12.1 Books

In my opinion, nothing beats a good old fashioned cookbook. I can leaf through the pages or use the index to find new ideas, and newer ones tend to be well illustrated, a definite plus. Having said that, I tend to rely on my old collection, some of them going back to my childhood, rather than rush out to grab the newest one on the market. These are a few of those that have been well used in our kitchen.

12.1.1 General Cooking

What could be a more classic place to start than Irma Rombauer’s The Joy of Cooking. Originally published in 1931, it has since been, revised repeatedly, and authorship now includes three of her descendants - Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker, John Becker, and John’s wife Megan Scott (most recent edition published by Scribnerin 2019). Irma died in 1962; my copy is one of the first editions (1964) published after her death and authored by her daughter Marion. As you can see, it has gotten a lot of use.

12.1.2 Bread

My first recommendation, of course is Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day (Crown Publishing Group, New York: 2009). It will guide you step by step through the fundamentals of wild yeast fermentation and contains an excellent set of recipes using both sourdough and yeast as leavening.

Once your sourdough passion is aroused and you are comfortable with making, for example, Pan au Levain, then it’s time to move onto Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread (Chronicle Books, San Francisco: 2010).

With respect to more classic cookbooks, I still use Dolores Casella’s A World of Bread (David White Company, New York: 1966) on occasion. It includes much more than just yeast-risen breads - for example it has an excellent recipe for sourdough waffles (I used to make them frequently, but they don’t fit with our current life style).