That got me thinking about the elements of great cookbooks. Yes, they contain recipes, but they also contain something else which is more important.
I’ve been reading Samin Nosrat’s excellent Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking. It reminds me of Elizabeth David’s books, which I’ve read and reread over the years.
Elizabeth David’s books have been selling consistently for 70 years: A Book of Mediterranean Food was first published in 1950.
I adore blogging, so of course I also thought about Julie Powell’s “The Julie & Julia Project Blog.” The blog became the book, Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, published in 2005. That book became a movie.
There’s a lesson in those books for anyone who wants to write a cookbook, but feels challenged in the kitchen. A great cookbook offers more than recipes… Just as well, because you can find millions of recipes online.