Today Matt Davis, of the Portland Mercury, published a refreshing post, On Not Interviewing America’s Most Famous Italian Cookbook Author.
Interview with Judy Kancigor
Read Linda Morel’s interview, with the author of Cooking Jewish (532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family).
Kancigor is an Orange County-based food writer. She also speaks about Jewish cooking and family life at synagogues, women’s organizations, and cooking schools. She lives with her husband, Barry, in Fullerton, California.
The Kancigors privately published Judy’s first book, Melting Pot Memories.
Filed under 20th Century, Jewish, Profiles
Joy of Cooking, page update
Today, I revised and expanded the publishing history of the Joy of Cooking page on the store’s website.
Filed under 19th Century, 20th Century, Edition history, General, Influential
Settlement Cook Book article
Read the article in Milwaukee Magazine: “Settlement Cookbook still dishes up warm memories by managing editor,” Bobby Tanzile.
Filed under 20th Century, Charitable, Influential, Jewish
“Joy Of Cooking” research study
Dr. Brian Wansink, of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, is the author of a new research study on the Joy of Cooking.
The study involved comparing 18 recipes that have survived the various editions of Joy. 1936, 1946, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1997 and 2006 were the editions used in the study.
Researchers documented the serving size and caloric in each version of the 18 recipes. They found that 17 of the recipes underwent changes that mirrored America’s obestiy epidemic.
Dr. Wasink comments, “What we think is a normal serving size has increased dramatically over the last 70 years … as has what we demand in terms of fat and sugar in a recipe.â€
“According to the study, in 1936, the average number of calories in each recipe was 261. The most recent recipes average 384 calories, an increase of 60 percent. If you were to compare just the recipe for sugar cookies, you would find an 142 percent increase in the number of calories from the 1936 recipe to today’s recipe.
Filed under 19th Century, 20th Century, Edition history, General
Claudia Roden
While reading Nina Simonds blog, Spices of Life, I discovered that tomorrow, at The New Yorker festival, a conversation between Claudia Roden and Jane Kramer will take place. 
Jane Kramer profiled Roden for the 2007 Food Issue of The New Yorker.
Kramer and Roden will discuss Roden’s latest culinary discoveries while tastings of the dishes and wine pairings are served.
In addition to the note about the festival, Nina Simonds has also posted a video of Roden preparing fattoush.
Alfred A. Knopf published Roden’s first book, titled A Book Of Middle Eastern Food, in 1968.
Roden and her extended Jewish family had been forced to leave Egypt in in 1956, following the Suez War. At that time she began to collect recipes from relatives and refugees.
Married in 1959, she continued to collect recipes. It was this collection of recipes she drew upon for the 1968 book.
Since then Roden’s, A Book Of Middle Eastern food has been revised twice. Both the first revision (1985) and the second revision (2000) were published under the title, A New Book Of Middle Eastern Food.
Filed under Middle Eastern, News
Cindy Mushet makes the Gourmet Magazine Cookbook Club
This month, Cindy Mushet’s newly published book, The Art and Soul of Baking, garnered a positive review by Gourmet Magazine. Mushet’s book will be sold through Gourmet‘s Cookbook Club.
See the Cindy Mushet video: Tips to fix common baking problems at Gourmet‘s website.
Filed under 21st Century, baking, News
Col. Kenney-Herbert’s Culinary Jottings
Today I read an entertaining and informative post about the seminal book on the cuisine of British colonial India, Culinary Jottings for Madras by Wyvern (Col. A. Kenney Herbert).
While Col. Kenney-Herbert was stationed in British India he wrote articles for the Madras Atheneum and Daily News under the pen name, “Wyvern.” These articles formed the basis for Culinary Jottings.
According to Alan Davidson (1999),
The colonel believed in surrounding his recipes with historical material, etymological explanations, amusing anecdotes, and, above all, every detail that seemed relevant to him about the choice and purchase of ingredients as well as the preparation of the dish itself.
Besides being the best British colonial Indian cookery book, Culinary Jottings represents a budding genre of cookery writing.
Since I started selling cook books in 1989, I haven’t been lucky enough to come across a copy of Culinary Jottings except at the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library.
A virtual copy of the fifth edition can be read at the Internet Archive. A reprint with a great introduction is available from Prospect Books.
Filed under 19th Century, Indian, Influential
Newman’s Own makes the New York Times food section
I’m relieved to see Kim Severson’s article, And Then There Was the Food, addressing Newman’s Own’s contributions to the food world in The New York Times food section today. The Los Angeles Times food section disappointed as far as Paul Newman or Newman’s Own. At least Newman made their Daily Dish blog.
Robert Steinberg, co-founder of Scharffen Berger Chocolate
According to the Los Angeles Times, Robert Steinberg, physician, who later co-founded Scharffen Berger Chocolate, died September 17 at UCSF Medical Center, near his San Francisco home. He was 61. Dr. Steinberg had lymphatic cancer.
Steinberg and co-founder John Scharffenberger, and their company, played a key role in fostering a new chocolate sensibility in the U.S.; where the idea that chocolate is “a complex and interesting food” replaced the idea that it is merely a “sweet candy.” [Alice Medrich].
Steinberg and Scharffenberger co-wrote a cookbook/memoir, The Essence Of Chocolate. The book, published in 2006, contains 100+ recipes by the two and by noteworthy pastry chefs like Flo Braker, Jim Dodge, Thomas Keller, . . . And, Steinberg and Scharffenberg trace growth of their careers and their passion for chocolate as well.
Filed under 21st Century, Passages