Now We're Cooking! This morning I had occasion to be browsing cookbooks at amazon.com, and one of the user comments was from somebody who had a cook book of their own. That struck me as a bit crass, but the title (it was a breakfast book) was a bit tasty sounding, so I decided to check out the book. The first thing that struck me was that the editorial review was simply a book description, which I quickly began to hope was not written by the author in question. Starting off by indicating the dimensions of a book never strikes me as a good sign (unless you are purchasing a single volume version of Remembrance of Things Past), and I'm quite certain that a cook book description shouldn’t be 869 words long. It was pretty much downhill after that - Following a smattering of lines romanticizing breakfast in a rather odd manner which bordered on other-meal discrimination, some recipes from the book are presented. All of which seem to be coffee. Eight "types" of coffee to be exact. I had no idea there was a recipe for gourmet coffee, but clearly I am no culinary genius. But wait! I judged too soon you see, for the author goes on to list more recipes. For, uh, more beverages. Hot chocolate, tea, and even (gasp!) a coca-cola knockoff are listed. A cornucopia of beverages, and in a brilliant move each sentence ends with "and much more". Such is the greatness of the tome in question that "and much more" had to be used a total of 14 times. I never got tired of reading those three words either, I tell you what. Breads, pastries, and the pancake family are covered with similar gusto, and huge lists that seem totally appropriate. Want a list of all the types of gravy? Right there! Wondering how many biscuit recipes you might find? Wonder no longer! Pondering the lack of egg dishes? Don't fret, because many paragraphs later your dreams come true. I'll leave the fact that there is a recipe for cooking bacon till another time. What I can't leave for another time is the apparent presence of recipes for creating such things as flour. Do you suppose that step one is "grow wheat"? Perhaps the most salient part of the entry are the user reviews. Almost all of which vilify the author and the book. Many pointing out that the table of contents and index are worthless - many recipes in the book seemingly not in either at all. I mention this because one of the only positive review (the other seemed to find the book delightful for providing such information as people once thought tomatoes were poison) is from the books editor. Then again, given the dismal performance of my last cook book Cooking Monkeys the Monkey Way! I suppose I shouldn't be throwing stones. |