Gluttons Club

Cookbooks and me have a funny sort of relationship. In general, they are nice to have as a means to whet the appetite, get ideas and explore a regional cuisine or method but in my experience, I rarely actually use one to follow a recipe. It isn’t that I don’t need them; it’s more a matter of not being able to improvise that irks me. In the end, they often end up on the shelf looking nice. A really good cookbook is one that doesn’t stay pretty for long; it should be covered in splatters and stains from being too close to the action. Most of my cookbooks are pretty, with intact spines.

This past Christmas however, I was given the Silver Spoon cookbook and it has changed me utterly. The book was originally published in Italy in 1950 and through several revisions is referred to as the "bible" of Italian cooking. (Whenever the term ‘bible’ is used to refer to a document, it is either an exaggeration or a true testament [pun intended]. I’m going to withhold comment on that and focus on how it has affected my doings in the kitchen.) Finally, someone decided to publish an English edition last year and I was a beneficiary.

The breadth is impressive and the layout is familiar. The broader categories are broken into individual ingredients. For instance, in the vegetable section, you have a number of carrot recipes following a brief intro to cooking carrots. Most recipes are very short with just a few lines of directions next to the ingredient list. Each page of the book has large food-porn photos so the layout requires brevity that might confuse the home cook used to more detail. In addition, the translation is a bit off at times and the recipes themselves are sometimes vague and confusing. But once you get the hang of the format and learn to read ahead, you’ll be fine. Most Italian dishes rely on simplicity, technique and the quality of ingredients for success. The recipes reflect that in their stark simplicity.

If actions speak louder than words, the fact that I have used several recipes in this book in the first month since owning it is the best endorsement I can give. I first used it Christmas day when we needed to bring some veg sides for the family dinner. I found myself a little perturbed that I kept having to reread such simple instructions but the final products were surprisingly good given the simplicity: sauté garlic, add broccoli, add water, you’re done. A few days later I was told to bring a salad to a dinner with friends (they asked me to bring salad, weird huh?). It had a grand total of five ingredients but was as good as any salad I’ve ever made (sic). Finally, last week I was looking for something to do with cabbage and came across a recipe with an unusual cooking method that in the end was quite delicious once I got past my skepticism. I will continue to use it, the results have been great and most importantly, I’ve been learning new methods and using ingredients I don’t normally.