I was doing my air shift, alone in the station one afternoon, and in walked a young lady with a backpack. She was on one of those summer jobs where students went door to door selling books and magazines. They would always come up to you and say something like, “I’m trying to win a trip to Jamaica, and I need to sell so many books by such and such a date.”
My first thought was “Why the hell do I care if you go to Jamaica?” But she was cute and energetic, so I figured she was worth my time. She proceeded to lay out a series of offers for various books and magazines, and I pretended to be interested, until she pulled out this huge cookbook.
“This cookbook is dedicated to American cooking, “she said. “It has recipes for any type of American food you can think of.”
“How about Moose?” I asked, trying to stump her.
“Moose?” she repeated, accepting the challenge and deftly flipped to a section entitled “Game”
“Moose!”, she said with a triumphant smile, holding up the book, which was open to a page which had recipes for “Moose Fondue, Moose Roast”, Moose Stroganoff”, and the ironically named “Moose Swiss steak.” She had obviously done this before. The Moose recipes were tucked between “Elk Noodle Stew” and “Opossum with Sweet Potatoes”. I was hooked.
I was an avid hunter in those days and any cookbook that held innovative ways to scorch hapless fuzzy creatures was a winner in my mind. She pointed out that the ingredients in each recipe are listed in the order that they are used, as well as any required prep, which was an innovation back then and still not true of all recipes even today.
One of my pet peeves is to have to stand there with a knife in one hand and an onion in the other and feverishly to scanning down into the directions to find out what to do with it, but this book listed things like "One medium onion, finely chopped." No guessing involved.
So I bought the book for $15.00, which was big money for me back then.
Over the years, I have used that cookbook more than any of my others; more than my Betty Crocker, more than my Joy of Cooking, more than my Escoffier. Especially my Escoffier. The book is called The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking. I once loaned the book to my mother, who liked it so much she almost didn’t give it back.
The wide range of fare covered in the cookbook can be sensed, perhaps in its first three entries: Abalone, Almond, Avocado. As you can see, the book is arranged in alphabetical order by subject—from Abalone to Zucchini. Why, it’s like an encyclopedia! No flipping through a list of techniques or back to the index to find a recipe. If you want to cook beans, flip to the bean pages a Bam! (to coin a phrase), there are pages and pages of recipes for all types of beans, including my favorite bean dish, Spanish Limas. The scant nod to techniques is in the glossary--They assumeyou already know the difference betwene "saute" and "sear". Each section begins with a couple of paragraphs about the food in question, including information on the history of the ingredient and paragraphs on buying, storing and preparation.
Of course, recipes being what they are, there can be somewhat of a confusion factor: Is Chili with beans listed under Chili, or under Beans? (Chili) This can be mitigated somewhat if you remember to look under the main ingredient for whatever your trying to cook. There is, for instance, no section for cookies, but under Oatmeal, you will find Apple Filled Oatmeal Cookies, Lace Cookies, Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oat Cookies and Oatmeal Roll Outs. But you won’t find those ever popular chocolate oatmeal drop cookies—they’re listed under Chocolate.
And that brings me to another thing that sold me on the cook book initially. This is the book that, if you get home late at night and about all you have in the house is a can of olives, half a dozen eggs and a jar of peanuts, you can find a recipe.
Remember, this was way before the days of 24 hour Wal-Marts or McDonald’s drive-throughs. In those days in my small town in North Carolina, everything was closed by 8 PM, and so when I got off work at midnight, the pickin’s were slim indeed.
The book has served me as a bachelor, through my marriage and into my mature years. Favorite holiday recipes include Wine Glazed Ham and a recipe for Eggnog that always gets raves. The recipe calls for, among other things, 12 eggs and a quart of apple brandy. Even today, when my experience and ability is at a much higher level that forty years ago, this is still the book I turn to first when I want to find something new to do with, say, a butternut squash.
It’s also refreshing to read a cookbook that was written back before the onset of our current phobia of anything that is good to eat. In this honest tome, there is no concern for too much fat, protein or carbohydrate. No Weight watchers points, no color codes, just plain old American food, prepared the way grandma used to do it, back when food had flavor. There is no section on tofu.
Needless to say my cookbook has received a lot of wear and tear over the decades. The cover is missing over the spine, the pages are stained with all manner of spilled ingredients, there are little red check marks on the pages where an old girlfriend marked her favorite recipes—we split up in 1979-- and the last page of the index has been taped together where my niece tore it when she was five years old. She’s forty now.
Last year I decided to put the old book to rest, so I went to Amazon.com on the off-chance that there might be a used one out there somewhere. To my surprise, the book is still in print; under the imprimatur of Favorite Recipes Press. Now it sells for 28 bucks and change, which, inflation being what it is, is still a bargain. In the customer reviews, I found a reviewer who had almost the exact same experience as me. Small world. I gave the old edition to my daughter who is just now trying to make her way in the world, as I was when I first came across it.
In the newer edition, the cover and some of the internal color photos are updated, but otherwise, it is essentially the same as my original, with the same recipes on the same pages, including many of the original black and white photos. I bought a used-but still in good shape-1992 edition and it now holds a special place on my kitchen book shelf. Though trends in cuisine seem to change as often as the wind, good cookbooks, like your grandmother’s recipe for soup stock, never go out of style.
Eggnog Supreme a’ la The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking
12 eggs, separated 1pt. light cream
1-1/2 cups sugar 1 pt. heavy cream
1 qt apple brandy Nutmeg
2 qt. milk
Blend egg yolks with sugar. Add brandy. Add milk and light cream blending well. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Whip heavy cream until fluffy. Fold egg whites and whipped cream into yolk mixture. Chill. Sprinkle with nutmeg to serve. Yield: 40 servings.
Nowadays eating raw eggs is frowned upon due to the risk of salmonella. Use your own judgment.
Spanish Limas a’ la The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking
1 med. onion, chopped 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 green pepper, chopped 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. butter or margarine 2 c. canned lima beans, drained
1 c. canned tomatoes 1 ½ c. grated process cheese
1 tsp. salt (we substitute Colby or ¼ tsp. pepper Cheddar)
Saute’ onion and green pepper in butter until golden; add tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add seasonings and beans. Alternate layers of bean mixture and cheese in a greased 1-qt casserole. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Yield: six servings.
The Worcestershire sauce adds an interesting twist.
. . .and just so you know I wasn’t exaggerating;
Peanut Sandwich Filling a’ la The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking
1 sm. bottle olives Dash of pepper
1 sm. Bottle sweet pickles 1 tsp. dry mustard
4 hard boiled eggs 1 egg
½ lb salted peanuts ½ cup vinegar
1 tsp. salt 1 c. milk
6 tsp. sugar 1 tbsp. butter
2 tsp. cornstarch Bread slices
Process olives, pickles, eggs and peanuts in a food processor or blender. Combine salt, pepper, cornstarch, sugar and mustard, blending well. Beat in egg , vinegar and milk. Place vinegar mixture in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in butter until melted. Add peanut mixture, blending well. Spread filling between bread slices.
I’ve never had the nerve to try this, so if you do, let me know what it’s like.
My 1992 edition of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking beside myolder, tattered edition
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