The New Joy of Cooking

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Summary: The one cookbook you should own
Review: My perspective differs from many who have written wistful paeans to the 1975 edition and long for its return. I've only had the benefit of using the current edition. Over the last two years of use, the New Joy of Cooking has been the most consistent, outstanding cooking reference that I have ever used. I have prepared more than 40 recipes from this book, and the results have rated from good to superb. What sets this book apart is that it covers an unprecedented breadth of cuisine -- from apple pies to chicken paprikash -- while it maintains a uniformly high standard for quality. By using Joy, you will not waste an hour of your time following a recipe that yields a poor result. A copy of Joy belongs in every kitchen.

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Summary: Old (er...New) Reliable
Review: I always "consult with" my New Joy of Cooking when I want a reliable recipe or ingredient information (in fact its the most worn cookbook in my collection - the others have perfect covers because I don't open and use them nearly as much). It never fails me. I never hesitate to try something new because in the almost two years I've had the book - I've had great success.

You'll find simple to complex, basic to gourmet recipes and great supplemental information. While there are no color pictures of the end product (there are black and white "pencil" drawings in a lot of cases), the instructions, notes and tips are so explicit, that you can't go wrong. The presentation of recipes is unique. The entire process is mapped out as you need to proceed. Unlike other cookbooks that list all ingredients and follow with instructions so that if you are like me, you are constantly revisiting the list and trying to find where you left off. The New Joy lists each step with the ingredients you need and moves on, organizing steps with ingredients as you go. I really like that and find it very helpful.

The book is broken down by different types of foods, not just courses of a meal. Each chapter begins with an informative background on the group, e.g., before presenting salad recipes, they provide information on every type of lettuce/leafy greens you can imagine, and special notes along the way for specific recipes.

Its a wonderful collection of good recipes and good/helpful information. Like one of the other reviewers, I read the book like a novel and learn so much! I don't have experience with the old Joy, but I'm pretty impressed with this book.

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Summary: All purpose book
Review: This book gives you much of everything: recipes, techniques, basics, everything. If you are to have only one cookbook, this one would be the best choice.Complete, informative, useful. Whatever you want to do in a kitchen, ther is at least a suggestion on how to do it in that book.

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Summary: Every person's cookbook...
Review: This revised Joy of Cooking (hardcover) book is a great investment for anyone who cooks -- whether a frequent, occasional, experienced or novice cook.

I'm no longer a frequent cook. But as always, when I'm in the kitchen, neatness is not one of my strong points. My paperback version of this book -- purchased in the 70's, when I did cook a lot -- started falling apart due to rough treatment, page splatters and just because it was a paperback book. I couldn't live without it, but was worried that I was overspending on a hardcover.

It is well worth the money -- this book has been revised, and offers more than it did before, about things that weren't so 'mainstream' back in the 70's.

These days I'm more interested in grains and beans, with more vegetarian meals. My sons are meat eaters, and when I am cooking, it is usually for a group. I love this book because it makes me feel like a serious chef, without being intimidating. This is a lovely cookbook for the ordinary cooker, urging you to try something new because it explains everything so well, without talking down to you.

I might use a recipe not in this cookbook, but I go to these pages first to learn about whatever it is I'm cooking -- soup, for example. In here I've learned more than I'll never need to know about soups -- vegetarian stocks, meat stocks, how to store soups, what to put in soup, how to serve soup, and some really handy information on different kinds of soup "equipment" (who knew -- I always thought a crock pot, a ladle and some bowls would do it all.)

I love a book that comfortably comes to bed with me at night, like a juicy novel. This book will intrigue the reader, like a fascinating history story. One can learn about tropical exotic fruits; cooking methods; ingredients from baking powder to spices to yogurts; and more. Get permission to make baklava using store bought phyllo rather than handmade, and find out it is originally a Turkish dish, not Greek.

The book bypasses slick photographs in favor of drawings of up-to-date equipment. In addition to making yourself, or your main cook very happy, this is also a fantastic and classy gift for anyone, from a bachelor son who enjoys cooking to a new bride and groom. The hardcover edition is the best investment, offering a book that will last a long time, some 3 PLUS inches thick, with a wonderful red ribbon bookmark to mark your place.

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Summary: Criminy! Why all the complaints??
Review: I can't believe the amount of criticism for this cookbook, and mostly because they added ETHNIC recipes to it. Yikes! I wonder if the Penne ala Vodka is too "ethnic" or maybe if they changed its name to "Macaroni with some booze" it wouldnt' offend so many people.

I love this book and I am a novice cook. I like good old American food just like everyone else (macaroni and cheese, brisket, roast chicken, salads, etc.). But occasionally I need a recipe for a more obscure dish like kugel (Yikes! a Jewish recipe!!!) and I was pleasantly surprised to find it in this cookbook...and it's a better recipe than most Jewish cookbooks I have seen.

I also like this book because it lets you use things like canned tomatoes...a lot of these newer fancy Food Network type books frown on that and insist that you peel and seed fresh tomatoes yourself (have they seen what is passing for tomatoes in the average person's supermarket??)

Joy of Cooking has a great section on measurements and equivalents, that I reference a lot. It has a LOT of very basic information about cooking techniques that is very helpful.

Eventually every cook finds the ability to scan a recipe and determine if the ingredients will blend into something they want to eat. It's a matter of trial and error most of the time. You also have to practice yourself to find out what works in your kitchen (e.g., Hunts canned tomatoes taste like aluminum but Progresso are yummy). There is no magic cookbook where everything turns out perfectly all the time. But Joy of Cooking is a good place to start for beginners and has simple explanations and lots of recipes without too many fancy ingredients.

PS -- the macaroni and cheese in here isn't my favorite

Rating:
Summary: The Best First Cookbook
Review: I never learned to cook growing up, and I still would not know how to cook had I never read this book. After trying a few easy recipes, I tackled the bouillabaise. This was such a hit that I'm now obligated to prepare it every Christmas.
The point is, the book is so well-written that you could just as easily prepare tuna salad as you could roast suckling pig. The recipes are easy to read, very well explained, and very precise. The book also details the basics of great food preparation, storage, and buying. You will learn how to store soup as well as how to pick the best fresh pineapple.
I'm also very impressed by the inclusion of so many multi-cultural dishes. Indian dishes, Morroccan dishes, Mexican, Chinese, Italian--it's all in here.
Now, if they'd just make a separate edition for each of the cultures mentioned above, I would die happy (or at the very least, well fed).

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Summary: The wew Joy is no longer a treasured kitchen companion.
Review: The "New Joy" should be entitled something other than "Joy," because it is, in fact, a collection of recipes and editorials by various chefs and food writers - many of whom are unfamiliar names to most readers. Chapters (i.e. subjects) are inconsistant. Contributors have been left to their own vices regarding personal preferences, culinary abilities and writing skills without the publisher's provision any standard direction or format. Thus, some subjects are well covered but many are not. This has(will) produce a sense of unreliability for those readers who are looking for home-style American table food. [ What good is a dictionary if the user is unable to consistantly find the words being saught? ] All of the dog-eared past editions of "Joy" were dedicated to home cookery not what's the latest food fads in America's restaurants. The recipes found in a book called "Joy. . ." should reflect what Americian families are eating - not what some bureaucrat thinks we should be eating! Because this is a new edition of Joy of Cooking many will buy it, put it on a back shelf and cook tonight's dinner using recipes from earlier editions.

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Summary: Excellent Cook Book for a Bridal Registry
Review: The New Joy of Cooking is a must for new or soon-to-be brides, or anyone that wants a comprehensive cook book. Personally I use this all the time, and when I am looking for a recipe this is the first place that I look. Actually I give this 4.5 stars, but still this is an excellent book to start off anyone's cookbook collection.

The NJofC not only has tons of recipes, but also diagrams many cooking techniques like how to transfer pie dough to the pan and diagrams of where different cuts of meat come from beef cattle. This cook book gives plently of detail, however this book does try to cover everything, and I think that in so doing it has lost some attention certain recipe sections not giving enough variety. For instance I was disappointed in the section on turkey, it is okay if you want to roast a whole bird but if you want a ground turkey recipe (besides just substituting ground turkey for ground beef) there are only two, and the one for turkey meat balls is not much different from the loaf recipe.

The New Joy of Cooking covers everything and anything you can imagine; for abalone to zucchini (except camel; although I don't think it is available in the US). So whatever the recipe, whatever the occassion more than likely you'll be able to find it in this book. I definitely recommend this book to any cook book collection.

Rating:
Summary: My standard reference
Review: I received The New Joy of Cooking as a birthday present about half a year ago, and I've been using it consistently since then. It contains reliable and well-tested recipes, and employs a recipe format that would, in a perfect world, be adopted by all cookbook writers to come.

Of course, this is not the original Joy of Cooking, and it differs considerably from that volume. Opinions vary on the matter, but I feel that many of the complaints about this revised edition have more to do with sentimentality than with the quality of the book itself. The sections that have been sacrificed - though I'm sure they contained perfectly good recipes - are the ones for which the vast majority of Americans would find little use. The chapter on canning was not eliminated out of spite for the old ways; it was eliminated because the ubiquity of the refrigerator in America has made home canning all but obsolete.

The Joy of Cooking has not sold out, but merely continued to do what it has always done: provide Americans with high quality recipes that reflect the way America eats. That means dishes with east Asian, Indian, African, Caribbean, European, Latin American and Middle Eastern influences, holding their own beside standard "American" fare - quite an arbitrary designation, really - without replacing it.

I wholeheartedly recommend The New Joy of Cooking both for beginning cooks and for experienced ones who would like a single-volume reference for every night of the week. Or for that matter, every night of the year.

Rating:
Summary: I Need A New Copy
Review: This is the greatest cookbook ever!!!!!. I have only had my copy for 3 years and it is falling apart. I USE IT ALL THE TIME!!! This is the 1st book I look into before I search all my other cookbooks. I wouls definately reccommend this book for beginners in the kitchen.