if your suggestion is pre-1990, all the better!)

Hallie
  • Posted by: Hallie
  • July 10, 2013
  • 2428 views
  • 18 Comments

18 Comments

Greenstuff
Greenstuff July 11, 2013
When I first read this question, I thought that Hallie was suggesting a virtual FOOD52 cookbook club. Something to think about. I've thought I'd like a whole course that used Gran Cocina Latina as a text.
 
savorthis
savorthis July 11, 2013
I love Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid and Washoku or At Home with Japanese Cooking by Elizabeth Andoh. I also regularly reference my dad's old copies of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Florence Lin's Regional Chinese Cooking or The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook by Gloria Miller.
 
Hallie
Hallie July 11, 2013
All great suggestions! Especially eager to try the Japanese home cooking book. Sounds like a winner.
 
drbabs
drbabs July 11, 2013
Gran Cocina Latina-- an exhaustive exploration of Latin America. Really fun to cook from.
 
aargersi
aargersi July 11, 2013
AField! By Jesse Griffiths. Game cooking which is a great adventure - focused on game here in Texas but you can swap / sub for local and or domestic product. It's a great read, a beautiful book, and really nice recipes.
 
Hallie
Hallie July 11, 2013
Great idea. Lots of quail and dove hunters in my family, so this would go over well!
 
Hallie
Hallie July 11, 2013
Great idea. Lots of quail and dove hunters in my family, so this would go over well!
 
Maedl
Maedl July 11, 2013
Marlena di Blasi has written two books about the regional cooking of northern and southern Italy that might lend themselves to your discussion. If you want to talk about the UK, then I would suggest something by Two Fat Ladies or the Hairy Bikers. They have done wonders for British food.
 
Patti I.
Patti I. July 10, 2013
Memories of a Cuban Kitchen is a great book for Cuban food!
 
Hallie
Hallie July 10, 2013
Love it. One of our members is actually in Cuba right now!
 
krusher
krusher July 10, 2013
I agree with you Chris. I have just purchased through Amazon a beautiful bound volume and I am loving it. What an interesting character and story.
 
Greenstuff
Greenstuff July 10, 2013
Auberge of the Flowering Hearth by Roy Andries de Groot, first published in 1973 but still in print. It takes place in the Chartreuse, up above Grenoble. If you don't do it for next month, consider it for another one. My favorite cookbook.
 
sexyLAMBCHOPx
sexyLAMBCHOPx July 10, 2013

The Olive and the Caper: Adventures in Greek Cooking by Susanna Hoffman.
 
Hallie
Hallie July 10, 2013
Sounds perfect for summer!
 
HalfPint
HalfPint July 10, 2013
Fuchsia Dunlop: Land of Plenty (Sichuan), Revolutionary Chinese (Hunan)

Naomi Duguid: Burma

The only problem with pre-1990 cookbooks is that they can be hard to get. Unless it was a massive hit (like Mastering the Art of French Cooking or The Joy of Cooking), a older cookbook might be out of print.
 
Hallie
Hallie July 10, 2013
Thank you! Would love to try a Fuchsia Dunlop book!
And thanks for the heads-up about older books. Fair point!
 
pierino
pierino July 10, 2013
I would suggest Lynne Rossetto Kasper's "The Splendid Table" which focuses on the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and includes plenty of food history. After that practically anything by Claudia Roden or Paula Wolfert.
 
Hallie
Hallie July 10, 2013
Love that idea. Listen to her podcast religiously!
 
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