The New Joy of Cooking

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Summary: the times they are a'changin'
Review: My old "Joy of Cooking" saw me through three decades of wife- and motherhood. I cherish it, with all its notes on the margins and additional recipe clippings stuck inside. As one who grew up on the less-than-gourmet fare of the 50s, like Chef Boyardee and jello with marshmallows, I was eager to put together wholesome and delicious family meals. Even after so many thousands of meals have turned into piles of dirty dishes, I still bring enthusiasm to daily chef duty, and I have found new joy in this updated version of the absolute classic.

The book features many healthier, leaner, and more cosmopolitan recipes. I frequent Trader Joe's and love to bring home new finds. American cuisine has expanded to incorporate good food from many countries, and you will find excellent Asian and Hispanic recipes in the new book. Time and energy-saving techniques are streamlined, and you'll encounter no anti-microwave bias here.

Looking for a great wedding gift? You can't go wrong with "The New Joy of Cooking."

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Summary: Represents the first revision in more than twenty years
Review: The re-appearance of this classic cookbook in quality hardcover re-asserts its ongoing, lasting importance to any cook; from the avid and serious to those just starting out. Joy Of Cooking represents the first revision in more than twenty years: chapters have been redone, recipes have been modified and re-tested, and ingredients are more thoroughly explained and explored. A 'must' basic kitchen primer no home should be without.

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Summary: Only one book better...
Review: and that book (The Basic Cookbook) went out of print in 1957. My mother, a home-ec teacher, had a copy from when she got her BS. She still has it. Other copies can be had at various universities, but you aren't even allowed to see them unless you're the head of the home-ec department.It is better than Joy of Cooking, but only in the way that a dollar is better than ninety-nine cents. This book has everything. Whether you're a vegetarian or an unrepentant carnivore, whether you like american/european/asian cooking, whether you want the main course or just the yummy desserts, it's all here. Are you an expert in the kitchen? It's a good reference work and recipie source. Was the last thing you cooked Pop-Tarts? Tell me if you find this useful:From pg1051 Stir Frying: Familiarize yourself with the recipe, since you may not have time to stop and read once you are in action. You will want to allow yourself plenty of preparation time, since cutting food into small pieces to cook rapidly can be time-consuming. Have all ingrediants within easy reach of the stove. Undercook rather than overcook - you can always return food to the heat.See what I mean? If you aren't a cook now, this will make you one. And while a good cook will always have more than one cookbook, every good cook will (or ought to) have this one in the collection.

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Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I got the CD-Rom version of the new Joy to take abroad with me. I'm an experienced cook who refers often to the old Joy. I frequently adapt the recipes or use it as a reference when I'm inventing a new dish. I figured all the basics I've come to know and love would be in new Joy, and that I could take it from there. But alas, new Joy has succumbed to food snobbery. I discovered to my intense disappointment that many of my favorite recipes were gone. Gone also were instructions for many of the basic techniques-- for instance, I had to use a percolator where I was, and new Joy sniffed, "Percolating coffee is never recommended" and refused to say how to do it!!! Old Joy was a lot more practical and understood contingency. Don't throw out your old Joy of Cooking. The publishers should take the old version and try again, but this time, leave the heart and soul in. Ethan Rombauer should be ashamed!

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Summary: A must-have starter for a kitchen library.
Review: If you had to have one cookbook, this is probably it. While other books may offer "over-the-top" and "take your breath away" recipes, this encyclopedic tome covers the basics of just about everything you need to know in the kitchen. It offers information about ingredients, cooking techniques, and an extensive list of recipes

The most useful features of the book are the index and the organizational structure. You can find recipes based on an ingredient which is what I often do since I am inspired by the fresh produce of the season. Because the book is well-organized, you can then thumb through a number of recipe options all using the same primary ingredient.

I have never had trouble following a recipe. This is a time-tested book created for the home cook.

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Summary: New is not always better
Review: I bought this to replace my vintage 1973 wedding gift edition which had fallen apart from overloving use. This new edition deleted all but one of my favorite recipes from the older book. It wasn't until I tried to develop a vegetarian meal that some of the dishes listed as "veegtarian" in the menu section and index included chicken broth or other meat products. I was disappointed after 26+ years of a previous edition being my favorite cookbook - I bought an earlier edition that was available in paperback to replace "old faithful."

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Summary: Don't throw away your old Joy
Review: I was really disappointed in the new Joy. I don't know what I expected in the new revision anyway, since I really love and use my old Joy. The old one I received as a wedding gift is my trusted friend in the kitchen--it's like having grandma around all the time to answer questions. The new Joy has good vegetarian and ethnic recipies which are nice, but just reading it is a drag. It lacks the personality, emotion and a sense of humor that I enjoy in the old Joy.

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Summary: Okay, But I've Used Better
Review: I received this cookbook as a gift on my 22nd birthday--half my lifetime ago. It was okay for what it was--a place to start to learn everyday food preparation. However, as the years went by, I noticed that many of the recipes were rather bland; some of them were downright awful. I tried making brownies--they fell. I made some salad dressing--it was inedible glop. Many other dishes came away looking and/or tasting rather strange. At first I thought it was me, but many years and recipes and cookbooks later, I had to give "Joy" away. If you're new to cooking, this book is extremely useful. There's lots of background on cuts of meat and basic ingredients. An experienced cook might wish to purchase a less well-known and more creative volume.

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Summary: If it's not in here, you probably don't need it
Review: Okay, if you demand a book listing a thousand ways to cook potatoes, this book is not for you. However, if you're throwing a dinner party and you've never cooked a roast before, this book will get you through it with an ease you never thought possible. My one disappointment is that there aren't a lot of "serve with this" suggestions; on the other hand, a quick flip through the section detailing the things I might serve with my roast (say, potatoes) will allow me to come up with a number of accompaniments I might not have thought of otherwise.

I have the 1975 edition also. With all the slaps at the new edition, I have to say that a lot of the biases in the 1975 book are gone in the new one; e.g., the new one recognizes microwaves as a fact (necessity?) of life, where the earlier version deemed microwaves as unworthy of the authors.

Every so often you've got to update, and as updates go, this is a very good one.

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Summary: I reach for this cookbook first
Review: For easy and reliable step by step recipes this book has replaced my first cookbook and 20 year old standby, the Better Homes and Gardens Complete Step-by-Step Cook Book. For more involved recipes it has virtually replaced Julia Child's The Way to Cook. And for better understanding of ingridients and hard to find recipes it holds its own next to Larousse Gastronomique.