Cookbook Impressions

My family blood line has a very strong Irish presence. My mother's side of the family, though not near as influential with the Irish heritage as my father's, has, for several generations, possessed a cookbook containing recipes of the Gilkeys (my mother's maiden name). This cookbook, Tasteful Traditions, was mostly handwritten and homemade. To many, this would not seem to be a very credible source for recipes, but for our family it is a treasure and a strong cookery foundation. This book, though very beloved, does have a few issues that when used, are frequently encountered. For instance, being a handmade book to begin with, many recipes have no pictures, though there are detailed descritptions. Other recipes have personal pictures that have been added over the years but are very faded. Similarly, those who later added to this book typed their recipes, in contrast to those who hand wrote theirs, as there were no computers. This can lead to even more confusion at times, especially because some spkoe little english. In this book, there is no set organization, except for chronologics. Each family member has typically added a recipe over the years, thus there is no theme. Everyone contributed various recipes to this compilation. However, this was written for my family, and for us it has importance and credibility that the world may never see.

Within this book, there were many recipes that horrified, yet intrigued me at the same time. Some recipes, such as apple shrimp and corn icecream, sound absolutely disgusting and revolting, but I found myself interested in what they were and how they were made. Along with the history of this cookbook in general, the recipes overall added to this fascination of my heritage and Irish cooking.

Another cookbook that intrigued me was Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. As you can tell, foreign foods fascinate me. I love learning about other cultures and the way they utilize mostly the same foods we have here in very different ways than how we do. Julia Child's work is extremely well known even to most Americans and is practiced by millions of chefs and suburban moms at home. She has written simply, yet effectively for the most skilled and most common of kitchen moms. This reputation Childs has developed and maintained over the years has really boosted her credibility as a chef and writer. She neatly organizes each recipe so it easy to read, this book being in both French and English, with coordinating pictures. Also, the way the book is layed out, with themes of the different types of foods, makes it very easy to search for a specific recipe or find a specific meal idea. This is very different from the homemade cookbook of my family! However, one thing that did stick out to me about Julia Child's recipes above others, is that she can take foods that we never really consider pleasing to the sight or taste and turn it into something appealing. This may be because she is infact Julia Child, but her recipes, such as brasied onions, actually look and, when loooking at the ingredients, sound appealing!