The Joy of Cooking: A Must-Own For Any Aspiring Chef

[Chefnot]

Plain-jane white and red cover facing forward on the bookshelf, the 75th anniversary edition of The Joy of Cooking is a far cry from most of the other star-filled, glossy photo-stocked cookbooks at the bookstore these days. It is a thick and heavy volume, and at first glance, seems unexciting and cumbersome.

The cover price lists it at $35, which is also more expensive than a lot of the aforementioned cookbooks, which could convince a kitchen queen – or king - to choose another set of recipes to try. That would be a mistake. After browsing the 4500 recipes and over 1000 pages in the new Joy, I have decided that, as Julia Child once said, this is the sole cookbook I would have if I could have no other.

Athens Exchange - The Joy of Cooking: A Must-Own For Any Aspiring Chef

[BerryBaby]

I have The Joy of Cooking, but I really don't use it very often. I'm still a huge fan of the original Betty Crocker Cookbook from 1973.

[MayQueen]

Call me shallow but I like to see pictures in cookbooks. Those puny line drawings in Joy of Cooking just don't do it for me.

[BerryBaby]

You're right...I forgot to mention I enjoy the old photos in the Betty Crocker Cookbook. They are colorful and show exactly how the dish is suppose to look, if you did it correctly.

[MiseEnPlace]

Originally Posted by MayQueen

Call me shallow but I like to see pictures in cookbooks. Those puny line drawings in Joy of Cooking just don't do it for me.

My copy of Joy is from 1971 (it's older than me ) and is teal under a white dust jacket.

I think of Joy reference book too, so not having those glamorous food shots is ok with me By the way, none of Alton's cookbooks have those glossy pictures of the food either.

[bluejeanz]

My copy is a '64; light blue cover with a white jacket. The price is printed inside of.....$6.50.


Back in the day, this was my go-to cookbook because it always gave you a lengthy description and details of whatever item you were looking up. It was a pretty good resource long before the Shirley Corrihers and Alton Browns came along and I still think it's a pretty good resource today. The only thing that's a little outdated are the temps for the meats and poultry. I think years ago they used to cook the heck out of meat.

[Chefnot]

You are right bluejeanz, they did cook the hec out of most everything. If I might say, that speaks volumes in terms of what we eat today or the food industry at large.

[cyberdoc]

I have the 1975 edition.